Vanessa Espinosa

Human being, Service Designer, Visual Designer, and Artist from Peru

Berlin, Germany
Services designed FOR users are no longer needed.

I am passionate about bridging the gap between user needs and public or private service providers to enable the co-creation of meaningful user experiences BY, WITH, and FOR them, always based on their needs.
My previous expertise in different creative fields, ranging from fine arts, graphic design, branding, cultural management, among others; allows me to practice a holistic approach and critical-thinking when researching on systemic issues, planning solutions and implementing services or products.

The core of my work is to achieve a positive impact in our society through the use of a human-centered approach, empathic user research, analytical thinking, interdisciplinary teamwork, participative processes, and innovative ways of doing in the intersection of analog and digital experiences.

#Human-centered design #Interdisciplinarity #Social impact #Participation #Innovation

Work Experience

Ifok

Innovation Consultant Open Government and Digitalization

Applied participatory and design-based methodologies to research, identify, prototype, test and launch solutions for clients at the EU and municipality level. Worked on multiple projects in parallel. Advised and worked together with different clients and teams on a wide range of topics, such as digitalization, innovation in the public sector, citizen participation, mobility, sustainability, infrastructure, etc.
• Facilitated, conceptualized, and organized online workshops involving clients and stakeholders in the public sector.
• Led the research, conceptualization, design, test, and implementation of an online citizen participation website to gather opinions about the future of mobility for citizens in Hamburg. Involved the client, the project team, and the developer in a participatory and innovative process.
https://reallab-hamburg.de/mitmachen/
• Conceptualized a set of workshops for the EU Climate Pact, in order to identify citizens' motivations and barriers when talking about climate change and climate action. Workshops follow a design thinking approach going from research to prototyping.
https://ec.europa.eu/clima/eu-action/european-green-deal/european-climate-pact_en
• Part of the Methodology Competence Team, spreading design-based methodologies within the company and advising project teams al around workshop conception: methodologies, digital tools, strategies, do's and dont's, etc.
• Part of the Innovationsdesign and Co-creation Team.
October 2020 - Present Germany

Deutsche Gesellschaft Für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Consultant User Research, UX Design, Testing

Conducting user research for the design of a user-centered intranet site for the GIZ finance department worldwide. From project planning, through ideation, sketching, IA, UI design, prototyping, and testing of the sites based on modern SharePoint pages.
May 2020 - July 2020 Germany

Deutsche Gesellschaft Für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Trainer on Integrated Digital Applications (IDA) for Latin American and Caribbean countries

(Intern abroad in Colombia, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Mexico)
• Designed training concepts, strategies, and presentations depending on the target and colleagues’ level.
• Trained around 270 colleagues on the use of Microsoft 365 (MS Teams, MS Planner, OneNote, OneDrive for Business, Sharepoint) in 5 countries of Latin American and the Caribbean.
• Studied group dynamics and proposed ways of using digital tools to improve online collaboration.
• Advised on Communication and IT topics as part of the Digital Transformation strategy in the GIZ.
September 2019 - December 2019 Bogotá, Colombia

Deutsche Gesellschaft Für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Kommunikationskonzepte zu digitalen Innovationen der GIZ (Asien/Pazifik und Lateinamerika/Karibik)

(Intern)
Engaged with colleagues in the APLAC regions working on digitalization using design research methodologies like one-to-one interviews and co-creation workshops.
• Co-leaded and conceptualized a workshop to structure the new GIZ intranet (IDA).
• Identified pain-points and key moments to mainstream the use of innovation in the GIZ project lifecycle.
• Designed and managed the production of communication material on digitalization (fact sheets & videos).
March 2019 - Present Germany

Universidad De Lima

Web and Graphic Designer

February 2016 - Peru

Mayo Publicidad

Freelance Graphic Designer

Lima, Peru

IS Creative Studio

Branding and Event organization

Peru

Asamblea Nacional De Rectores

Communication and Graphic Design

Lima, Peru

MAMBO

Graphic Designer

Lima, Peru

Pontificia Universidad Católica Del Perú

Children's Art Teacher

Peru

Education

Pontificia Universidad Católica Del Perú

B.A with Major in Painting and in Graphic Design

2005 - 2010 Arts Faculty (B.A. Painting)
2010 - 2013 Arts Faculty (B.A. Graphic Design)
2005 - 2013 Lima, Peru

KISD (Köln International School Of Design)

M.A Integrated Design

March 2017 - Present Köln, Germany

Languages

Español (Native),
English (Fluent),
German (Advanced),
French (Advanced),

Skills

Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Design Research, Design Thinking, Digital Transformation, Dreamweaver, Figma, Innovation, Research, Service Design, UI, User Centered Design, User Experience, User Interface, Ux,