Career
After volunteering for nine months at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in 2003, Szebeko identified opportunities to use design to improve communications and experiences. To encompass her insight, Szebeko set up thinkpublic in 2004. Communicating the value of using design to improve public services, Szebeko and thinkpublic have worked with a vast array of organisations across the United Kingdom health and social sector.
With an experience in designing services, products and social enterprise.
Working across the public and third sector, Szebeko has a unique ability to apply design methodologies to encourage service innovation and enterprise. Over the past eight years, she has successfully used her social design approach to inform and develop products, enterprises and service innovations that have been rolled out nationally by the National Health Service Institute for Innovation and Improvement, the Department of Health (United Kingdom), NESTA and Alzheimer"s Society.
Since setting up thinkpublic, Szebeko has presented her work at international design and health conferences including: Reinventing Design (Hong Kong Design Centre, 2008), Design of The Times (Newcastle, 2007), NESTA Young Innovators (London, 2007), The European Forum on Quality Improvement in Healthcare (Prague, 2006), Doors of Perception (New Delhi, 2005) and DOORS Leaders Round Table (Amsterdam, 2004). Szebeko holds a Bachelor (Honours) in Graphic Design & Advertising, an Master of Arts in Communications, and diplomas in Organisations, Relationship and Company-active Coaching.
Szebeko is currently undertaking Doctor of Philosophy research with Middlesex University, exploring the challenges surrounding user-centred design and innovation in the public sector.