Filip Bircanin

I’m Filip, a design researcher in London specialising in accessibility. I design with- not just for- people.

I work across diverse disability communities ::: people with learning disabilities, autistic people, and adults living with aphasia after stroke.

I started out as a low-tech service designer in 2005. In a young, enterprising NGO team, we practised social innovation every day. Collaborations with universities and agencies pulled me into research, eventually leading to a degree in Cognitive Science.

For the past eight years I’ve chased one thread: communication. How do you say you’re in pain without speech? How do you follow media with no language? How do you stay informed when comprehension dips? How do you apply for government benefits when systems are text-heavy and overwhelming?

Since 2024 I’ve used GenAI in my work - curious, but cautious and critical.

I’ve worn many hats: social scientist, cognitive scientist, social innovator, and interaction designer. My projects are not tech-deterministic; they live in messy, real-world contexts.