Design Thinkers: Liz Ogbu

Liz Ogbu is a Designer and Social Innovation Strategist and founder of Design Firm Studio O. This title is a catch all for the wide breadth and impact of her work. She is a consultant specializing in non-profit Architecture and Community projects, which have taken her from San Francisco to Tanzania.

When describing her work she employs the terms Expert Citizen and Citizen Experts. Liz Ogbu is the Expert Citizen, using her expertise in design and architecture to better support people and communicate their stories. The clients she works with are the Citizen Experts. She stresses that no one knows the communities she works with better than its citizens. They are not only her clients or subjects but her colleagues. This collaboration is a fundamental part of her process.

The common thread in all of Liz Ogbu's projects is empathy. She, and her Citizen Expert colleagues, see the spaces they design as sacred. Life will be lived here everyday. It is paramount that the stories and dignity of those who inhabit these spaces are respected in the design process.

A great example of Liz Ogbu's process of design through empathy is her work with day laborers. A sector of the workforce ever-present but often marginalized. Liz Ogbu and her team work to create day laborer stations, semi-permanent informal hiring sites.These stations offered previously nonexistent amenities- office space, kitchen, toilet- and they received mixed reviews. However, some of the most powerful response came from day laborers who moved by the project which made them feel seen and valued. Liz Ogbu's work and the connection of the human experience to the built environment are a few of the many reasons we at Convex Consulting love design thinking.

For information on Liz Ogbu's work please go to her website: http://www.lizogbu.com/