Lien Tran

Associate Professor // Design, Game Development
School of Design
Lien Tran

Bio and Research Information

Lien Tran (she, her, hers) is an associate professor of games and design at DePaul University's School of Design in the Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media. She is director of Matters at Play, a transdisciplinary design lab partnering in the creation of interactive advocacy solutions for positive social transformations (particularly in the areas of social justice, public health, and the environment). She is an award-winning designer who has serious fun teaching how to distill real-world complexity into interactive systems and as well as creating transformational experiences. Her design portfolio includes online and game-based tools for organizations such as Open Society Foundations, World Bank, and United Nations and a variety of interactive and game-based tools with collaborators in health education, human rights law, and geography/GIS. Professor Lien Tran received her M.F.A. in Design and Technology from Parsons School of Design at The New School in New York, NY, and her B.B.A. in Information Technology with a minor in Computer Science from The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. To find out more about Lien's work and activities please visit lienbtran.com and Mattersatplay.com

Research Area

Design, Game Development

Specific Research Area

game design design strategy transformational game design transdisciplinary design social impact design games for change game preproduction human centered design design thinking

Schedule for Winter 2024-2025

Courses Taught at DePaul

Course Evaluations