Sticky Design Studio

Sticky Design Studio is a Sydney-based strategic design, co-design and social innovation consultancy. Its work helps organisations understand people's experiences and develop services and responses to complex social, environmental and organisational challenges. The practice brings together human-centred design, participatory research and systems thinking, with an emphasis on involving the people affected by a proposed change in shaping it.

The studio works across consulting, research and professional learning. Its services include design research, service design, workshop design and facilitation, co-design programmes, capability building and mentoring. Engagements can combine qualitative investigation with collaborative workshops, prototyping and practical support for teams developing their own design skills.

Research and participation

The consultancy's published work includes projects in disability services, public administration, healthcare, community development and enterprise services. For Achieve Australia, it facilitated co-design with young people with cognitive disabilities, their families and disability workers to explore new community participation programmes. Its work with Ageing, Disability and Home Care examined the leaving-care experience for young people with disabilities transitioning out of state care.

Other engagements have applied service design to organisational and digital challenges. A Woolworths Group discovery project examined employee IT support across supermarket, retail and supply-chain operations. For the Connect Project at The George Institute for Global Health, the studio used research, personas and patient journey mapping to inform a preventative cardiovascular health app for older people with limited digital literacy. It also contributed participatory research to Making Connections, exploring digital access among young Australians experiencing homelessness.

Building design capability

Alongside project delivery, the practice offers tailored training and mentoring in human-centred design, co-design and participatory engagement. Trauma-informed design research is a particular focus, supporting practitioners working with sensitive experiences and vulnerable populations. Its learning activities connect research practice with facilitation and systems thinking, helping teams apply these approaches to their own organisational challenges.