DrNejra Van Zalk

Dr Van Zalk’s research advances Design Psychology by investigating the psychological mechanisms that connect designed environments with human behaviour, experience and wellbeing. Through the Design Psychology Lab, she develops and applies psychologically grounded approaches to the design and evaluation of products, services and technologies.

A central focus of her research is the relationship between digital environments and mental health, particularly during adolescence and young adulthood. Her work examines how the affordances of digital technologies shape social interaction, behaviour and psychological outcomes, including anxiety and depression, and how these relationships unfold over time. This includes research on social media and online environments, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, digital mental health interventions and human–robot interaction.

Methodologically, her research combines longitudinal and social network approaches with experimental studies, psychophysiological measurement, computational methods and qualitative research. Across these approaches, she seeks not only to establish whether technologies influence psychological outcomes, but to identify the mechanisms, contexts and design choices through which those effects emerge and translate that evidence into more psychologically informed design.