Student Success Story: Elrica Degirmen

Elrica completed our 12-week part-time Service Design course in April 2023 and is currently working as a Senior Service Design Consultant at Human Engine.

We caught up with her recently to see how the course helped her achieve her goals and if she has any pearls of wisdom for any budding service designers.

Tell us a bit more about what you were doing before you decided to pivot into design?

I was starting in the industry working as a service designer for the adult social care department of a local authority.

How was training at Experience Haus different from other providers ?

I liked how at Experience Haus I got to work on a live client brief. During my course it was within the University of Essex’s start-up service. This meant I was able to put the skills I learnt into immediate practice.

What was the highlight of your course?

The amazing help and support from my instructor Jack. I learnt so much from him.

What was the most challenging part of your learning experience?

Nothing for me! I really enjoyed the whole experience and would 100% recommend it.

Job Hunting & Your New Role

Where is your current job and what is your role?

I’m a Senior Service Design Consultant at Human Engine.

How did you find the job search process after you finished the course?

It was difficult due to the lack of my portfolio, however things have now worked out months later and having the training with Experience Haus definitely helped.

What did a typical working day look like for you two years ago?

I was in a non service designer role at a London local authority.

What does a typical working day look like for you now?

I work on a range of service design projects for clients in the public sector.

What are your top 3 tips for preparing for a design interview?

• Refer back to the notes/slides from the Experience Haus course – they have proved invaluable and I refer back to them in my current line of work
• Prepare a range of examples where you have used service design techniques: what were the challenges? How did you resolve them? What insights were you able to gather from service-users and how did you take them through the journey?
• Do your research on the organisation!

What advice do you have for anyone breaking into the industry? Is there anything you wish you’d known when you were first starting out?

Be open to a variety of experiences as that will make you unique and inform your service design practice, and have a think about what kind of services you want to design for.

Get in touch with Elrica

linkedin.com/in/elrica-feride-degirmen/