Can you please introduce yourself?
I am a Service and UX Designer, American, living and living and working in Paris, France.
Can you tell us a little bit about your background before joining Strate?
Three years prior to beginning the Smart Cities master’s program at Strate, I graduated from the Fine Arts program at Florida State University in the United States. My foundations being in painting and illustration. Parallel to my studies at this time, I launched my own entrepreneurial project, and following graduation, moved to Paris to pursue new avenues in project management and web design. After a few years navigating life in a new city and country, I decided I would like to reinforce my education in design.
Can you tell us more about your graduation project?
My graduation project, CITAVIS, is a proposal for an online platform that applies the concept of a design system to public services and politics, to put the citizen-centric design process at the center of public service and create actionable components out of political processes.
Master in Design for Smart Cities project: CITAVIS
Design in the public sector is activism, and CITAVIS will provide the supporting structure for collaborative change.
What can you tell us about your experience at Strate?
Strate is an institution of immense resources, and values learning through discovery. During my time in the program, I had courses ranging from web design and 3D animation to urban and public design. Historically an industrial design school, Strate applies its product design approach to urban design: the city and its services as a product, and citizens its users. It is with this framework that we were able to approach systemic problem solving in our many practical projects, with a variety of private corporate partners and public institutions. It’s a lot of work making proposals for a client like the Paris Region, but the experience is indispensable.
What did you do after Strate?
After my coursework at Strate, I became a freelance service design consultant for a 6-month project with Michelin, before working briefly as a service designer with a young design agency. I am now, 4 months after receiving my diploma, Lead Designer, in charge of method and product design for a consulting company in Paris.
What connection can you make today between the training you received at Strate and your job?
I would say Strate gave me the practical training that was necessary to use design as a problem-solving approach, not limited my tools or methods. Strate taught me how to think, and I manage and develop projects today with this foundation.
What would you say to students who want to apply to Strate and more precisely to the master’s in design for Smart Cities?
This program is for anyone passionate about the future of design, and for those who want to take charge of their education. Prepare to work hard and go into it at full speed ahead!
