Ellen Simmons

Ellen is a Service Design Consultant at Innovation Unit, where she applies design to diverse and complex challenges.

As a neurodivergent parent to neurodivergent kids, Ellen brings lived experience that shapes her practice and drives her commitment to social justice. She focuses on how design can address inequality in neurodiversity, mental health, gender, and education. Her work at the Innovation Unit has given her a strong methodology and toolkit for creating equitable and inclusive solutions. She has led the design on justice and health projects, developing approaches to support care-experienced young adults in custody and after release, and co-designing with young people to improve community health.

Ellen studied at the Glasgow School of Art and the Cologne International School of Design. She is a “T-shaped designer” with broad skills in product, graphic, and UX design, as well as deep expertise in research, synthesis, and visual communication. She uses design to spot patterns and surface insights, creating tools and processes that help practitioners and communities work more effectively.

Ellen lives and works in Norwich, England, where she balances her design career with raising two young daughters, and spends any remaining free time on DIY projects while renovating her house.