I’m Özgür, an interdisciplinary hybrid analyst designer with an emphasis on UX, dataviz & visual analytics. With a unique blend of technical expertise, design thinking, and business analysis, I bring a comprehensive 360-degree approach to product development. As a computer science graduate with software development experience, coupled with a Master’s in Product Design, I understand both the technical and creative aspects of building impactful products. My previous roles as a UI/UX designer and business analyst for software and AI products have honed my ability to bridge the gap between user needs, technical capabilities, and business goals. This interdisciplinary career path, combined with my strong communication and leadership skills, enables me to seamlessly connect cross-functional teams.
Bahçeşehir University Game Lab– Storytelling for the Game design
I was invited by Bahçeşehir University Game Lab. This training taught the application of psychology and theories of motivation to the design and prototyping of games. Archetypes, symbols, and myths are living containers of collective memory that are still actively functional in our play and gaming experiences. They also appear unconsciously within the stories we tell, from oral legends to myths and tales, from cinema to literature. The workshop is based on an interdisciplinary comparative approach and explores the basic concepts, theories, and findings of psychology, including archetypal perspective, perception, attention, and memory, in the context of games.
MEF University – Language of the Visual Imagery
I was invited by MEF University. Symbols and archetypes are structures in which human experience has been collectively accumulated since the beginning of humanity. They appear in all works of the collective unconscious, from myths to fairy tales, from sacred texts to dreams. In this introductory study of the “Inner journey with images” series, in which we traced archetypal images and personal symbols, we built the basic concepts and gained an insight into the sources of our true potential.
EU-Turkey Intercultural Dialogue Programme by Eurasia Social Change
I was honoured to be invited by Eurasia Social Change to be a mentor, instructor and design a intensive foundational class on Storytelling methods for EU-Turkey Intercultural Dialogue project and Yunus Emre Institute. The Digital Training Course organized under the EU-Turkey Intercultural Dialogue Programme, which was launched to establish a strong dialogue between Europe and Turkey, graduated its 45 course attendees. Programme ran for a full year.
Desgin Thinking through images
I was invited by the Filtre platform. The workshop is a journey of discovery into the unconscious, our inner images, and our symbolic world as a space that organizes life. Participants collect clues to their imaginary worlds while trying to make meaningful connections that correspond within a series of random games. Can we achieve non-coincidental results as a result of more randomness, such as partners determined by chance images and coincidences? We sought an answer to this question with the participants.
Userspots Experience Design Team – Archetypes of User Motivation
I was invited by Userspots Experience Design Company. I shared the connection of archetypal imagery with content strategy and user’s motivaiton with Userspots’ design team.
Arçelik Industrial Design Directorate – Psychology for the design process
I was honoured to be invited by Arçelik Industrial Design Directorate to be an instructor and run a workshop about the psychological aspects of the design
Facilitating the evolution of our work culture
How to facilitate the evolution of our work culture, embracing our cultural heritage for a sustainable future?
This workshop explored some mental models and relationship dynamics behind the dominant work culture that need to evolve, in order for us release our potentials for more creativity. We looked at a possible future work culture that is more fluid, more dynamic, and more flexible for all our resources to flow with ease, towards a better future. Resources such as knowledge, role and status, money, skills, passion, relationships etc. We call that possible work culture EcoSystemic which is a blend of Ecosystem+Systemic. It is based on mental models that are aligned with Living Systems Theory and also Systemic Thinking. The process was designed to engage the participants in building the knowledge. It was a participatory workshops, which knowledge development happens by engaging the wisdom of all the participants, than just us as the presenters.
Design Thinking
Participants traced archetypal images and symbols and discovered the primary sources of their own creativity. In addition to the theoretical part of the training, practical exercises and interaction processes were applied to explore and connect with the creative power within us. It is a visual interpretation process that progresses through specially compiled photo card sets and stories. While touching on dialogues, photo readings, myths and stories, it offered a new perspective and tools to its participants who want to express themselves in a creative field.
