Diverse faces of the traineeship – Rosa

In light of Diversity Week 2024, we interviewed some trainees from our Digital Transformation Intensive Programme and explored with them their experiences of working in multicultural environments like DSS. Meet Rosa who joined our international cohort of trainees in September and is part of the Amstelring team.

“In my past projects, doing iterations wasn’t something common. Almost all projects I was a part of were linear, with prototyping only at the end. And here, we iterate a lot, which is the biggest learning for me so far.” – reflects Rosa on her experience of working at DSS. 

About the programme

The Digital Transformation Intensive Programme is a hands-on traineeship for young professionals from around the globe who want to learn how to work responsibly and sustainably by using design, technology and social innovation. The participants follow an intensive learning trajectory while simultaneously working in multidisciplinary teams on an innovative challenge from one of our partners.

Interview with Rosa

Could you tell me briefly about your background and where you come from? 

I’m Rosa, and I am originally from China. I did my master’s at Aalto Univerisity in Human-Computer Interaction & Design. It combined computer science, technology and design, and was a very interdisciplinary subject. But before that, I was an engineering student. I did some programming, small robots that interact with humans etc.

I decided to shift my focus due to a project I was involved in. We were developing a wearable for single women to protect their safety while traveling. I felt proud of doing this project and hearing all the positive feedback from the users. I also realised then that I enjoyed having conversations and learning more about user experience. That’s why I chose a bit different direction in my studies. 

And why did you join DSS, if I may ask?

Initially, one of the design mentors at Aalto University recommended DSS to me. She was actually a trainee here several years ago, and now is a service designer herself. After that, I checked the projects on the DSS website and loved how diverse the challenges and final solutions were. One challenge in particular spoke to me. The team developed a game for the educational institution. Since I am also interested in game development, it was interesting to see how they approached the challenge using game design.

What’s your experience working in diverse teams? What benefits and challenges have you faced related to these experiences?

With my team at DSS, we put our different perspectives and knowledge together and try to find a solution to the challenge we are working on. For example, Ali (my teammate) has a management background, and he often checks with everyone whether we’re on the same page. By asking this question, we can know that everyone understands the same problem clearly so we can discuss further if we have different opinions. Which is a good thing, cause before this I never asked this question.

One of the challenges I notice is different levels of understanding of the design methods. But it is also an opportunity to learn. DSS is a very safe learning space, which is helpful for our progress.

What is your ambition after DSS?

I am very interested in service design, in holistic problem-solving. Luckily, my current project at DSS has a strong connection to service design. That means we get to engage with different stakeholders and co-create possible solutions with them. It will help me a lot to build my knowledge in this design area and will be useful for my portfolio.