Four RMIT alum designing solutions for better futures 

Meet the innovative, design-led thinkers who are working towards better outcomes in justice, global peace, education and indigenous affairs.

From discrimination to climate change, there’s no shortage of dilemmas requiring immediate attention. The conditions of our ever-changing world only makes today’s problems all the more challenging and this is where RMIT’s Master of Design Futures takes aim.

The degree, which is designed for working professionals, equips students with the skills to probe longstanding processes and identify new strategies for improved outcomes.

Here, we meet four Master of Design Futures alum who are at the forefront of design-led solutions.

A woman with long dark hair writing on a large whiteboard filled with diagrams, sketches, and notes related to design thinking or planning.

Working at the UN for better global outcomes

Finn Batts begun studying the Master of Design Futures while working in Australia for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). By the time he graduated in 2024, he was working for the UN in New York.

“The Master of Design Futures looks at how design impacts change wherever you are working, whatever the context,” he said.

“Over half of my time doing the Master of Design Futures, I was in the UN system, so it was very focused on what change looks like for the UN.”

Finn said the degree equipped him to address fast-moving changes, which has been particularly helpful in today’s global setting. His current role working on UN System, Coordination and Accountability requires him to constantly use tools he acquired at RMIT and some of these aren’t what he expected.

“I think the Master of Design Futures helps you with the inner work to be able to have the confidence and trust in yourself to step into challenging spaces and challenging conversations,” he said.

“It gives you the really important pieces to enable change: the skills and the content and the knowledge, but also the leadership. This current climate requires a very human leadership that understands and works in systems-led way.

“It showed me that design is about designing strategic conversations and it doesn't look the same for everyone, but that's to be made by you and owned by you. My toolkit for the UN system doesn't look the same as someone working in user experience at Google, but we're doing the same thing. We're designing the strategic conversations that have to happen to make work happen.”

Changing lives in justice

Justice and legal technology are Emily MacLoud’s strengths. Graduating from the Master of Design Futures in 2024, she has combined the two to work on a new tool that makes it easier for people to find and access complaints systems.

Her work in driving change across the justice landscape is aimed at people who may have experienced something unfair and need direction on how to seek help.

In her role as Senior Design Strategist at technology consultancy Portable, Emily has worked with different partners including non-profit organisations to develop the Hear Me Out initiative.

“It uses a generative AI function that you can talk to and by talking to it, it'll ask you a series of questions and help you to identify the most appropriate avenue through which to make your complaint,” she explained.

Emily used design frequently before starting the Master of Design Futures and once her studies began, she got a fuller picture of the role it plays in change-making.

“I read a whole bunch and was self-taught, and always felt that sort of theoretical aspect was missing in my approach,” she said.

“But then as I started to take on more courses and hear about, and learn about, other things that people in the course were doing, it just kind of opened my eyes up to the spectrum of design. I came across theories that I otherwise wouldn't have touched upon and new practises that were a bit different and farfetched from the original design thinking lexicon that I had been practising in previous years.”

Working on campaigns such as Hear Me Out gave Emily the chance to pursue work that makes a difference in peoples’ lives, which has been rewarding.

“It gives you something to wake up for each day,” she said.

“It feels purposeful. It feels that whatever effort you put in is contributing towards a bigger picture.”

Play is pivotal in learning

Trudi Boatwright is a playful experience designer who supports people to use communication, creativity and play to connect within organisations.

“I'm really passionate about teaching people how to use play in their own processes.

“I love seeing people become more productive, flourish, discover things about themselves, [and] almost go through their own design process within the process, if you will.”

With a background in arts and theatre, as well as small business, Trudi often came across the concept of human-centred design. It drew her to the Master of Design Futures and she was able to weave it into her practices working as a professional speaker and coach for government organisations, universities and not-for-profit groups.

“It's given me that global perspective of design methods and movement. It's totally refined my practice and it has given me such an opportunity to really uncover and discover what I do and what I'm good at,” Trudi said.

Exploring new frontiers of thinking

Nick Petch has an impressive range of qualifications from RMIT that stretch from graphic arts to digital media. But when he wanted to fill certain knowledge gaps, he enrolled in the Master of Design Futures.

“I was a bit sick of my own psychology about design and just kind of wanted it to be pulled apart and put back together again,” he said.

“I've bought learning with me through everything that I've done, and so now doing this future-led work is inspiring.”

Nick is the principal consultant at Fronteer Lab, where he works on a range of projects including a raft of work for an indigenous organisation focused on treaty. He said his work allowed him to think about higher-level design that endures for generations.

“Design's really misunderstood in terms of how big it is. Everything around you has been designed,” he said.

“I'm sort of working on those outer frontiers using human learning to really try and tackle some of our bigger, more complex problems. How might we change the narratives around the way in which we care for country, as an example?”

Nick said the Master of Design Futures had shown him how to pioneer new boundaries for human learning that allowed for innovative design.

The potential for new solutions – no matter the problem or industry – is a powerful incentive for graduates of the Master of Design Futures. With skills that allow them to leverage design thinking, they can strive for, and create, change throughout their careers.

Story: Kate Jones

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Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.

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