5 thoughts on design
5 thoughts on design
Liking something in design right now doesn't mean you have to like it forever. You keep changing and that's ok.
Liking something in design right now doesn't mean you have to like it forever. You keep changing and that's ok.
I applied as a social designer for a job that didn't mention that title. Based on the vacancy, I'd be a great fit and eventually, I got the job.
I applied as a social designer for a job that didn't mention that title. Based on the vacancy, I'd be a great fit and eventually, I got the job.
These days my job is less about designing a product and more about connecting the right people around a need.
These days my job is less about designing a product and more about connecting the right people around a need.
Naming what you stand for, even if it's not a design skill, is what makes you memorable.
Naming what you stand for, even if it's not a design skill, is what makes you memorable.
Screens are only getting easier to design. The social side of it will not.
Screens are only getting easier to design. The social side of it will not.
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The full article
The full article
Connecting the people
Her official title at the Municipality of Delft is 'Neighborhood Manager for Participation in Public Space', which may sound nothing like the usual designer titles. However, Esra's thinking is based on design, which is what makes social designer the label that actually fits. Day to day, that means connecting residents, departments, and organizations around a shared need, helping the right people find each other so something actually gets realized. It is telling that she got there by applying as a social designer for a role that never used that title. "I doubt they even knew what social design was", but her portfolio of urban scale projects, including questions like how to handle cemeteries as fewer people choose to be buried, made the fit clear enough that the title stopped mattering.
Her official title at the Municipality of Delft is 'Neighborhood Manager for Participation in Public Space', which may sound nothing like the usual designer titles. However, Esra's thinking is based on design, which is what makes social designer the label that actually fits. Day to day, that means connecting residents, departments, and organizations around a shared need, helping the right people find each other so something actually gets realized. It is telling that she got there by applying as a social designer for a role that never used that title. "I doubt they even knew what social design was", but her portfolio of urban scale projects, including questions like how to handle cemeteries as fewer people choose to be buried, made the fit clear enough that the title stopped mattering.
What connecting looks like
That role can mean supporting residents who want to turn a patch of green into something they manage themselves as "something that small can have such a big impact on someone's daily life". Another example Esra mentions is applying for funding for a movement route in Tanthof, a Delft neighborhood with more social challenges than most. It can also mean placing small shelters in public space after conversations revealed that teenagers had nowhere they were allowed to simply be. And those conversation truly matter, "who am I to decide what should happen, without knowing who lives there?".
That role can mean supporting residents who want to turn a patch of green into something they manage themselves as "something that small can have such a big impact on someone's daily life". Another example Esra mentions is applying for funding for a movement route in Tanthof, a Delft neighborhood with more social challenges than most. It can also mean placing small shelters in public space after conversations revealed that teenagers had nowhere they were allowed to simply be. And those conversation truly matter, "who am I to decide what should happen, without knowing who lives there?".
Discovering the world of design
Esra started Communication and Multimedia Design (CMD) at Hogeschool Rotterdam almost by accident, after switching out of a spatial planning and climate program that turned out too technical for her. Her internship during CMD made it clear early on that designing screens was not exactly what interested her. What she did love was working at the school's makerspace, specifically Fablab that is part of the Stadslab, where she got real hands on experience building prototypes. A later minor, Designful Innovation, showed her that design could reach much further than an app or a website. Her master's in social design and sustainable innovation in Berlin, at SRH, gave the direction a name.
Esra started Communication and Multimedia Design (CMD) at Hogeschool Rotterdam almost by accident, after switching out of a spatial planning and climate program that turned out too technical for her. Her internship during CMD made it clear early on that designing screens was not exactly what interested her. What she did love was working at the school's makerspace, specifically Fablab that is part of the Stadslab, where she got real hands on experience building prototypes. A later minor, Designful Innovation, showed her that design could reach much further than an app or a website. Her master's in social design and sustainable innovation in Berlin, at SRH, gave the direction a name.
Building a case
On her team at the Municipality of Delft, she is one of the few people with a design background, surrounded mostly by colleagues from technical and civil engineering disciplines. The difference in training shows up in small differences: a streetlight that works is, to some, a finished job. Even when the technical requirements for public safety are met, Esra keeps checking whether residents truly feel safe as well. Getting a need like that taken seriously sometimes means building a case rather than simply stating it, something that comes with working across such different professional backgrounds.
On her team at the Municipality of Delft, she is one of the few people with a design background, surrounded mostly by colleagues from technical and civil engineering disciplines. The difference in training shows up in small differences: a streetlight that works is, to some, a finished job. Even when the technical requirements for public safety are met, Esra keeps checking whether residents truly feel safe as well. Getting a need like that taken seriously sometimes means building a case rather than simply stating it, something that comes with working across such different professional backgrounds.
Being ever changing
Esra expects the value of her skillset to grow rather than shrink. As AI makes screens and apps easier to produce, she sees the social side of design, understanding people and building trust with them, becoming the harder and more valuable part of the work. Her message to design students is that naming what they stand for, even if it is not a design skill, is what makes them memorable. Her own views have shifted plenty over the past five years and she does not expect that to stop. What she asks of the next generation is simple: "Stay open to other people's perspective, even when you don't agree with them, and be willing to question your own."
Esra expects the value of her skillset to grow rather than shrink. As AI makes screens and apps easier to produce, she sees the social side of design, understanding people and building trust with them, becoming the harder and more valuable part of the work. Her message to design students is that naming what they stand for, even if it is not a design skill, is what makes them memorable. Her own views have shifted plenty over the past five years and she does not expect that to stop. What she asks of the next generation is simple: "Stay open to other people's perspective, even when you don't agree with them, and be willing to question your own."
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Designers in Full Color - All rights reserved 2026
Designers in Full Color - All rights reserved 2026
Designers in Full Color - All rights reserved 2026