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FFFran de la FuenteStrategic & Service Designer

CV

Fran de la Fuente

Fran de la Fuente

Strategic & Service Design Leader

15+ years leading design across complex product, service and CX challenges. I connect business goals, user evidence and design judgement to give teams direction and turn strategy into tangible solutions.

Experience

2020–2026

Head of Design Strategy & Co-founder

Ikigai Design

Led the Design Strategy practice, defining how design should be used to tackle complex business, product and experience challenges. My work often started by reframing briefs and symptoms into strategic problems, then defining the approach, methods and teams needed to solve them.

Built and led multidisciplinary teams, ensured the strategic quality of the work, and presented and defended approaches, decisions and outcomes with business leaders and senior stakeholders. I also contributed to offer definition, project scoping and company strategy.

The work helped create stronger stakeholder alignment, shared direction and more coherent, tangible and actionable value propositions.

2016–2019

Senior Service Designer

Isobar

Worked on complex, strategic projects from research and framing through concept development and validation. I worked directly with clients and presented and defended findings, decisions and proposals, including Ibercaja's digital banking transformation and strategic work for Defensor del Pueblo.

2014–2016

Head of UX/UI & Design

Momit

I was responsible for UX/UI at an IoT startup, working across the end-to-end experience between physical devices and digital products. I collaborated with technology teams and industrial design partners to ensure coherence across hardware, interfaces, app and web.

2012–2014

UX Manager

Etece.com

I was part of the founding team and led UX and design from concept to launch of an on-demand services platform. I iterated the experience through testing and hypothesis validation, working closely with technology.

Earlier experience · 2009–2012

Planeo · Ready4Ventures · Taguin · Universia

Additional experience

2021–2025

Lecturer · Customer Experience Management Master's Program

Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Taught the Life-Centered Design module, combining theoretical foundations and workshops to address complex problems from a systemic perspective.

Capabilities

Leadership

  • Design Leadership
  • Team Leadership
  • Coaching & Mentoring

Strategy

  • Design Strategy
  • Opportunity & Problem Framing
  • Product & Service Strategy

Research & Service Design

  • Strategic Research
  • Service Design
  • Facilitation

Education

Human-Computer Interaction

Online specialization · University of California San Diego

Degree in Audiovisual Communication

Universidad Rey Juan Carlos

Studies in Fachkommunikation und Medien

Fachhochschule Magdeburg-Stendal · 2005–2007

Languages

  • Spanish — Native
  • English — Proficient
  • German — Intermediate

Contact

Interested in starting a conversation?

Whether you are shaping a new service, reframing a complex challenge or looking for a strategic design profile, I’d be happy to talk.