III.
About Me
curiosity. salt. learning. passion. ocean. volcanoes. brave. bold. bom. emphatic. craft. journer. clay. dream. draw. drop. sparkles. sun. growth. woman. scars. brown. balance. sand. growth. boost. movement. more.
My name is Marina, and I’m a Service and Experience Designer and Researcher based in Melbourne.
I grew up near the brave Athlantic ocean, surrounded by volcanoes and influenced by the biology that my mother taught me and mathematics that my father always gave me as a riddle. I think this has left a mark on me.
I’m currently in Wurundjeri land, surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and using design as a tool for good, as a facilitator of new opportunities, as an enabler for connection, as an approach for change, and as a way of life for continuous experimentation. I’m also using research to explore, to learn, to drive action, to increase my own (and others) awareness and to continually challenge my (and others) bias.
Besides loving design and applying it to my life and work, I enjoy my time creating objects with clay and natural materials allowing myself to connect with the land and the moment, letting my feelings flow through the ink on a paper, connecting with people from different cultures or telling stories through photography and travel narratives of the trips that make me so free (you can see more here).
My curiosity and my desire to learn have also inspired my travels and a personal project which explores the concepts and rituals surrounding everyday objects (theobjectjourney), and which make me land to this country.
ABOUT MY PROFESSIONAL CAREER
My journey through design started in 2009, when I moved to study Industrial Design to the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. My journey through creativity and problem solving probably when I was 3 years old and all my questions started with “how” or “why”, and all my dreams were based on a better world.
Today I’m graduated in Industrial Design by ULPG with a Master in Product Design and Product Development by ELISAVA, Barcelona, and a Master in Innovation in Design for Tourism Sector by the University of Barcelona. I have more than 5 years of experience in the field of Human-centred design and I have kept my training and my learning as part of my day to day life, including a Service Design course here in Australia.
Prized in 2014 by Barcelona Centre Design with the project Dulph and Nominated by Elisava Professional in 2014 with the project Barcelona, a modular luminary system.
I’m currently working as a Service Designer for Pod Consulting, enjoying a passionate journey as Associate Professor at the Master of Interaction Design and User Experience, and co-leading the design teams on a volunteer-led program run by Code for Australia, that brings people together to say, “how can we make our communities better?”.
I’m interested in Education, Care (including digital health), and Community, and any intersection of design, technology and social impact.
If you have an opportunity that makes me grow, contact me! I will make sure we grow together.
ABOUT MY VISION
My vision about design and also, about every topic in life, keep evolving overtime time. As for myself and any living beings, it is always on the move. If I would write this section each month, It would be different – and this could be a good experiment!
Moved by curiosity and personal ethics and values, I think the best way to approach a design project is not designing for people, but with people. I‘m an advocate of using co-design principles and process to allow people to gain the voice and add value to what is going to be in their lives and environments.
The impact we can have as a designer is fascinating and must to be used in a conscious and ethic way, giving the best of our self but relying on the real experts of their own life. It is for so I keep increasing my awareness – about bias, ways of doing, judgment, internal process, influences-, update on best practices, and also I keep questioning my practice, to find points of influence where I can improve whether for the outcome or the process.
I’m a person who cares about the environment and relationships, and I think that Human Center Design should start to change its directions, which I mean is that we, designers and people who design and build things, experiences or services, must start to think not just on the people, but also on their connections and in the environment, and start thinking as well in long-term solutions that have a positive impact but that also be flexible enough to adapt to new needs. I think it is our responsibility for the future of tomorrow, how we design and how we live.
My compromise is to take no just a human-centred design approach, but a life-and-community centred design, and start creating frameworks that allow me to look at the big picture, consider influences and impacts and create long term solutions, or brief reliefs, but that in any case, don’t introduce a new problem in the space.
My compromise as well is keeping increasing my awareness and improving my practice, with purpose and direction to a more meaningful, inclusive and accessible way.
ABOUT FRUITS
I love fruits, and if I were a fruit, I will be Panama Passion fruit. Because of its citric taste, its strength, its different textures, its warm colours, its beautiful freckles and above all, for the passion.
How can I help?
I can bring my unique perspective and expertise, I can bring and share my knowledge and I’m flexible enough to adapt, learn and grow!
Here you can see some of the ‘standard’ things I can do
Design Research
Understand the user
Understand the context
Research through co-design
Identify new opportunities
Synthesise insights
Persona and Archetype Studies
Test and validate product and services
Experience Design
Define the strategy
User Experience Mapping
Conceptualization
Value proposition
Information Architecture
Wireframe Design & Userflow Development
Interactive Prototype Design
User Testing & Validate Features
Service Design
Generate Strategy Roadmaps
Customer Experience Mapping
Create Stakeholder map
Ecosystem Understanding
Identify pain points
Create a Service Blueprint
Service Prototyping
Areas I’m passionate about
E D U C A T I O N
Digital Education
Education Experience
Course Experience Design
Learning process
Knowledge
Teaching
Mentoring
C A R E
Self-care
Mental-health
Digital Health
Aged care
Child care
New life experience
End life experience
COMMUNITY
Vulnerable communities
Local inclusion
Social Impact
Cultural Rituals
Inclusivity and Diversity
Relationships and connections
Digital Communities
SAY HELLO
I’m glad to hear from you.