Service Design: A Panel Discussion on Where We Are and What's Next

As designers we are all aware that our industry has faced significant shifts. While on the one hand our field has matured immensely, and there is more recognition than ever of design’s impact, we have also seen layoffs and restructuring, as well as questions raised by the introduction of generative AI. Our field is not the same as it was in 2020!

To dig deeper into these trends and get a pulse check on the industry, Service Design DC is convening an all-star panel of design leaders from various sectors in our area. We’ll cover topics such as the role of design, our opportunities and challenges, and how design professionals can adapt, thrive and lead in this new and ever-evolving environment. As always, there will be plenty of opportunities for audience participation.

Agenda:
6:00pm Doors Open (light food and refreshments will be served)
6:30pm Program Begins
7:45pm Audience Q+A
8:00pm Program Ends, stay on for social and networking time

About the Moderator:

Yvonne Tran is a Product Design Director who leads a platform design team at the New York Times. With deep and varied experience in strategy, research, and systems thinking, Yvonne previously served as Senior Design Manager at Fannie Mae, where she led a team working on affordable housing research and financial product development. Prior to that, she was a designer at Booz Allen who led the CX measurements program to improve veterans' experience. Yvonne was recently featured on the Service Design Show. Give a listen here.

About the Panelists:

Lora Allen is a Customer Experience (CX) strategist at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Her role is to help internal teams to improve customer experiences using human-centered design and mixed-methods research. In her first year, Lora has focused on helping Trademarks to identify ways to improve its digital products and services. Prior to joining UPSTO, Lora spent two years at Medallia®, serving as a senior consultant to public sector agencies on leading CX initiatives for voice of customer programs and service design projects, including four years as a lead CX strategist at U.S. General Services Administration.

Matt Ford currently drives strategic research at Google, and previously led customer-centered innovation at Amazon Web Services, the U.S. General Services Administration, 500 Global, and JPMorgan Chase. He is an insights and strategy leader who leverages systems thinking, service design, business design, and storytelling to identify and grow new businesses based on emerging customer behaviors and needs. Matt has designed helmets for soldiers in Afghanistan, explored better money management tools for half of US households, created the federal government's first cross-agency journey map, and simplified customer connection for businesses across the world.

Joe Garcia is a design director at Capital One, leading a team focused on enhancing the Capital One Associate experience from the time someone thinks about joining to the time they leave. As a first-generation American with roots in Cuba and Belgium, he is a design strategist skilled in navigating the intersection of cultures and identity and collaborating across groups to work on finding and merging the needs of the business with the needs of people it serves or that work for it.

Dr. Veronica X. Vela is a health leader with deep expertise in population health, human-centered design, and systems redesign. She is passionate about advancing health equity and improving care for multicultural and vulnerable populations. At the Primary Care Coalition, she spearheads efforts to ensure healthcare access for 33,000 uninsured in Montgomery County, MD, focusing on culturally competent care and addressing social determinants of health. Her extensive background includes roles at Kaiser Permanente, Veterans Affairs, and Johns Hopkins Medicine’s social innovation accelerator.

A special thanks to MediaBarn our evening’s host and sponsor!