Service Design (MA)
Irene Yueh-Ling Liao
Irene is a Service Designer with over 5 years of UX UI Design and User Research experience in the tech industry. My main focus lies on digital transformation and end-to-end user experience. I am passionate about putting design thinking into practice in real-world projects and making an impact on society through a human-centred design approach. I enjoy uncovering hidden human needs, understanding the relationships between stakeholders and creating a cohesive experience that combines the problem-solving aspect of design with a deep empathy for end-users.
I believe service design is a powerful tool to tackle critical problems of the future, help organisations enable a new customer experience, address customer expectations, deal with internal challenges and steer the organisation towards new horizons. Through my design practice, I am fascinated in how to leverage systems thinking, foresight expertise, and strategic business lenses.
Through my design journey in RCA, I have had the chance to address social problems, such as social alienation among young people with Telefonica, reprocessing plastic waste into a durable interlocking brick-cum-tile with CERN, redesigning a bank branch experience for Lloyds, and developing digital wellness for the young generation with BBC. I am also working with Imperial College MBA students on an award-winning project (Reef) that provides a community-based approach for sustainable mobility and accelerates the reduction of CO2 emissions. Currently, I am working on my final project Knock Knock which tackles social isolation in communities promoting social cohesion in order to improve the relationships between residents.
Awards
Jun 2019 - Ministry education in Taiwan - Received a Government Scholarship to Study Abroad
Jun 2019 - Imperial College Business School Entrepreneurship Journey - Best Pitch Idea & Grand Challenge (Reef)
Mar 2019 - Visa Design Hack - 2nd place (Visa Matrix)
Feb 2019 - CERN & Royal College of Art - Grand Challenge with CERN Champions (PLOC)
My work aims to solve real-world problems and design for future scenarios by adopting a systematic design approach, as well as developing solutions based on evidence of user needs and organisational outcomes. Service design plays a key role in humanising products and services to create a better future for all of us.
I believe a good service design should be not only inclusive and accessible to everyone but also encourage positive behaviours from users. As a designer, I am curious to learn how we orchestrate service experiences within economies, technology, human desirability of different scales.
Knock Knock is a special project for me which resonates with my life experiences. I always used to feel disconnected from the place where I lived before because housing providers rarely consider designing houses beyond the house itself. Now as we are in the face of a global pandemic, my intention is to respond to social isolation through shaping urban living experience in this project. By conducting a lot of research, I have learned about people’s lifestyles in different communities, and their motivations and concerns in relation to living experiences. I believe that creating a community among residents will bring tangible benefits to their lives. Knock Knock aims to reshape residents’ experiences by providing tools to empower people and making communities more resilient to change. The whole idea is to help people have more meaningful relationships within their communities, encouraging collaboration and sharing.
Looking toward the future, I am looking for opportunities that align with my interests in social innovation, design ethics, and socio-economics. I see myself as a facilitator, enabling collaboration and turning visions into practical solutions. I hope to make a difference in society by addressing user expectations, breaking down silos and creating value for businesses and society.
Knock Knock - Let's explore your community
This project aims to explore "how we can build stronger social layers in communities across the UK by increasing local social opportunities available to current and future residents". This is because social alienation, isolation and disconnection has become an urgent issue among individuals in urban spaces although population density is getting higher. This can partly be as a result of living digitally invaded lives, a highly commercialized approach to development and the psychological barriers to developing trust and channels which allow people to share, connect and collaborate.
In light of the existing global pandemic, these issues demand an urgent response. The emerging and increasing needs of society and industries during and following the COVID-19 pandemic include; addressing cohesion, increasing social connection, and enabling greater access to existing assets within communities for improved resilience and increased opportunities for collaboration, sharing and support.
Supervised by Clive Grinyer and Andrea Edmunds
Size:
6 months (JAN-JUN 2020)In Collaboration with:
Archetype Matrix
User story
We also interviewed a range of residents to gain their perspective. "I feel quite lonely since I just moved into my building and I don’t know how to meet more people” said one Walsall resident. Similar sentiments were echoed by others who they felt it was difficult to interact with other residents. So we asked ourselves, "can the future of housing services be a socially enabled resident experience with increased opportunities for sharing, collaboration and support?"
Knock Knock - Social kit
Knock Knock - Digital Platform
Based on our qualitative research, our hypothesis suggested that a conscious approach to introduce people to their communities and integrate them with space will promote stronger social cohesion. Social cohesion can be measured based on the strength of social relationships, characterized by the presence of trust and participation among individuals within that society. So, how might we design an enabling experience that meets resident needs?
Knock Knock Experience - How does it work in a community?
Co-creation Workshop - Identified the scenario, defined target audience, and brainstormed ideas
Co-creation Workshop - Identified the scenario, defined target audience, and brainstormed ideas
In Collaboration with:
Value Exchange - What value are we trying to create for the ecosystem?
Knock Knock Effect-What kind of outcome are we looking for?
Through access to Knock Knock’s tools, community stakeholders, housing groups and residents will be able to co-create their path to higher community cohesion through increased ownership of their community experiences and increased sharing, collaboration and support amongst stakeholders.
We believe that enhancing customer satisfaction will lead to better sharing of operational burden with fewer residents depending on organizational support to solve problems. From our research we’ve also identified that this can increase tenancy terms of residents, creating a win-win situation for both residents and housing service providers. We also speculate that Knock Knock’s extended community partnerships with local businesses, local council services and local community activities like clubs will improve wealth circulation in the local economy and make communities more resilient to change in the long run.
