Assistant Professor
Postal Address: Konstantinoupoleos 2, Ermoupolis, Syros, 84100
Phone: 22810-97179
Email: ixen[αt]aegean.gr
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I am Assistant Professor and member of the Complex Systems and Service Design Lab of the Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering (DPSD) – University of the Aegean, which supports research and academic activities linked to the investigation, understanding, analysis, modeling and design of interventions in complex systems and the design of services at all levels of organizational complexity.
I teach in Design Studios for Product and Interactive Systems in Undergraduate and Postgraduate Studies in the Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering (DPSD) – University of the Aegean. Ι have many years of working experience in the Graphic Design & Printing industry while I am performing artistic work as a visual artist. I have 2 undergraduate degrees in Fine Arts and in Graphic Design, I have completed 2 postgraduate degrees in Fine Arts and in Product and Systems Design and a Ph.D. in the scientific areas of cognitive psychology such as perception and emotions with application in design and aesthetics. I have published several scientific papers in the areas of Philosophical and Theoretical Psychology, Design Theory and Philosophy of Science.
My research interests lie in philosophical and theoretical problems in the areas of Embodied Cognition & Interaction, Emotional & Aesthetic Interaction, Design Theory & Methodologies, and Systems Thinking in Design. My aim is to study individuals’ cognitive abilities to solve complex, ill-defined and open-ended interaction problems that characterize the creative process. Specifically, I focus on explaining the functional role of perceptual and emotional/aesthetic processes as cognitive agents construct and develop design representations (functional ideas) in order to not only to solve, but to learn how to solve such problems in their whole attempt to eliminate their interaction uncertainty.
Research topics
- Philosophy of Science
- Embodied Cognition & Interaction (Enactivism, Constructivism, Interactivism)
- Philosophy of Aesthetics & Aesthetic Science (Experimental Aesthetics, Cognitive Aesthetics, Design Aesthetics, Neuroaesthetics)
- Behavioral Sciences (Cognitive Psychology, Perception, Emotional Theory)
- Design Philosophy
- Systems Thinking in Design
- Design Thinking, Design Theory & Methodologies
- Creative & Aesthetic thinking
- Ill-defined and open-ended problems
- Functional Ideation
Selected Publications
- Xenakis, I. (2018). Reducing uncertainty in sustainable interpersonal service relationships: the role of aesthetics. Cognitive Processing,1-15.
- Xenakis, I. & Arnellos, A., (2017). Aesthetics as evaluative forms of agency to perceive and design reality: A reply to aesthetic realism. New Ideas in Psychology, 47, 166-174.
- Xenakis, I., & Arnellos, A. (2015). Aesthetics as an Emotional Activity That Facilitates Sense-Making: Towards an Enactive Approach to Aesthetic Experience. In A. Scarinzi (Ed.), Aesthetics and the Embodied Mind: Beyond Art Theory and the Cartesian Mind-Body Dichotomy (pp. 245–259). Springer Netherlands.
- Xenakis, I. & Arnellos, A., (2014). Aesthetic perception and its minimal content: a naturalistic perspective. Front. Psychol. 5:1038.
- Xenakis, I. & Arnellos, A., (2013). The relation between interaction aesthetics and affordances. Design Studies, 34(1), 57-73.
- Xenakis, I., Arnellos, A. & Darzentas J., (2012). The Functional Role of Emotions in Aesthetic Judgement. New Ideas in Psychology, 30(2), 212-226.