Innovation is a team sport – Catherine Greene, Satellite Applications Catapult

Innovation is a team sport: how UCD connects user needs, technical capability and business reality
by Catherine Greene, Head of User Centred Design at Satellite Applications Catapult

Innovation rarely happens in isolation. In the space sector, new ideas are often driven by technological possibility, but real impact depends on connecting those possibilities to genuine user needs, operational realities, and viable routes to adoption. In this kind of environment, user centred design has an important role to play not just in shaping solutions, but in helping different disciplines work together to define the right problems in the first place.

In this talk, Catherine will share how her UCD team works at the intersection of users, technology and strategy within the UK space sector. Through examples from projects in transport, agriculture and environmental monitoring, she will reflect on the role of design as a connector between disciplines, and on the skills, mindset and in person collaboration needed to help innovation deliver real value.

Key takeaways:

• The role of UCD in connecting user needs, technology, and business goals
• How designers can help teams make sense of complex systems and competing perspectives
• What it takes to work as an effective translator and bridge builder across disciplines
• Lessons from applying UCD in the space sector

About Catherine Greene:
Catherine is a Design Leader with 20 years of experience in user centred design. She leads the User Centred Design team at the Satellite Applications Catapult, one of the few, if not the only, design teams working at the heart of the UK space sector. Her team focuses on ensuring that space derived data and services create meaningful value for people and planet, whether through more sustainable land use, more resilient health systems, or enabling climate adaptation. Through service design, Catherine helps organisations navigate complexity, bringing together stakeholder perspectives and translating user needs into practical and adoptable solutions.

This is an online event.
The talk will start at 7.30pm sharp, please. Join the call a few minutes earlier if you can.

UX Oxford is sponsored by Fruto, Experience Design Consultancy based in Oxford, UK.