ELLA ELLIOTT

Design Researcher | Service Design & Innovation Specialist

Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland ella.t.elliott@gmail.com | 085 741 8194
www.ella-elliott.com

PROFILE

Design researcher and strategic practitioner with experience helping public, educational and private-sector organisations understand people, identify opportunities, and design meaningful solutions to complex challenges.

Experienced in qualitative and mixed-methods research, stakeholder engagement, co-design facilitation, service improvement and strategic insight generation. Skilled at translating research findings into actionable recommendations that inform policy, programmes, services and organisational decision-making.

Passionate about human-centred approaches to innovation, public service improvement and designing solutions that create measurable impact for communities and organisations.

CORE EXPERTISE

  • Design Research

  • Service Design

  • Human-Centred Design

  • Qualitative Research

  • Stakeholder Engagement

  • Co-Design Facilitation

  • Workshop Design & Delivery

  • Strategic Insight Generation

  • Public Sector Innovation

  • Programme Evaluation

  • Research Synthesis

  • Project Delivery

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

DesignWorks
Strategy & Research Consultant

May 2025 – May 2026 (FTC)

Supporting strategic client projects through research, insight development and stakeholder engagement activities.

Key contributions:

  • Conduct secondary and exploratory research to identify strategic opportunities and support brand positioning projects.

  • Synthesise research findings into actionable recommendations for clients and internal stakeholders.

  • Collaborate with senior leadership to develop and refine organisational strategy and business development processes.

  • Facilitate strategic discussions and contribute to project planning and delivery across multiple client engagements.

M-CO
Research Consultant

May 2024 – December 2024 (FTC)

Delivered research, evaluation and stakeholder engagement projects focused on sustainability, community development and public-sector innovation.

Key contributions:

  • Designed and implemented research frameworks to inform sustainability and climate action programmes.

  • Conducted stakeholder research and analysis to identify needs, barriers and opportunities for programme development.

  • Developed evaluation methodologies and produced research reports with strategic recommendations.

  • Facilitated engagement activities with diverse stakeholders to support collaborative problem-solving and decision-making.

  • Worked with multidisciplinary teams to design and deliver community-focused initiatives.

Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT)
Research Assistant

July 2022 – March 2024

Supported research projects exploring culture, education, creativity and emerging technologies.

Key contributions:

  • Designed and conducted qualitative and mixed-methods research including interviews, surveys and focus groups.

  • Analysed research findings and synthesised insights into reports, presentations and recommendations.

  • Created visual tools and frameworks to communicate complex findings to diverse audiences.

  • Contributed to participatory design and stakeholder engagement activities across multiple research projects.

  • Supported projects focused on innovation, digital storytelling, entrepreneurship and higher education.

N26
Customer Experience Specialist

January 2020 – August 2020

Supported customers across international markets while generating insights to improve customer experience and product development.

Key contributions:

  • Delivered customer support while identifying recurring pain points and customer needs.

  • Escalated customer insights to product and operational teams to support continuous improvement.

  • Collaborated cross-functionally to improve customer experience processes and service delivery.

  • Worked across culturally diverse customer groups and markets.

Conference Partners International
Programme & Event Manager

September 2015 – August 2019

Designed and delivered conferences and stakeholder engagement programmes across the public sector.

Key contributions:

  • Led programme development and stakeholder coordination for large-scale conferences.

  • Managed programme design, speaker engagement and content development.

  • Facilitated collaboration between government, industry and academic stakeholders.

  • Managed project timelines, budgets and delivery across multiple concurrent programmes.


SELECTED PROJECTS

Waterways Ireland

Climate Action & Sustainability Training

Designed research and analysis activities to identify stakeholder needs and inform the development of sustainability training programmes.

SEAI

Community Benefit Funds Research

Contributed research and strategic guidance to support funding and community engagement approaches.

Maynooth University

Conducted project evaluations using stakeholder engagement, qualitative research and impact assessment methodologies.

FilmEU

Delivered student research, persona development and innovation-focused projects aimed at improving educational experiences and entrepreneurial capability.

Public Design Lab, IADT

Contributed to participatory research exploring creative and community-led development opportunities in Dún Laoghaire.

EDUCATION

MA Design for Change (Social Design), IADT

BA Marketing, Dublin Business School

Diploma in Graphic Design, IACT

REFERENCES

Mark Byrne, Strategy Director, DesignWorks

Simon O’Rafferty, Director, M-CO