Student Testimonials

Michael

Why did you decide to do this course, and why did you choose IUDA over other courses?

I wanted to develop my skill-set, beyond what I was doing in my current role. IUDA really appealed because it was very different to what I had done before, and I knew it would take me out of my comfort zone, with all of the different techniques and tools that we would learn about on the course.

Having this different experience really appealed to me, as I thought it would broaden my options and potentially give me the chance to work in new roles or even abroad. Ultimately, I want to make positive contributions to people’s lives through public service, and so a course in Service Design sounded very exciting!

I also liked that IUDA prioritised a people-centred approach to service design, which was in line with my own beliefs and background from working in Participation and Engagement for the last 3 years. It also seemed that the course was very flexible, and was focused on collective and practical learning, which again appealed to me and my learning style!

What was your job before before you enrolled?

I was a Policy and Communities Officer at Barking and Dagenham Council, working in the Participation and Engagement team. I would support the team with different research, writing and presentation tasks, alongside working with community partners and other teams in the Council on shared projects and initiatives.

What has changed about your job or how you work as a result?

I have taken on a new role at the Council and am now a Participation Manager in the same Participation and Engagement team.

I have been able to actively apply what I have learnt with IUDA in my new role, playing a leading role in shaping new people-centred approaches and services at the Council and together with partners, in the areas of: volunteering; tenant and resident engagement; participative funding; tackling social isolation and now we are looking at how to tackle the ongoing Cost of Living Crisis through a Borough wide partnership response. All of these new approaches and services place resident users at their heart and have seen me utilising the skills I have developed through my time with IUDA in the areas of co-design, user research; engagement, and facilitation to name just a few. I can feel myself working more systematically, taking a step back when looking at how we deliver our services and thinking about how our processes can be improved from a users perspective.

What skills and competencies did the course help you to build?

I am now more thorough in my approach when thinking about a new service or initiative. I will do my research and try to consider different viewpoints and considerations more than I did previously.

I also feel more confident from a design perspective, taking more pride in how I present my work and ideas so that they are as visually appealing and as easy to understand and process as possible.

My facilitation skills have improved, and while this was an area that I had some experience of previously from my previous role, I am again more thorough in my approach now, I plan my engagement or co-creation sessions with more depth and detail and am able to use a variety of online tools as part of my facilitation practise.

Finally, I believe that I am now able to think more broadly and systematically, thinking about different perspectives and options when assessing a potential new service or offer. Again, I can feel myself thinking about how processes can be improved when I see systems around me that aren’t working as well as they should be. I increasingly put the user at the heart of my thinking, and this person centred approach is something I have taken from IUDA.

How did you manage to balance course commitments with full time work?

I would often do work on Sundays, or I would get up early on weekdays to fit things in.

Saturdays were kept as my own by and large! When doing user-engagement as part of my final project I had to be as flexible as possible so that I could get conversations in wherever I could. But on the whole, IUDA is great for flexibility as the workload is kept deliberately manageable, with much of the learning taking place together in sessions together with your fellow students which you can plan for way in advance, which I both appreciated and enjoyed.

What advice would you give someone who is considering going on the course?

Think about how this course can help you, both in your current role but also in your interests outside of work. I did my final project on something unrelated to my day-job, but in an area I was passionate about, and I massively enjoyed being able to explore something different in real depth.