Xènia Viladàs

Xènia Viladàs is an economist and MBA by training, a vocational business designer, and an educator. She has a long trajectory of work in public design policies, as well as in consulting for non-profit organizations and small firms including design services firms. A fluent speaker of French, English, Spanish, and Catalan, Viladàs has developed an extensive international professional network through more than 20 years of experience in the design-related field.

An expert in corporate strategy and design management with a specialty in business design, Viladàs has helped a wide variety of companies and designers to reshape their strategy and improve their management practices. Viladàs has lectured on topics related to her field at international conferences and other events around the world. She is the author of several books, including Diseño Rentable and El diseño a su servicio, which were both translated to English and Korean. She is currently writing a book on strategic service design.

Viladàs has worked as an Adjunct Professor at IE University since 2020. Prior to this, she taught a variety of subjects in design schools, business schools, and universities throughout Spain and the Americas. Between 2014 and 2020, Viladàs was a full-time Professor and Chair for Service Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in the United States. While at SCAD, Viladàs was responsible for seven collaborative projects sponsored by Fidelity, HP, Delta Airlines, Philips Healthcare, Disney Imagineering, HEB, and P&G, and her students won important awards in competitions like Red Dot, European Design Awards, and IDEA with projects developed in her courses.

From 2007 to 2019, Viladàs was the Founder and Director of Xènia Viladàs Design Management Consultants. She has also worked with the Design Management Institute Advisory Council, the Instituto de investigación y desarrollo en diseño industrial del INTI in Argentina, NESTA Pioneers Program, BCD Barcelona Centre de Disseny, and the Trade Association of Short Staple Spinners and Weavers.

Corporate Experience

• Business design expert and educator at xeniaviladas.today. 2019 - Present

• Founder of XVDMC – Xenia Viladas Design Management Consultants. 2007 - 2019

• Member of Design Management Institute Advisory Council. 2000 - 2015

• Founding member of Instituto de investigación y desarrollo en diseño industrial del INTI, Argentina. 2010

• Business coach, NESTA Pioneers programme. 2003 - 2004

• Managing director, BCD Barcelona Centre de Disseny. 1997 - 2000

• Assistant director BCD Barcelona Centre de Disseny. 1994 - 1997

• Internationalization manager. Trade Association of Short Staple Spinners and Weavers - AITPA. 1981 - 1989

Academic Experience

• IE University Adjunct Professor, Madrid. 2020 - Present

• Service Design, part-time faculty. Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), USA. 2019 - Present

• Associate chair. SCAD. 2017 - 2019

• Service Design Professor. SCAD. 2017 - 2019

• Service Design Academic Program Coordinator. SCAD. 2014 - 2019

• Other academic activities: teaching modules in schools and universities like Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; EAN, Bogotá (Colombia); UPC School of Professional and Executive Development, Barcelona (Spain); Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, Mexico; Istituto Europeo di Design Barcelona and Madrid (Spain); Design School of Poznan (Poland), among others. 2004 - 2017

Academic background

• PhD in Design Management. Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain. 2008 - 2011

• MBA in Design Management. University of Westminster, UK. 2001 - 2003

• Bachelor in Economics. Universitat de Barcelona, Spain. 1975 - 1981