Designing a website is one thing. Designing the experience layer for something as vast and high-stakes as the FIFA World Cup or World Expo — that’s a different challenge altogether. These aren’t events. They’re temporary cities, micro-nations even, that demand military-grade coordination, seamless flow of people, and flawless public perception.

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That’s the scale I was working with when I led the design and innovation strategy for EVENTES — a pioneering offering from Thales built to orchestrate the world’s largest events.

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From Vision to Blueprint
At its heart, EVENTES was more than just a platform. It was my opportunity to build a scalable service ecosystem — one that merged Thales' legacy technologies with a human-first mindset. As the design strategist at the center of this initiative, I wore many hats:

• Researcher, to understand the fragmented reality of mega-event planning

• Facilitator, to align multiple business units and uncover shared value

• Strategist, to reframe offerings into a unified, modular service

• Maker, crafting CONOPS, user journeys, and service prototypes that made the complex simple

My Design Process in Motion
To translate ambition into clarity, I built a human-centered strategy from the ground up:

• Created detailed user personas — from on-ground volunteers to command center leads

• Led journey mapping workshops to chart real friction points across the event lifecycle

• Developed a comprehensive Concept of Operations (CONOPS), aligning tech capabilities with human needs

• Designed and visualized a flexible execution strategy, making it easy to adapt to events of different scales

• Facilitated validation sessions with internal and government stakeholders across the Middle East

• Conducted testing cycles with external partners to refine the service in real-world contexts

Every step was grounded in empathy, systems thinking, and strategic clarity.

What Made It Different
EVENTES was never about a single screen or tool. It was about designing orchestration — across security, mobility, operations, and user experience — with me leading the narrative from the design front.

It was one of those rare opportunities where design had a seat at the table from day one, and I ensured it stayed there — shaping business logic, service flows, and even influencing how the offering was pitched in global tenders.

The Impact
Today, EVENTES stands as a signature innovation from Thales in the Middle East, giving them a strategic advantage in high-profile bids for mega-events.

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But for me, it was more than a successful project — it was a demonstration of what happens when a design leader is empowered to drive at scale, across silos, and with purpose.

 

Curious about how I approach projects that combine systems, services, and story? Let’s talk.