More about me

I started a company aged 23, and didn't stop starting things. More on my journey from product designer to CEO of Snook and my globetrotting adventures

I'm a designer turned director of a business focused on making things better for people to use.

I studied Product design at the Glasgow School of Art which gave me the firm foundation of how to think in form, consider function over form and make ideas real through testing.

These skills have helped me scale a business, global movement and release a book.

I've a passion for improving services, how technology will shape our future and coaching the next generation of designers and makers.

My short Biography

Sarah is a designer, CEO and serial idea generator. She co-founded Snook, MyPolice, CycleHack, Dearest Scotland, Alloa Pride and The Matter. For this work she was awarded a Google Fellowship for her work in technology and democratic innovation and named as Good magazine’s 100 extraordinary individuals tackling global issues in creative ways.

My CV and longer bio

A longer version of my biography and public CV is available for download

My CV and biography

A longer version of my biography and public CV is available for download

Download

Awards

I've picked up some nice gongs

GOOD Magazine's Top 100 influencers doing good in the world (2016)

Winner of Core 77 Social Impact Award (2015)

Finalist in the Lighthouse Design Impact Award (2014)

Government Knowledge Social Justice Award - SME Award for Delivering Social Justice (2014)

UK NCTJ award for multimedia campaign (2014)

Finalist of People Make Glasgow Awards (2013/15)

Winner of the Mozilla Education challenge, IC Tomorrow (2013)

Working Well Design Challenge, Design Council (2012)

Young Scot Enterprise Award (2012)

Google Fellowship, Personal Democracy Forum (2011)

Winning Project, Audi Sustain our Nation (2010)

Winner of Social Innovation Camp (2009)

Medici Service Design Medal (2009)

Speaking

I speak at conferences across the globe on design

Feedback on my talks

“You literally changed my life. I’ve changed career because of your talk”

“Sarah was an inspirational speaker and gave me new ideas for redesigning services"

“Sarah Drummond had an enthusiasm and perspective that was very refreshing”

“Sarah stood out. She gave very practical examples and was very passionate. I feel inspired by her message that simple ideas can be put into practice in a way that makes sense and engages the people you are providing a service for”

“Amazing, inspirational and engaging speaker”

Public sector by design for , Tokyo, Japan (2017)

Public sector reform, Osaka, Japan (2017)

Service Design Network, Kyoto, Japan (2017)

Service Republic, Cork, Ireland (2017)

Queer Service Design, London, UK (2017)

Public sector design for XGov, Design Museum, London (2017)

Why Design Matters, Strathclyde University business network, Glasgow, Scotland (2017)

Innovating public services through design, Australian Government, Canberra, Australia (2016)

Service Design Conference, Manilla, Philippines (2016)

Innovating public services through design, RMIT, Melbourne, Australia (2016)

Keynote, Consumer insight conference, Glasgow, Scotland (2016)

Better World by Design, Brown University, Rhode Island, USA (2015)

TedX: From Wow design to we design, Edinburgh, Scotland (2015)

Anatomy of design, Northern Ireland Design Alliance, Belfast, Ireland (2015)

Revolution by design, Creative Mornings, Edinburgh, Scotland (2015)

GAB, creative talks for folks, Glasgow, Scotland (2015)

European Institute for Brand Management, Rotterdam, Holland (2015)

European Institute for Brand Management at the Design Council, London, UK (2015)

Pecha Kucha, Dundee, Scotland (2015)

New approaches to community engagement, Culture Republic, Edinburgh, Scotland (2015)

Public sector innovation, Muscat, Oman (2014)

Social innovation by design at SIPSCAT, Barcelona, Spain (2014)

Webinale keynote: Make it beautiful and we will come, Berlin, Germany (2014)

Why on earth are we all using social media anyway? Social Media for Social Good, Glasgow, Scotland (2014)

Keynote | Scottish Government Improvement conference for Permanent-secretary (2013)

Keynote | Better World by Design Brown University, Rhode Island, USA (2013)

Digital Innovation and Design, Northern Lights, Aberdeen (2013)

Community Engagement in Scotland, Glasgow, Scotland (2013)

Keynote | ALIA Information Conference, Brisbane, Australia (2013)

Design Research Lab, RMIT, Melbourne, Australia (2013)

Australian Government, Sydney, Australia (2013)

Social Innovation 2013, Linkoping, Sweden (2013)

Service Design and Social Innovation, Lapland University, Finland (2013)

Leadership event, Stirling Council, Scotland (2012)

Service Design Network Conference, San Francisco, USA (2011)

Whose Service Design is it anyway? AIGA Design Conference, Phoenix , USA (2011)

Design with ethics, Linkoping, Sweden (2010)

Making a difference with data and policing crime, London, UK (2011)

Keynote | Service Design Network Conference, Berlin (2010)

Teaching

I love to coach and teach and have worked with recognised institutions around the globe

I teach design and build bespoke education courses

In 2016 the University of Strathclyde approached Snook to design a module as part of the Hunter Centre's Masters in entrepreneurship. We designed a design thinking and entrepreneurship course that received 5 stars from students and is a regular fix on their masters programme.

Masters of entrepreneurship, Strathclyde University (2016 to present)

Service Design, HDK, University of Gothenberg (2013)

EURIB, Future of Design Workshop, Design Council, London (2015)

School of Tourism, Innsbruck, Austria, Service Design for tourism (2012)

Taiwan National University for Science +Technology, Service Design Shop (2011)

Glasgow School of Art, Service Design and Innovation Masters (2012)

Auburn University, Service Design (2009-present)

Linkoping University, Sweden (2010)

Product Design Engineering, Strathclyde University (2010)

Caledonia University, Graphic Design and Digital Technology (2010)

Glasgow School of Art, Product Design w/DK Arvind Informatics Forum(2009)

Published author

I'm a published author, academic contributor and producer of design thought pieces

This is Service Design Doing, contribution and expert tips. Stickdorn, M., Schneider, J., Lawrence, A., Hormess, M., (2017)

Design for Health. Chapter exploring how a service design approach can facilitate co-design of supportive communities and service frameworks for older people. Carr, V., Drummond, S., Young, A. (2016 in press) . Eds Tsekleves, E. and Cooper, R. Gower & Ashgate Publishing, Design for Social Responsibility series

Moving beyond the consultancy model Strengthening Design Approaches for Public Good. Design Management Conference, London September 2014. Drummond, S., Lakey, T., & Carr, Valerie (2014)

Expanding the toolkit of designers, Industrial Designers Society of America. Drummond, S., Anrold, X., (2011)

Valuing Design, mapping design and value in six public & 3rd sector projects. Yee, J., White, H., Lennon, L. (2015)

This is Service Design Thinking, Stickdorn, M., Schneider, J., contribution (2010)

Service Design Principles for working with the public sector, Drummond, S,. Edwards, M., Barrie, J,. (2014)

Hand Made, Portraits of emergent new community culture, Britton, T., contribution of GetGo Glasgow (2012)

Press

I've been featured in national press and on the telly

The Good 100 (2016)

BBC Worldwide on CycleHack (2015)

Make it beautiful and we will come, Berlin, Germany (2014)

Pixel Pioneers (2017)

Improving the police experience, Guardian Profiles, 2009

Social Innovation is my motivation, Guardian, 2009