Ayşen joined ATÖLYE in January 2021 as a Design Researcher. Her work primarily focuses on the application of design methods to uncover the core drives behind users’ actions and decisions in order to form a better solution to their specific needs. Conducting user interviews, synthesizing qualitative data, ideating with the team, and designing new concepts are the several main roles that she takes part in and responsible for.

Ayşen took on the roles of Design Researcher and Project Manager as a contractor before joining ATÖLYE full-time. When she was freelancing for over two years, Ayşen also contributed to many other workflows and projects in ATÖLYE, focusing on visual storytelling and prototyping for product design. 

While working on her personal industrial design projects in university, she saw how much design research can change the way design processes flow, and how different the outcomes can be from what is usually expected in the industry. In addition, she is interested in how unique perception mechanisms and models as well as personal history can actually alter the design object. That is, the same fabricated forms and materials were not really the same for anyone.

She believes mastering design research is a superpower for all design disciplines, since understanding what drives individuals is the key to design better products, services and systems altogether.