We’re excited to welcome Jordanna Coutinho to our team as our Service Design Strategist. We asked Jordanna a few questions, so you could get to know her better. Read on below! 

Tell us your story. 

I grew up in Bangalore, India, and moved to the U.S. to pursue a master’s in design at the Savannah College of Art and Design. There, I explored how design can be used to address social, civic, and environmental challenges. I’m a big believer in the 5 Why’s framework and have built my career around trying to understand the world we live in and the forces that shape it. 

My work includes reimagining public spaces in collaboration with the communities they serve, designing products and pathways to build resilient environments and healthy communities, and supporting government in creating better services for its constituents. I’ve been working in the civic design space since 2021, most recently serving as a Civic Designer in the City of Syracuse’s Office of Analytics, Performance, and Innovation.

What values underpin your work and why?  

• System Thinking: Recognizing the interconnectedness of civic challenges and designing solutions that address root causes of them. Why – I believe that’s the only way to build sustainable service delivery practices.  
• Well-being and agency: Centering resident and staffs lived experiences. Why – building services that truly address the needs of residents and staff, require us to uncover those needs in a way that prioritizes and ultimately promotes their well-being and agency.  
• Honesty and humility: Approaching problems as a listener Why – to test assumptions, question biases and value lived experience.  

Why are you interested in being a part of the PHL Service Design Studio? 

I have been a fan/stan of PHL Service Design Studio since I entered the civic design world, often referencing the Studio’s work as best practice. I am very excited to be a part of a team of experts that is committed to practicing its values.  

What’s your most favorite thing to do in your down time and why? 

Most recently, rug latching and tufting. But unwinding from a workday usually looks like:  

• Endlessly searching the internet for recipes to meal prep for the week, and prepping them during the week? (counterproductive). 
• Adding furniture to my “dream home” mood board.  
• Making playlists, figuring out what to call them and sharing them with friends. 
• Checking off movies from my Letterboxd watchlist for the year.