About

Ece Özdil

— Ciao. I'm a Turkish designer and researcher, currently living in Milan, Italy. I was born in Ankara in 1987; as a child of an engineer father and a pianist mother. I always thought to be good mix of both: analytic and creative, investigative and imaginative.

My passion for arts and ambition in design guided me throughout my professional choices. After getting my Bachelor degree in Visual Arts and Design at Baskent University in 2008, I have moved to Italy for my Double Master’s degree, majoring both in Service System Design and Innovation at Politecnico di Milano and Politecnico di Torino in 2011, being invited to follow the courses of Alta Scuola Politecnica — an interdisciplinary school for your talents.

Since 2011, I am working as a designer, ideating and developing digital services, experiences and interfaces. I have had the pleasure working for international design studios and companies such as Frog Design, Fjord, Continuum Innovation, Spark Reply and Sketchin. Thanks to my interdisciplinary background, my work covers the whole design process being able to be active on immersive research phases that include both desk and field research activities, definition of service and experience design directions, understanding and defining users and their journeys, arriving at the design of the service and experience offer and detailed design for digital products and interfaces.

In addition, both as a researcher and designer, I have been specialised in ‘Design for Cultural Heritage’ where design becomes both method and a “thinking” skill for innovation in the cultural sector in addition to the “classic” skills of design. In these past 5 years, I have also nurtured my expertise in this field by working on EU-funded research projects such as MeLa project, and being a visiting researcher at MACBA Museum’s Archive Department, investigating the impact of digital technologies on the experience of collections and archives inside and outside of the museum's space. During this period, I also have organised design workshops helping institutions and foundations through their digital transformation and audience-engagement activities. Here is a short interview about my work in cultural sector: Design Decode.

I hold a PhD in Design for Cultural Heritage from the Design Department of Politecnico di Milano. A part of my research outcome — a meta-design tool for envisioning an archive experience, is online. 

My experience also guided me to start my own activity and in 2017 I have founded Jüniör, a design action in service for innovation in cultural sector.

— For who is interested in me and my work, some more hints:

My work always has a user/audience centric approach, bringing empathy to their needs and desires.
My design solution has always been guided by research outcomes and insights.
I care about culture, diversity and knowledge and diffusion of these issues.
I believe design should be 'serious-fun' where there is social and/or cultural impact.
I am always inspired by cultural institutions, their holdings and collections.
I always draw, I draw listening, I draw talking, I draw to tell ideas, I draw for fun.
I adore dogs. I have one named 'Combo', which stands for: good fellow.

more importantly than anything, I love my family.

I am always open to talk!