With a background in industrial design engineering in her home country, and a recent successful trajectory as a business designer leading complex projects for large corporations in Norway, Garazi is not the one to shy away from new experiences. “I’m a rethinker. That’s how I go through life, both in private and in business. I believe there’s a lot of power in daring to stop, rethink, relearn and do things in a new way. That’s how you move forward.”

She continues: “By rephrasing and challenging the first layer insight, we get a new perspective and a new opportunity space. For example – when someone says the elevator is slow, that sounds like a technical problem. But if you reframe it and realise what they’re really saying is, 

 then the opportunity space shifts. Maybe the solution isn’t speeding up the elevator—it’s changing the experience of waiting. For me, that’s what design is about: finding ways of doing differently and doing better.”


Among her colleagues, Garazi is known for her curiosity, and talking to her it’s easy to understand why. “I’m obsessed with learning! My motto is learning by doing, no matter what it is that I’m doing. In a professional context, that means experimenting, testing and learning from it. I always aim to test a hypothesis for my clients as quickly as possible. Planning is important, but we also need to get whatever we’re trying to create – a product, a service, a strategy, new ways of working - out there to get real-life input and data on it. That’s the only way to know if we’re heading in the right direction.”



Rethinking as a way of living – and working

In her current project, Garazi is helping a team in one of Norway’s largest companies envision and implement new ways of working. “We believe that a more product-oriented approach improves both the employee experience and business outcomes in complex digital ecosystems,” she explains. “It puts greater focus on collaboration between technology and business—solving the right problems for the stakeholders, and solving them right.”

In order to make this change happen and implement this way of working, we must take our own medicine. "We do not treat internal functions as fixed systems, but as evolving services with users—employees in our case—who have specific jobs to be done, needs, and desires. That’s what my colleagues and I are working on. Just like with any external product, we need to design an experience that’s not only better than what they currently have—but compelling enough to make them embrace it.”

In large organisations, making that shift is rarely straightforward. Complexity is everywhere—from the scale of operations and diversity of teams to cultural and process legacies that resist transformation. “It’s hard to see the big picture, and equally hard to meet employees where they actually are in their transition. That’s where experimentation makes a difference. Testing something concrete—however rough—gives us fast, honest feedback and a shared reference point to build on.” 


She explains : “Instead of spending weeks in workshops debating how to support teams through the change, we built a low-fidelity pilot that might support employees in under two weeks. It was messy, but it gave us fast feedback—and from there, we iterated a new version until we find a sweet spot."

Creating new ways of working for Norway’s biggest corporations

Designing and implementing new ways of working always involves navigating change. When asked about the role of designers in that process, Garazi is clear: “Designers can play a crucial role. They way we approach uncertainty is key—and involving people instead of working in a vacuum helps anchor decisions and makes the transition possible.” But she also emphasises the importance of doing, not just thinking: “To make change happen, you have to start—even if you don’t have all the answers. It’s easy to get stuck in analysis. But the real shift happens when we lower the threshold for trying something new. It won’t be perfect at first—and that’s okay. The goal isn’t perfection. The goal is to learn, adapt, and improve continuously.”

Change starts with action

Donostia/San-Sebastian, haha! My hometown.


Regular. But I’d love to have an electric bike.

  Five quick ones

: BA in Industrial Design Engineering, with a specialisation in product development. Postgraduate in Business Innovation and Design Leadership from University of Elisava.

 Hiking and biking in the Summer, skiing in the Winter. I love spend time with friends, I’m very social.

Meet Garazi – the business designer and life-long learner