Rania Svoronou
Design Thinking
Problem-Solving Strategy | Thinking Outside the Box | Meeting your Customer’s Needs
Rania Svoronou
Executive Design Director, IBM Consulting
Rania is an award-winning design leader, who started as a graphic designer in Athens, Greece, studied and worked in London, UK and is now an Executive Design Director and an IBM Inventor at IBM Consulting based in New York & Miami. She is a keynote / TEDx speaker, guest lecturer, and industry mentor at some of the world’s best universities and has been invited to judge and mentor across the world. Rania aims to help bridge the gap between design and business and empower more women into the world of design & technology.
Her work at the intersection of design, business, and technology won her numerous recognitions, such as the Rising Star award by Consulting Magazine, that highlights professionals under 35 who are redefining the consulting profession globally. She also made it to the Business Insider “Top 40 Rising Stars of Madison Ave” list who are revolutionizing advertising. In 2022, she was honored to be selected as one of Greek America’s 40 under 40, recognizing professionals who have excelled not only professionally but also philanthropically.
Rania believes in designing for humanity and not for the sake of technology.
Career Highlights
- Campaign Magazine Future Creative Leaders 2019
- Top 100 Tech Women UK 2018
- The Drum TOP 50 under 30 UK 2018
- Featured on The Times, BBC, Fortune, Huffington Post, The Evening Standard, The Drum, People, WIRED, TechCrunch
Why is it worth attending?
“Design Thinking is a wonderful catalyst for change and evolution”
- You enrich your creative way of thinking by adopting new methodologies and techniques that are in use today by the biggest businesses in the world.
- You learn ways to focus on solving the real problems of your clients, creating innovative solutions and experiences that correspond better to their needs.
- You contribute to the development of a culture of innovation to your team that cultivates empathy and co-creation.
- You increase the productivity and the competitive advantage of your department and your company.
Agenda
- 09:00 – 09:30 Registration & Early-morning Networking
- 09:30 – 09:45 Introduction - Opening Remarks
- 09:45 – 11:15 Session 1: Introduction to Design Thinking — What is Design Thinking and why is it so popular? What are the Design Thinking phases. How to focus on Humans, not products.
- 11:15 – 11:40 Coffee & Networking Break
- 11:40 – 13:10 Session 2: Enterprise Design Thinking — Learn about IBM’s Enterprise Design Thinking which is a framework to solve users’ problems at the speed and scale of the modern enterprise.
- 13:10 – 13:50 Lunch & Networking Break
- 13:50 – 15:20 Session 3: Big Ideas, Prioritization Grid — Any idea without an execution is just an idea. Prioritizing your ideas and choosing what’s best based on your situation is fundamental.
- 15:20 – 15:45 Coffee & Networking Break
- 15:55 – 17:15 Session 4: Personas & Empathy Maps — It’s important to remember that you are not your users. Through Personas & Empathy maps you’ll learn how to empathize with your users. Includes Q/A session.
*All sessions include exercises / Q&A