Coffee Chats

From brands to teams

She didn't start with product design, she started in visual communication, shaping brand identity and helping companies say the right things. But good visuals only go so far. What happens in the room before anything gets designed? What happens when the team can't agree on the problem, let alone the solution? That became her focus.

During her M.A. in Digital Experience Design at Hyper Island, something clicked. The best ideas don't die from bad execution, they die from poor understanding. From people talking past each other. From teams that move fast but never build shared meaning.

"Complexity is not the problem. Ambiguity is. Simplicity does not solve ambiguity, clarity does." , Alastair Somerville

Creating the conditions for clarity

Shin took that to heart. Her work is about designing the conditions for clarity, not imposing structure, but creating it together.

She brings three things into a room: the ability to make complex ideas visible, the practice of non-violent communication to navigate the moments when things get tense, and a belief that teams aren't machines, they're ecosystems. They don't run on output alone. They thrive when people leverage each other's strengths, fill each other's gaps, and actively maintain a culture worth belonging to.

The work in practice

In practice, that's looked like this:

• Designing visual collaboration tools for public innovation teams at DigiRogaland
• Co-creating strategy and branding workshops for early-stage startup Lysir
• Running team leadership training with the Canoe crew
• Working with clients including ABAX, AlexisHR, Stepwise, and Stavanger Municipality

The work is hands-on. Intentionally messy before it gets clear. And always co-created, because Shin's version of facilitation doesn't involve standing at the front of the room and telling people what to think.

If your team is stuck, not for lack of effort, but for lack of a shared direction, this might be the coffee worth having.

Learn more about Shin here.