Aug 2026 — Present
Service Design Lead
Rasan.co
Leading service experiences for Rasan.co — shaping end‑to‑end journeys, research, and design strategy for the platform.
Dubai
Service Design & Customer Experience
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Designing human services that move business.
I'm Dr. Hakan Gonen — a service design and customer experience leader with a PhD in Cognitive Psychology. For over a decade I've helped organisations translate complex challenges into clear, measurable, human‑centred services.
15+
Years of practice
32+
Projects shipped
£28M+
Measured impact
10+
Industries served
Service Design✦
UX Research✦
Customer Experience✦
Design Strategy✦
Digital Transformation✦
Journey Mapping✦
Service Blueprinting✦
Behavioural Science✦
Co‑Creation✦
Innovation✦
/01 — About
A practitioner at the
A practitioner at the
intersection of psychology,
design, and business.
Hi, I'm Hakan. I lead service design and customer experience programmes for organisations that take their customers seriously — from global energy majors to fast‑moving fintechs and public sector transformations.
My background is a little unusual: a PhD in Cognitive Psychology, a decade of consulting across London, Dubai, Tokyo and Rotterdam, and a stubborn belief that good design is mostly about asking better questions before anything gets built.
I've led redesigns that generated £28M in new revenue, built research functions from scratch, mentored design teams, and run transformation programmes that actually shipped. My work has won industry recognition (2022 SMH CX Award) and, more importantly, made a measurable difference for the people using the services.
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Projects delivered
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Years of experience
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Industries served
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Product teams led
/02 — Experience
A decade building
A decade building
services that work.
From global platforms to public sector transformations — a non‑exhaustive trail of where I've spent my time.
May 2025 — Aug 2026
Service Design Lead
Omnia — Dubai
Leading digital transformation discovery for Zayed University, ATFP and NFC. Driving innovation through research and strategic design roadmaps that translate into shipped capability.
Nov 2024 — Feb 2025
User Research Lead
Gravitas — Dubai
Delivered user research and service design for Saudi National Bank's mobile app — orchestrating focus groups, interviews and competitor analysis to build a customer‑centric dashboard and influence C‑suite decisions.
Apr 2024 — Sep 2024
Service Design Strategy Consultant
Spective Design — London
Gap analysis for Arise SEZ across Rwanda, Nigeria, Benin, Gabon and Togo. Defined business requirements, prioritised solutions and collaborated with tech teams to implement a transformative roadmap.
Aug 2021 — Mar 2024
Global Lead · UX Research & Service Design
Shell — London
Spearheaded the redesign of the Shell Market Hub (SMH) platform — improving navigation, doubling conversions and generating £28M additional revenue in just six months. Mentored designers and built feedback loops for continuous service improvement.
2022 SMH CX AwardFeb 2021 — Aug 2021
Service Design Lead
BP — London
Guided service design across procurement and EV charging services — facilitating co‑creation workshops and aligning strategic goals with agile execution in Jira and Confluence.
Jul 2020 — Feb 2021
Senior CX Consultant
Hanika Design Consultancy — London
Enhanced a start‑up's SaaS experience using advanced UX research and iterative testing — driving a 20% lift in engagement and a 40% lift in customer satisfaction.
/03 — Selected work
Real programmes.
Real programmes.
Real outcomes.
A small selection of recent work where design translated into measurable business impact.
Service Ecosystem
2024 — 2025
DHCA — Designing a Connected Service Experience
Problem
Commercial, regulatory and operational journeys managed by different teams, systems and external authorities — customers had to understand the organisation's internal structure to find their way.
Approach
Mapped the end-to-end ecosystem, built service blueprints, identified structural causes of friction and translated the evidence into a future-state service vision across the public website, MASAAR, leasing, fit-out and Permit to Work.
Outcome
A shared strategic view of the customer ecosystem, a service model connecting three layers, and a prioritised implementation roadmap adopted by the organisation.
Read the full case study
B2B Platform
2021 — 2024
Shell Market Hub Platform Upgrade
Problem
A global B2B platform faced complex navigation and a noticeable decline in conversions.
Approach
Customer journey mapping, streamlined flows, prototyped key tasks, iteratively tested with users.
Outcome
Doubled conversions and generated £28M in new sales within six months.
Mobile Banking
2024
SNB Mobile App — Customer‑Centric Dashboard
Problem
Varying needs across SME, Affluent and Private segments created fragmented experiences.
Approach
Co‑creation workshops, in‑depth interviews and competitor analyses to design a holistic dashboard.
Outcome
Secured executive buy‑in and delivered a customer‑centric roadmap for mobile innovation.
Higher Education
2025
Zayed University Digital Transformation
Problem
Outdated digital ecosystem hindered student and faculty experiences.
Approach
Led discovery research, mapped personas and end‑to‑end journeys, co‑created a transformation roadmap.
Outcome
Actionable design strategy for a seamless, data‑driven university platform.
/04 — Services
How I help
How I help
your organisation.
Service design is a craft, not a deliverable. Here's how I work — from the first conversation to the day your team runs without me.
The service design journey
01 → 04Discover
Get beneath the surface.
Before designing anything, I need to understand the real problem — the people behind it, the constraints around it, the opportunities hiding inside it.
Ethnographic research
JTBD interviews
Journey mapping
Insight synthesis
Define
Frame the right problem.
Once the landscape is clear, I help you decide what to actually solve. Strategy isn't a document — it's a series of sharp, defensible choices.
Service blueprint
North star vision
CX strategy
Opportunity sizing
Design
Co-create the future.
With strategy locked, I work shoulder-to-shoulder with your team to design the actual experience. Not in isolation — together, in the room.
Experience design
Service prototyping
Co-creation workshops
Design systems
Deliver
Ship and embed.
A design that doesn't ship is a hobby. I help you launch, measure, and build the in-house muscle to keep iterating long after I'm gone.
Launch support
Measurement frameworks
Team coaching
Design ops setup
How we can work together
Four shapes of engagement.
Pick the shape that fits the moment — each one designed for a different kind of problem.
Sprint
A focused, time-boxed engagement for a specific question or opportunity.
Embed
Deep integration with your team for end-to-end transformation or capability building.
Advisory
Strategic partnership for design leaders — a sounding board when the brief is fuzzy and the stakes are high.
Workshop
Intensive 1–3 day sessions for alignment, kickoff, or team capability sprints.
What you can always expect
Four non-negotiables I bring to every engagement.
- Evidence over opinion. Every decision grounded in research, data, or a real customer conversation — not taste.
- Co-creation, not magic. Your team in the room, not just on the cc list. The best ideas usually aren't mine.
- Ship, don't just deck. Designs that make it to production. A workshop is the start, not the end.
- Build the team, not dependency. Capability stays long after I leave. I'd rather make myself redundant than needed.
/05 — Testimonials
What people
What people
say about working with me.
Working with Hakan felt like a journey of discovery. His ability to translate complex requirements into simple, actionable solutions was extraordinary.
Hakan's deep empathy and strategic insight transformed our service into a seamless, user‑friendly experience. His leadership and clarity were invaluable.
By guiding our team through the JTBD framework and evidence‑based design, Hakan uncovered opportunities we hadn't seen before. Our customers couldn't be happier.
/06 — Contact
Have a challenge?
Have a challenge?
Let's design the
answer together.
Whether you're scoping a transformation, need a service design partner, or want to talk shop over coffee — my inbox is open.