Poorvi Garag

Co-Founder

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands1 yr 10 mos experience

Key Highlights

Co-founder of an international design studio.
Expert in participatory design and social innovation.
Led ethnographic research on postcolonial impacts.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a strategic social designer specializing in participatory design and social innovation.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Business StrategyCreative StrategyDesign ConsultingUx ResearchParticipatory DesignStakeholder ManagementDesign ResearchStrategic DesignSocial DesignProduct DesignIndustrial Design

Other Skills

FigmaEducationInnovation DevelopmentCollaborative StorytellingCross-functional CoordinationField ResearchQuantitative ResearchVisual DesignCross-functional CollaborationsSocial InnovationCross-functional Team LeadershipConceptual DesignMarket ResearchExhibit DesignFellowships

About

I am a strategic social designer, researcher and educator. I craft tools, frameworks, objects of art and design to generate positive impact on multi-stakeholder ecosystems; across eco-socio-political complexities. With a deep commitment to creating social impact and change, I work with industrial design, critical design thinking and design research skills informed by the fields of anthropology, sociology, futurology, and decolonial studies. My work lies at the intertwining of art, design and academic research. As an artist and designer, my work manifests as workshops or designed objects, text and images in exhibitions and as a researcher my work is found as workshops, academic papers, conferences and books. I graduated with a Social Design Masters at Design Academy Eindhoven and an Industrial Design Bachelor at Srishti Institute, Bangalore. I run my own creative design research practice between Amsterdam and India and am the co-founder of studio samayam.

Experience

Studio samayam

Co-Founder

Jan 2025 – Present · 1 yr 2 mos · Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands · On-site

Co-founded studio samayam with A. Shree Tej where I drive studio samayam’s strategy and business development, strengthening its growth and presence.
I work with business model design, creative strategy, funding and planning to position the studio within the creative industry helps sustain and amplify its impact as a dynamic, forward-thinking space.
studio samayam is an international design studio ( NL+IND ) practicing design research and narrative product design and development. The studio specialises in storytelling and experiences embodied in objects, born from decentralised design practices, achieved through close collaboration with generationally skilled craftspeople.

Stakeholder ManagementBusiness StrategyCreative Strategy

Future days

Futures Research Fellow

Nov 2024 – May 2025 · 6 mos · Remote

In partnership with the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies and supported by Media Lab Bayern, this fellowship program facilitated me for six months to develop my project and showcase my work at Future Days 2025
Led qualitative foresight research on international development governance paradigms and developed “the rOund table”, a participatory research workshop and innovation toolkit to facilitate multi stakeholder dialogues on inclusion, diversity, and shared sustainability goals for international development policy making teams
Engaging with international stakeholders and policymakers to explore sustainable governance and policymaking dialogues by applying foresight methodologies, transdisciplinary research and ideation frameworks
Supported knowledge transfer and valorization of futures methodologies into institutional development and policy-making contexts

Participatory DesignCross-functional CoordinationStakeholder ManagementDesign Research

Design innovation group (dig)

Social Design Intern

Sep 2023 – Jan 2024 · 4 mos · Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands · Hybrid

Led participatory research and stakeholder analysis to inform organizational innovation and policy design for external clients, integrating gamified methods to engage civic stakeholders
Strategic role in DIG and BW merger, gaining insights into organizational integration, where progress tracking and visualization was overseen and led strategic oversight for internal policy design, habits and values
Synthesized research into strategic insights for policy development, decision-making, and innovation processes
Developed game-based participatory research methods to engage diverse stakeholders in co-creation towards climate justice projects
Optimised Holacratic workflows through Adobe/ Microsoft tools, collaborated with cross-functional teams
Managed WordPress tools for DIG brand compliance, communication, bug tracking, and website updates

Design ResearchVisual DesignStrategic DesignCross-functional Collaborations

Design academy eindhoven

Social Design Researcher

Jun 2023 – Jun 2024 · 1 yr · Eindhoven Area · Hybrid

Year long, self funded master project that was nominated for Social Design Talent Award 2024 by the municipality of Eindhoven
Conducted multi-sited ethnographic research on the postcolonial social, economic, and environmental impacts of global trade (India & Netherlands), applying participatory design and conducting a truly multi-sited ethnographic research project done on field
Conducted transdisciplinary research merging design, anthropology, and historical analysis and complex stakeholder management
Developed an installation set up and exhibited at multiple locations in Europe over one year

Design ResearchField ResearchStakeholder ManagementCreative StrategyQuantitative Research

Freelance

Freelance Designer, Researcher and Educator

Dec 2022 – Present · 3 yrs 3 mos

Designed and facilitated collaborative tools and participatory processes to support systemic decision-making, knowledge transfer, and innovation for climate action, policy innovation, and civic engagement across the Netherlands and India, aligning with public-private and multi-stakeholder collaborations
Mzansi Game Jam, Virtual / South Africa Collaboration, funded by Stimuleringfonds NL. Used speculative prototyping and collaborative storytelling to build an analogue game exploring climate justice with African and European youth
Conducting workshops with communities, schools, and government institutions to co-design learning paths; and facilitating workshops for children in Amsterdam International School to teach about sustainability, climate change and SDGs
Teaching design research, decolonial design, futures design in design universities in the Netherlands
Community developer and fund writing associate for ZOJazz which involves multi-level coordination for cultural events in arts, design and music for local partners in Amsterdam
UI/UX designer using tools like Indesign, Figma, for individual clients, leading to app and website designs, slide decks and research reports

FigmaStrategic DesignDesign ConsultingEducationUX ResearchInnovation Development

Srishti manipal institute of art, design and technology

Social Design Researcher

Jan 2022 – Jun 2022 · 5 mos · Bidar, Karnataka, India · On-site

Led a six-month ethnographic research project in collaboration with interdisciplinary partners like NGOs, Urban Development Authoritiy, District Mayor Office and UNESCO Unitwin South India
Designed governance & policy research methodologies to analyze spatial water resource management using commons theory (Elinor Ostrom), leading to sustainable community engagement strategies for NGO and government stakeholders and contribution to the living lab
Conducted field research through interviews and focus group discussions to analyse the socio-cultural distribution of agency across citizens and government bodies, towards a 3.5km long subterranean water channel common pool resource (CPR)
Interviews, focus group discussions and re-designed sociology and anthropology specific research models (IAD framework) methodologies were used

Design ResearchField Researchstrategic designSocial DesignSocial Innovation

Onivart design studio

2 roles

Lead Industrial Design Researcher

Promoted

Sep 2021 – Feb 2022 · 5 mos · Hyderabad, Telangana, India · Remote

Physical design and RnD of home IOT based lighting and automated products and systems
Physical design of app for control of IOT products along with a team of engineers and developers
Researching new products for home and lifestyle product category, specific to Indian upper-middle
class users
Conducting interviews for selection of designers and then co-leading the industrial, UI and packaging design teams
Construction of strategic road-maps for efficacy of the design team
Successfully released products and app into the market

Product DesignIndustrial DesignStrategic DesignCross-functional Team Leadership

Industrial Design Researcher

May 2021 – Jul 2021 · 2 mos · Hyderabad, Telangana, India · On-site

Conceptualized, designed and prototyped smart furniture and IoT products within teams and individually
Presented efficient and market aware design and innovation solutions to the founders

Conceptual DesignMarket ResearchIndustrial Design