Words by Srushti Pagariya, MDes Design Innovation and Service Design graduate at The Glasgow School of Art.

This article is adapted from a post originally shared by Srushti on LinkedIn. Read the original post on LinkedIn →

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August slipped away into a moment in time.
And what a moment.

One year ago: two suitcases, a lot of opinions, and a quiet fear that I'd picked the wrong kind of Masters.

Today: MDes in Design Innovation and Service Design. And a week that felt like a full‑year.

12 months and here’s what actually happened.

Survived a Scottish winter, then went to winter school and decided that was not enough cold, apparently.

Co-designed a tea heritage newspaper with the The Mackintosh Tearooms and National Trust for Scotland for 13-16 year olds. Which sounds very charming, but was genuinely one of the hardest design briefs I have worked through.

Worked with Lloyds Banking Group and Scottish Widows on income protection - turning interviews and surveys into opportunity areas that felt human, not terrifying.

Spent 12 weeks on Designing Bored Directors, a card system for the unstructured time Scotland's phone ban is creating.

Served as Class Representative and Student Rep Council member at The Glasgow School of Art, and mentored international students with Inforens.

And one degree show, one symposium later I quietly said myself. I actually did this!

What the year really taught me:

Better questions → better insights. Every time.

Scoping isn't giving up; it's how a question becomes answerable.

You don't need the full plan. You just need to start.

I came unsure what an MDes would mean.
I'm leaving knowing it changed how I see everything. Not just design. Everything.

hashtag#ServiceDesign hashtag#GlasgowSchoolOfArt hashtag#MDes hashtag#DesignInnovation

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