Peter Schumacher

Research Interests

Design Design Practice and Management Design practice and methods Human Factors

Teaching Strengths

Human-centred design
Anthropometry for applied design
Materials and processes for manufacturing
Physical prototyping for design development
Digital-analogue technologies for making

Dr Peter Schumacher

Senior Lecturer

School of Art and Design

College of Creative Arts, Design and Humanities

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD as Principal Supervisor - email supervisor to discuss availability.

Available For Media Comment.

Peter Schumacher is a Senior Lecturer in Product / Industrial Design, he has previoulsy worked as an industrial designer in Australia and internationally. He has extensive experience in applying human factors and human centred design for usability in high fucntion/high stakes environments. 
He is currently the chief investigator on a project with the DST to develop human centred design methods to improve habitability on board Australia's future submarines, as part of this he has also worked with Lockheed Martin Australia, SAAB and Naval Group Australia.
Peter has also worked on medical devices, lighting, outdoor furniture and aged care and his furniture work has won international competitions in Japan, Sweden and the USA. 
His PhD from the Australian National University was on the design of pictorial assembly instructions for use in developing countries and on methods of researching and codifying knowledge for human-technology interaction design.

Peter Schumacher is an industrial designer, researcher, and educator with more than 27 years of experience at the University of South Australia and Adelaide University. His work focuses on human-centred design, applied anthropometry, human factors, and the design of complex and extreme environments.

A former Program Director of Industrial Design, Peter has led curriculum development and contributed to design education for over two decades. His research-through-design practice partners with government and industry to develop evidence-based design solutions, with particular expertise in submarine habitability, control room design, and defence applications.

Peter has secured more than $4 million in research funding and has led projects with organisations including Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG), Lockheed Martin Australia, Saab, and Hills Industries. His work has received national and international recognition, establishing him as a leading expert in submarine habitability, naval human factors, and applied anthropometry.  

He is member of the The Australian Research Centre for Virtual and Interactive Environment (IVE),  a world leader in Augmented (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) research.

Date Position Institution name
2000 - 2025 Senior Lecturer University of South Australia
1998 - 1999 Industrial Designer studio ARKeTYPE

Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount
2019 Award Pathways to Impact – Research Partnership University of South Australia Australia -
2018 Award Ken Provins Award Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia Inc. Australia -
2016 Award Red Dot Award Red Dot Award Australia -
2015 Award Premier’s Award Design Institute of Australia Australia -
2015 Award Chicago Furniture Fair Innovation Award Chicago Furniture Fair United States -
2010 Award Green Furniture Award Green Furniture Sweden Sweden -
2002 Award Furniture Design Competition for the International Furniture Design Fair Asahikawa, Bronze Leaf International Furniture Design Competition Asahikawa Japan -

Date Institution name Country Title
2003 - 2011 Australian National University Australia PhD
1992 - 1995 University of South Australia Australia Bachelor of Design (Industrial Design) Honours
1989 - 1991 University of Adelaide Australia Bachelor of Architecture

Year Citation
2013 Schumacher, P. (2013). A pattern language for pictorial assembly instructions (PAIs). Information design journal, 20(2), 111-135.
DOI Scopus6
2009 Schumacher, P. C. (2009). Pictorial Communication in Developing Countries: A Literature Review. Visual: Design: Scholarship Research Journal of the Australian Graphic Design, 4(1), 41-68.
2007 Schumacher, P. C. (2007). Creating effective illustrations for pictorial assembly instructions. Information Design Journal, 15(2), 97-109.
DOI Scopus7
2006 Bucher, H. J., & Schumacher, P. (2006). The relevance of attention for selecting news content. An eye-tracking study on attention patterns in the reception of print and online media. Communications, 31(3), 347-368.
DOI Scopus153

Year Citation
2025 Nguyen, H. C., Cunningham, A., Schumacher, P., & Walsh, J. A. (2025). From Boxes to Blueprints: An Investigation of User Expectations and Design Strategies for Spatial Augmented Reality UX/UI. In Proceedings 2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops Vrw 2025 (pp. 758-762). US: IEEE COMPUTER SOC.
DOI
2023 Schumacher, P., Fraysse, F., Matthews, B., Modra, S., Smith, R., Thewlis, D., . . . Bevan, J. (2023). A virtual reality experiential prototyping tool for the application of anthropometry in complex, confined human environments. In Conference Proceedings: From Abstractness to Concreteness – experiential knowledge and the role of prototypes in design research (pp. 509-525). Italy: Politecnico di MIlano.
2019 Schumacher, P. (2019). Applied anthropometry and human centred design for isolated complex confined extreme environments. In W. Short, I. Cairns, & F. Menk (Eds.), Proceedings of the 19th Australian Space Research Conference (pp. 1-13). Australia: National Space Society of Australia.
2019 Schumacher, P., & Banks, S. (2019). A human centred approach to optimise human performance in complex marine environments and habitable spaces.. In RINA, Royal Institution of Naval Architects - IMC 2019: Pacific International Maritime Conference (pp. 1-10). Australia: Royal Institution of Naval Architects.
2018 Schumacher, P. (2018). Developing a human-centered design and assurance methodology for future submarine internal spaces. In HFESA 2018 The many faces of human factors & ergonomics (pp. 1-31). Australia: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia.
2017 Walker, A., & Schumacher, P. (2017). Co-designing an arthritis nurse-call device, with lead aged-care users. In F. Rebelo, & M. Soares (Eds.), Advances in Ergonomics in Design: Proceedings of the AHFE 2017 International Conference on Ergonomics in Design Vol. 588 (pp. 274-285). Switzerland: Springer.
DOI Scopus1
2011 Thomas, B. H., Von Itzstein, G. S., Vernik, R., Porter, S., Marner, M. R., Smith, R. T., . . . Schumacher, P. (2011). Spatial augmented reality support for design of complex physical environments. In Proceedings of the 2011 IEEE international conference on pervasive computing and communications workshops (pp. 588-593). US: IEEE.
DOI Scopus17
2010 Porter, S. R., Marner, M. R., Smith, R. T., Zucco, J., Thomas, B. H., & Schumacher, P. C. (2010). Spatial augmented reality for interactive rapid prototyping. In Proceedings of 20th International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence : ICAT 2010 (pp. 110-117). Japan: Virtual Reality Society of Japan.
2009 Schumacher, P. C. (2009). A pattern language for the design of pictorial assembly instructions. In 17th world congress of ergonomics IEA 2009 (pp. 1-10). China: International Ergonomics Association.
2009 Schumacher, P. C., & Trathen, S. (2009). Changing the structure of industrial design education from four year Bachelor's degrees to Undergraduate plus Masters degrees in the Australian context. In L. Justice, Y. Y. Lam, & Y. S. Yung (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2009 DesignEd Asia conference: forget the future, what are today's design education issues? (pp. 1-17). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Design Center.
2008 Schumacher, P. (2008). Capturing emergent knowledge from design practice for human interaction usability. In 44th Annual Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia Conference 2008 Hfesa 2008 (pp. 154-161).
2001 Schumacher, P. C. (2001). A cyber-punk of craft in the future. In R. Crocker (Ed.), Designing Minds: Contemporary Issues in Craft, Design and Industry. Adelaide: University of South Australia.

