Design Thinking
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Research
Portfolio
Design Thinking & Research
Bringing structure to creativity - and creativity to structure
Design Thinking isn’t tied to one field - it’s a mindset that can be applied to anything from different types of craft and arts and cultural experiences to services, products and business. The Double Diamond framework is at the core of my process: it provides structure while still allowing space for creativity, experimentation, and insight.
In this section, you’ll find examples of how I’ve used Design Thinking within the arts and cultural sector (my biggest passion) but the same mindset and methods can be applied across industries. I’m especially drawn to the research and ideation phases where understanding people deeply leads to creating something meaningful.
Curiosity drives my work, and I truly believe there’s always a way forward, and always something worth discovering!
Scroll down to explore my process and work
BeatrizGR Social Art Studio x Museum Ovartaci:
Exploring Impact Through Design Thinking
About the Project
I carried out this impact research project as a researcher using a design thinking methodology, in collaboration with BeatrizGR Social Art Studio as part of Museum Ovartaci’s Ung I Dag (Young Today) initiative in Aarhus, Denmark.
From August 2024 to March 2025, BeatrizGR Social Art Studio facilitated bi-weekly creative workshops for young people, focusing on themes of art, sustainable living, and community. The process culminated in a participatory, community-driven art installation presented at Museum Ovartaci in March 2025.
My research focused on understanding what kind of impact this artistic process had on the young participants and the broader community — why it mattered, how the experience unfolded, and what insights it could offer for future socially engaged art and design projects.
Challenge
Measuring the impact of an art project on both its participants and the wider audience required creative and experimental research methods. The study focused on two main areas:
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Youth participation – How did the project affect the lives of the young participants? Did the process have an empowering effect on them?
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Audience experience – How was the final community-driven art installation experienced by museum visitors? What kind of emotional, social, or reflective impact did the artwork have on them?
These questions shaped the focus of the research and guided how I used design thinking as a method to explore and understand the project’s impact.
Tools/Skills
Design Thinking · User Research · Autoethnography · Experimental Methods · Co-creation · Experience Research · Ideation · Thematic Interviews · Observation · Double Diamond Process · Visual Design · Production · Audience Feedback
What I brought to the project
User-centered research mindset, design thinking methodology, and creative experimentation.
Outcome
The project demonstrated how socially engaged art can be a powerful tool for inclusion, emotional growth, and meaningful participation. For young people, the process supported self-confidence, resilience, and a sense of belonging by turning personal expression into a shared, visible outcome.
The final installation functioned not just as a piece of art, but as a reflective, emotional space — a temporary community that sparked connection, empathy, and dialogue among visitors.
This research shows the value of designing with intention: when art and participation come together thoughtfully, the result is both socially impactful and emotionally resonant. Institutions and organizations can use these insights to create more inclusive, engaging, and human-centered cultural experiences.
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This project was highly multifaceted. In addition to conducting research, I contributed to the design and production of the installation art work and created the visual identity for the exhibition.
How do you measure something that’s mostly invisible?
Curious about what was actually researched, how it was done, and what came out of it?
Below you’ll find the full research material
Feel free to dive deep
Can uncertainty turn into something powerful?
This research dives into the experiences of young participants throughout the project, from quiet observation moments to deep interviews, creative probes, and finally a shared art installation. It explores what was felt, learned, challenged, and transformed along the way - and how uncertainty turned into confidence and connection.
You’ll find tools like empathy maps, key insights, quotes from participants, and reflections from the final exhibition.
What happens when strangers toss
their feelings into jars?
explore how the final art installation impacted its audience, a simple, anonymous “evaluation station” right next to the piece was set up — and let people respond with total freedom.
This part of the research dives into what people felt, saw, and shared in the moment. From handwritten reflections to emotional surprises, the responses revealed how art can create space for connection, recognition, and even vulnerability.
Approach, Process & Methods
How do you study something you can’t easily measure?
This part of the project digs into the thinking behind the doing. It walks you through the research focus, goals, questions, and the design thinking framework used to explore them - including a closer look at the Double Diamond process.
You’ll also find the full method breakdown: how the research was done in practice, and why certain tools were chosen to make sense of the emotional, social, and often intangible impact of the project.
Why this research matters?
This type of research offers cultural institutions and other organizations a deeper understanding of impact, practical tools for designing inclusive experiences, and valuable evidence for funding, strategic planning, and future engagement.
Deeper understanding of participant experience
Design thinking–based research helps organizations move beyond assumptions to truly understand how people engage with and respond to experiences, products, and services. These insights enable the development of solutions that are more relevant, impactful, and audience/customer-centered.
A scalable model for participatory design
Using design thinking as a research method, the project offers a flexible framework that can be adapted to other settings. It helps institutions plan participatory initiatives with clarity, intention, and measurable goals.
