Sadaf’s squiggly journey to a career in service design
Sadaf Uddin’s career journey
In this series of Q&As, we’re exploring the fascinating journeys that people take into a service design career, and how a varied career can help make for a better, rounded, service designer.
Sadaf Uddin began her career as a furniture and product designer.
A constant curiosity and a passion for inclusivity and social impact led her to service design, and a role as a service designer for The Children’s Society.
She now works as a service design consultant for Opencast, a B Corp consultancy. Sadaf has twice been named in the Emerald 100 list, an award celebrating talent within British Muslim communities. She has also been a SDinGov conference speaker, workshop host and panellist.
Q: Tell me a bit about your current role – where you are and the kind of thing you do?
I'm currently working as a service designer at Opencast, a consultancy serving key sectors of government, healthcare, and green technology. I’m an advocate for user-centred design, so I was excited to be made the UCD Community co-lead across design practices for six months. I've been working with HMRC, and it’s rewarding to know that we are putting users at the centre of changes, meaning the work will be impactful at a large scale.
Q: What was your career journey to get here and how did you first encounter service design?
The first piece of furniture I designed was a cantilevered seat for young adults who needed an extra boost to get up. It was a contemporary design and the support was integral within the armrest, so it wasn’t obvious it was an aid.
It was the start of me wanting to use my design skills to make a difference and practicing user-centred design, whilst studying contemporary furniture and product design at university.
That interest in inclusivity is a thread I've carried throughout my career.
After university, I had various jobs in design studios and start-ups. I designed and manufactured my own pieces, selling in shops, trade shows, and visiting lectures abroad, whilst using design skills to raise money for natural disasters. This simultaneously inspired me to co-found a studio focused on social impact and sustainability.
I worked in design education, mentoring young people and promoting creative problem-solving and thinking, which I’m still passionate about. I also got involved in hackathons and projects in the UK and abroad – all of which really broadened my perspective and network.
That all led to my first permanent service design role for the Children’s Society. I was there for nearly four years and loved being able to lead on some really innovative projects in the charity sector, to support young people’s wellbeing and improve how people were referred to services – working alongside digital, clinical staff and young people.
Q: How did you go about learning about service design?
It’s been a mix of following my curiosity in the projects I’ve chosen and my experience of using services, taking lots of online short courses in design and related topics like systems practice, UX design, social impact and sustainability.
They were a good basis for independent learning and helped me understand how the different disciplines overlap, but also a great way to meet people who shared similar interests.
The different hackathons I got involved with were also really key to my journey, and a chance to collaborate with people on different causes. For example I took part in hackathons on reducing knife crime; youth homelessness in London; and healthcare in Nigeria.
Another great experience was getting involved in a global design sprint in Portugal by Holis School and Clara Foundation. It took place over 10 days with a very diverse group of people from across the world to look at ways to regenerate the area socially and economically. That was a great opportunity to work alongside experienced creatives including service designers and learn about myself and from them.
The main thing is to trust and value your own curiosity whilst connected in community, because it will lead you on your own journey.
Q: Our theory is that a squiggly line career makes for a better service designer. How is this true for you? What do you think this varied experience has given you in your role as a service designer?
Yes, definitely true.
I think each of those different experiences gave me new insight that is transferable and evolved – into how I think, what I value, how I connect to people, how I like to collaborate, how I’d like to lead and support others. It also gave me answers to questions I didn't know I was asking.
I now realise that all along, a role in service design was what I was actually seeking, but it wasn’t a well known role back then. Service design could be the bridge between 2D and 3D design – connecting physical, visual and digital experiences in ways that ticked all the boxes for me and could have real social impact.
In the last few years, my experiences from personal to professional interlink more. During the beginning of the pandemic I volunteered with a team to design reusable care gowns. Embedding trauma-informed design in a wellbeing hub in London called Time for young people at The Children Society led to me hosting a workshop at SDinGov, exploring Grief work and Slow work through the organisation Slow Work Garden, and endings through the Endineering course.
This all flows back into how I approach and design services.
Q: In your service design career, what work are you most proud to have been a part of? And why?
The first time I had a service designer lead role was a project I did in Pakistan which was particularly pivotal as it really deepened my interest in systems thinking and service design. I was awarded the opportunity to be Designer in Residence for a company called Ideate Innovation. I spent a few months there and led a team working with a hospital client – improving wayfinding in terms of how patients navigated the hospital, enhancing their experience and reducing barriers to access, whilst also reviewing the hospital’s resources and increasing the visibility of their services.
That project really gave me autonomy. It was a deep dive into a new environment and helped solidify my direction as a service designer.
I’m also really proud of a project that was a significant first at The Children’s Society, creating a digital platform called ‘Me Time’ to provide emotional wellbeing support to our young people. We’d identified that there was an opportunity for digital aftercare once the in person service support was finalised. The platform we created meant young people weren’t left to navigate their journey alone, yet also enabled autonomy. It provided a safety net and gave access to support at any time of day or night. It was a truly multidisciplinary project. We used user research to understand both young people’s needs and the charity’s, and we cocreated it with young people at every stage of the project.
Q: What have you found most challenging about practising service design in the different settings you’ve worked in?
I think challenges often arise when there isn’t an acknowledgement of diverse perspectives at the start of a project. It’s not that everyone needs to think the same, but there needs to be an awareness of our different mindsets and ways of working. If you can create space for that and agree on common goals and values, it sets a great foundation to also value what the differences can bring. The same goes for really acknowledging and honouring the pain points of people's experiences – rather than glossing over uncomfortable truths – and then using that honesty to design sustainable solutions.
Q: What advice would you give anyone just starting out or looking to develop their service design career?
Definitely take online courses and short programmes to build foundational knowledge and make connections with others. There are some great paid courses, but there’s also lots of free stuff on platforms like Acumen Academy. Immerse yourself in the field, discussions at events such as Service Design Lab London, conferences to visit and speak. Volunteer on projects or design festivals, hackathons or jams (such as Global Service Jam) to gain practical experience. And reach out to people for coffee to exchange your journeys.
Q: Can you recommend something to read, watch or listen to that might interest someone interested in embarking on a service design career?
I’d recommend starting with yourself. When visiting or using a service:
What do you feel and think?
What do you wish was different?
How are others experiencing this?
And so on. This could be as simple as going to the supermarket, the GP, university or renewing your driving license. Just noticing what you see, hear and watch and understanding this dynamic for yourself is powerful.
Find out more
If you’re starting out in your service design career, whatever your career journey to date, our Introduction to Service Design course is the perfect way to build your understanding of the fundamentals.
Three 2.5-hour sessions introduce service design to people working in public and nonprofit organisations. Learn more