Year Citation
2016 Walker, A. W., White, R. W., Weiss, D., Schumacher, P. C., McLean, D., Freney, M. H. P., . . . Hooper, T. J. (2016). US20160125728, Patient alarm systems and device therefor.
  • In relation to Nuclear Powered Submarine Habitability Optimisation - Defence Science & Technology Organisation, 01/07/2026 - 31/06/2029
  • LOTE Ergonomic Jig, ASC PTY LTD, 14/11/2025 - 20/03/2026
  • Saab MFC 3000 Styling Refinement - Stage 2, SAAB Australia Pty Ltd, 14/10/2025 - 28/11/2025
  • MFC 3000 Styling Refinement, SAAB Australia Pty Ltd, 27/08/2025 - 28/11/2025
  • Saab - Model Making, SAAB Australia Pty Ltd, 12/11/2024 - 31/12/2024
  • QuantX - Quantum Clock 19' Rack Facia, QuantX Labs Pty Ltd, 17/10/2024 - 31/10/2024
  • Saab Future Operator Workstation Development Project, SAAB Australia Pty Ltd, 03/06/2024 - 30/08/2024
  • Enhancing the habitability proposition for Collins Class Submarine crew - Collins Class Habitability Project Part 2, Cwth Dept of Defence, 01/09/2023 - 28/06/2024
  • Human Systems and Industrial Design Research into launch and recover systems, Defence Science and Technology Group, 15/01/2024 - 15/06/2024
  • iMove 6-002 - Human size variation for design, iMove Australia Limited, 01/02/2022 - 30/01/2024
  • Saab Australia MFC for High Shock Class - Anthropometric Study, SAAB Australia Pty Ltd, 27/11/2023 - 22/12/2023
  • Saab Future Operator Workspace Design Development, SAAB Australia Pty Ltd, 17/02/2023 - 30/11/2023
  • Developing a human-centred design and assurance methodology for future submarine internal spaces, Defence Science & Technology Organisation - Business & Commercialisation Office, 01/01/2017 - 31/10/2019

Courses I teach

  • ARCH 2003 - Industrial Design Studio 3b - Human Factors and Usability
  • ARCH 2005 - Industrial Design Studio 4a - Production and Structures
  • ARCH 2009 - Industrial Design Studio 4b - Production and Sustainability
  • COMP 1012 - Materials and Processes for Fabrication

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2025 Principal Supervisor Framework for scaling a network of design and distributed manufacturing ecosystems to deliver appropriate Assistive Technology in low and middle income countries Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ray Mines
2021 Co-Supervisor Exploring the impact of submarine watchkeeping schedules on sleep, cognitive performance, and subjective sleepiness and mood Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Ms Isabella Cathy Marando

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2022 - 2026 Co-Supervisor UI design principles in spatial augmented reality: practical world building within constrained spaces Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Ha Chau Nguyen

Date Institution Department Organisation Type Country
2021 - 2021 Women's and Children's Hospital Development Health services and related Australia
2019 - 2019 Lockheed Martin Australia Human Factors Business and professional Australia
2018 - 2025 Saab Australia Engineering Business and professional Sweden
2014 - 2015 Hills Limited Product Development Business and professional Australia

Date Topic Presented at Institution Country
2025 - ongoing Design & Digital Manufacturing - DFEEST, Intel US, RiAus and Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT) Australia
2025 - ongoing Applied Anthropometry for Naval Architecture Bath BMT United Kingdom
2023 - ongoing Applying Anthropometry for Naval Architecture  - Royal Institute for Naval Architecture United Kingdom
2022 - ongoing Human Centered Design for Naval Architecture - Royal Australian Naval Architects Institute Australia
2021 - ongoing Human Centered & Co-Design In Practice for Complex Confined Human Environments Musculoskeletal Disorder Symposium – Safety by design – building workplace capability. Queensland Rail Australia
2020 - ongoing Human Centered Design for complex confined human environments and their link with social isolation Museum of Discovery University of South Australia Australia
2018 - ongoing Habitability Design - BMT Australia

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