Dr. Deana McDonagh is a professor of industrial design in the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is also a Health Innovation Professor at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine at UIUC, a , and the founder of the  at the Beckman Institute, which supports interdisciplinary design research centered around the lived experiences of people with disabilities. In 2022, McDonagh won the  for exemplifying excellence and interdisciplinary research collaboration.
As an empathic design research strategist, she focuses on enhancing the quality of life for all through more intuitive and meaningful products, leading to emotional sustainability. Her research concentrates on emotional user-product relationships and how empathy can bring the designer closer to users’ authentic needs, ensuring both functional and emotional needs are met the material landscape.
She is the Designer Entrepreneur-in-Residence (start-up incubator) at the University of Illinois Research Park and the Designer in Residence at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, where she provides design guidance.