Experience

I have 10+ years of experience harnessing design thinking to envision new possibilities across a range of industries.

Conceptualize.

Problems are my purpose, they drive me to envision new possibilities and create experiences that have a tangible impact. I love working with people to discern their needs and desires, understand the context, and build compelling products and services that stem from these human behaviors.

Design.

My quest to solve thorny problems has taken me from designing a new city in Saudi Arabia to scaling startups across 25 emerging market countries and most recently galvanizing a century-old carmaker through a paradigm shift from selling products to designing experiences and sustaining customer relationships beyond point-of-sale.

Scale.

My portfolio highlights my multidisciplinary design background and research methodology, honed at Harvard GSD, think tanks across Europe, working on new ventures in emerging markets, and most recently with IDEO and Ford Motor Company where I lead project teams through the design thinking process to guide the strategy and design of new autonomous vehicle services, micromobility products, and connected vehicle experiences.

Corporate Strategy

  • North Star vision for America’s most-sold vehicle

    Defined the future of the F-150 BEV owner experience; led immersive research sprints with customers in TX, CO, WA, OR, NV, and CA, regularly sharing insights with the CEO to inform product strategy.

  • Mobility portfolio strategy for Ford board of directors

    Worked cross-functionally with organizations to highlight new business opportunities.

    [with SPIN, IDEO, and Ford Smart Mobility]

  • Urban innovation strategy for CEO of Emaar Properties

    Designed an urban plan to produce a more moderate society within Saudi Arabia, cultivating home-grown innovation.

    [Emaar Properties]

  • Large-scale organizational change for Ford Motor Company

    Scaled a human-centered design organization within Ford, guiding and inspiring teams to uncover meaningful insights that drive great design and innovation.

    [with IDEO]

  • A sustainability roadmap for new city project

    Developed a framework for institutionalizing green design in a large scale development.

    [King Abdullah Economic City]

UX + Service Design

  • Connected hands-free driving experiences to transition to full autonomous driving

    Designed connected services to leverage today’s discrete Driver Assist Technologies (DAT) and build new experiences as the breadcrumbs to full hands-free autonomous driving.

    [with Ford Motor Company]

  • Corporate beta program for over-the-air updates

    Designed and piloted a beta program to help customers get acquainted with new technology, defining both the user experience and product owner interface.

    [with Ford Motor Company]

  • A multi-sided platform to improve urban life for residents and employees

    Defined a commute subscription to differentiate employers and developers with user touch points that impart ease, sense of place, and social vibrancy.

    [with IDEO, Ford AV LLC, and Argo AI]

  • Digital, connected services to integrate technology meaningfully into the most-sold vehicle

    Devised connected services to leverage new F-series telematics, designing digital tools with security, work, and leisure applications (three to be released in the next job cycle).

    [with IDEO and Ford Motor Company]

Experiential Design

  • Urban interventions to revitalize the capital of Europe

    Explored the meaning of comfort in the context of shared public space.

    [with Harvard GSD]

  • Venice Biennale exhibit to illuminate the past, present and future of the architectural discipline

    Designed an installation that tells the history of building technology to broad international audiences.

    [with OMA]

  • A master plan to integrate tourism and community at World Heritage Site

    Conceptualized a site identity to attract global tourists while cultivating a strong sense of place.

    [with Al Riyadh Development Authority]

  • Exhibition design for Oslo Architectural Triennale

    Curated a collection of artifacts that probe the contemporary definition of sustainability, presenting theses from a spectrum of critical lenses.

    [with Rotor]

New Ventures

  • Go-to-market strategy for AV service

    Brought an AV commute service to life in Austin, defining go-to-market strategy and service touch-points.

    [with Ford AV LLC and IDEO]

  • Concept development for new service entering the gig economy

    Conducted user research and business model evaluation to design and position new venture.

    [with Ford X and Ford Labs]

  • Pilot for on-demand public transit service

    Designed a pilot to test the technology and refine service design, trouble-shooting and anticipating changes pre-launch.

    [with Seattle King County Metro]

  • Pioneering telecom-entrepreneur mobile-based solutions

    Led teams of corporates and startups to identify emerging-market challenges to tackle in joint ventures.

    [with Safaricom and Swisscom]

Participatory Design

  • Nation-wide program to rethink what streets are for

    Developed and scaled program, implementing human-centered prototypes and design interventions to demonstrate the potentials of a dynamic infrastructure plane: the street.

    [with Gehl, IDEO, and Ford]

  • Neighborhood revitalization plan with broad community consensus

    Leveraged technology and design to engage Brownsville community in designing proposal to improve safety and belonging

    [with New York Small Business Services]

  • Stakeholder alignment on enterprise-wide customer education

    Designed workshops to create a shared vision on customer education and a plan to evolve the institutions and techniques to implement the vision.

    [with Ford]

Workshop Design

  • Design thinking startup bootcamps

    Hosted intensive pitch training sessions in 20 countries, introducing the fundamentals of human-centered design to test product-market fit and convey the most compelling features.

    [with global startup incubators]

  • Urban tech to drive value for a real estate company

    Think-tank-style group ideation sessions to explore how Thailand’s largest developer can leverage data, technology, and services to amplify their offerings.

    [with Ananda]

  • New urban futures with MIT Media Lab

    Deployed physical props and materials to unleash creative problem solving and design new systems and frameworks from a blank slate.

    [with IDEO and MIT Media Lab]

  • Civic space reimagined through collective inquiry

    Designed workshops to envision new futures, working from individual meditations and smaller actions towards larger collective understandings.

    [with Gehl, IDEO, and Ford]

Writing + Research

  • Examining the "Elements of Architecture"

    Chronicled the story of specific architectural elements starting from their inception to colonialism, globalization, standardization, and the age of connectivity.

    [with OMA & Taschen]

  • Probing sustainability "Behind the Green Door"

    Global survey of design practices, artifacts, beliefs, policies, and technologies shaping the contemporary meaning of sustainability.

    [with Oslo Archicteure Triennale]

  • Contributing to academic journals & business publications

    Articles and book chapters surveying urban design developments and analyzing entrepreneurial ecosystems.

    [with academic institutions and think tanks]

  • Dispatches from the Middle East

    Wrote blog posts and articles about issues pertinent to the region.

    [with New Cities Foundation and New Cities Lab]

contact tiffobser@gmail.com