This research makes visible the kinds of effects that are often hard to capture - like emotional growth, empowerment, and social connection. It gives institutions concrete tools and language to evaluate, communicate, and develop the impact of their programs more intentionally.
Evidence of impact
Stronger connections with audiences
Design-driven research like this helps organizations understand how audiences connect with experiences on an emotional and social level. By uncovering what resonates and why, this kind of work supports the creation of more engaging, inclusive, and human-centered cultural offerings.
Urban Art Association Mimmit ry. / Mimmit peinttaa Street Art Collective:
Translating Street Art into Strategic Digital Presence
About the Project
This project was a research-based design process created to support the growth and professional development of Mimmit peinttaa, a Finnish street art collective known for its community-driven approach and bold visual work. Using Design Thinking, Service design and the Double Diamond model, the project involved an in-depth research phase combining interviews, observation, benchmarking, and autoethnographic methods to understand the needs of users, clients, and the wider street art scene.
Through this research, it became clear that the collective’s existing website no longer supported their goals, users, or identity. As a result, the key design opportunity was to rethink the website experience from the ground up.
The outcome was a digital prototype and strategic design guidelines for a renewed website. These were not just visual suggestions, but grounded in extensive user research. The final concept improves usability, highlights the collective’s artistic expertise, and helps position Mimmit peinttaa more clearly for both community work and professional collaborations, in Finland and internationally.
The project was carried out in 2023 and also served as the final project for my design studies.
Challenge
The main challenge was to deeply understand the unique needs of both the street art community and professional clients. This required extensive research to uncover hidden user needs and to create a digital presence that truly reflects the collective’s identity while improving usability and accessibility. Balancing artistic values with commercial goals was also a key complexity.
Tools/Skills
Design Thinking · Service Design · User Research · Customer Understanding · Autoethnography · Thematic Interviews · Observation · Benchmarking · Double Diamond Process · UX/UI Design · Information Architecture · Brand Alignment
What I brought to the project:
A research-driven approach, deep subcultural insight, and a strong focus on user-centered design.
Outcome
The project’s extensive research phase was key to understanding the unique needs of both the street art community and the client’s diverse audiences. Without a deep understanding of user needs, it is impossible to design solutions that truly serve them - this insight lies at the core of design thinking. The research guided a strategic redesign of the website, resulting in clear design guidelines that help communicate the collective’s identity, values, and goals through their new site.
These outcomes help the client better communicate their unique identity and professional expertise, making their artistic services accessible to both community members and corporate clients. The redesigned website guidelines provide practical tools that support ongoing development, marketing, communication and supporting the collective’s goals for growth and international collaboration.
The design guidelines serve as a practical roadmap for their future website development, marketing, and brand consistency - all grounded in real user needs and industry insights. This ensures that the collective’s digital tools will remain relevant, effective, and adaptable over time.
In short, the research-driven design delivers lasting value by making the client’s expertise visible and accessible, increasing opportunities for new projects, partnerships, and income streams, while strengthening their position in the urban art scene.
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This project involved many roles beyond design research and developing the website and online presence. I collaborated on to workshop planning and facilitation, production, the creation of a community artwork and creating content for social media.
The full project and research is available (in Finnish) here
Below you can see the design thinking process and outcome for the
Translating Street Art into Strategic
Digital Presence- project,
mapped onto the Double Diamond framework.
The goal of the Discover phase was to gain a broad, external perspective on the client’s activities and the street art field, in order to identify challenges and opportunities for development. The focus was on gathering diverse insights to better understand the collective’s operations, users, and environment.
Discover Phase – Understanding the Context
In the Define phase, the goal was to identify the association’s core challenges and sharpen the focus of the development work. This phase deepened the understanding of Mimmit peinttaa’s mission, values, and aspirations—especially in relation to their target audiences and professional goals.
Define Phase – Clarifying the Challenge
Problem solving in the Double Diamond process ensures solutions are rooted in real user needs, making them more effective and meaningful.
In this phase, research insights were translated into concrete ideas and structured development steps, with the goal of exploring solutions and defining clear directions for the new website. A key decision was to position Mimmit peinttaa as its own brand with a separate domain, allowing more targeted messaging. Using affinity diagramming, key themes were identified to shape the UX/UI, while goals for both B2B clients and subculture enthusiasts helped prioritize content and features. The MoSCoW method guided feature prioritization, turning insights into focused design direction.
Develop: From Insights to Direction
In this phase, research insights were transformed into practical design assets. A sitemap structured content clearly using the L.A.T.C.H. principle, while a style tile set the visual direction with consistent typography, colors, and UI elements. A prototype demonstrated the site’s structure and tone, serving as a tool for testing and feedback.
Deliver: Turning Research into Action
The final outcome was a set of research-based design guidelines that provide the client with a strong foundation for a clear, accessible, and professional online presence - enabling them to communicate their identity, reach new audiences, and grow through future collaborations.
