Olivia Cederquist

Service Design (MA)
A professional colour photograph of Olivia Cederquist, smiling and looking directly at the camera.
A promotional visual for Trove, a new social media platform focused on slow, meaningful media consumption. The image shows a person sitting in a grassy field facing an old TV that asks, “What are you hoping to explore today?” A smartphone screen displays the Trove welcome page with the message “Your space for slow, thoughtful watching.” Speech bubbles highlight features such as intentionality, transparency, and user-shaped content.
A promotional visual for Trove, a new social media platform focused on slow, meaningful media consumption. The image shows a person sitting in a grassy field facing an old TV that asks, “What are you hoping to explore today?” A smartphone screen displays the Trove welcome page with the message “Your space for slow, thoughtful watching.” Speech bubbles highlight features such as intentionality, transparency, and user-shaped content.
This image showcases Trove, a service developed through the Individual Research Project in the MA Service Design course. The project reimagines the creator economy by exploring how digital content can be consumed with greater intention and care. Trove invites users to reflect on what they watch, challenging dominant metrics of attention and shifting the focus toward resonance and meaning. The long-term vision is to contribute to a systemic shift in how we engage with digital platforms, creating space for deeper, more mindful media experiences.
A digital collage showing hands scrolling on a phone with abstract scribble icons symbolising information overload. The background includes an outline of Big Ben, visually linking the volume of daily scrolling to its height. Text highlights the problem Trove aims to address: passive consumption, user fatigue, creator burnout and platforms that prioritise performance over meaningful content.
A digital collage showing hands scrolling on a phone with abstract scribble icons symbolising information overload. The background includes an outline of Big Ben, visually linking the volume of daily scrolling to its height. Text highlights the problem Trove aims to address: passive consumption, user fatigue, creator burnout and platforms that prioritise performance over meaningful content.
This visual illustrates the attention crisis at the heart of today’s digital platforms. People scroll through the height of Big Ben daily, yet most content is instantly forgotten. Trove was created in response to this environment, offering an alternative to performative, fast-paced media by focusing on what truly resonates.
A visual introduction to Trove’s core values as a curated platform for long-form video. The image outlines its mission to make attention more intentional, replacing algorithm-driven feeds with meaningful engagement. Four illustrated icons represent the platform’s core pillars: Respect for Attention, Intentional Discovery, Transparent Metrics and Feedback Loops, and Sustainable Participation.
A visual introduction to Trove’s core values as a curated platform for long-form video. The image outlines its mission to make attention more intentional, replacing algorithm-driven feeds with meaningful engagement. Four illustrated icons represent the platform’s core pillars: Respect for Attention, Intentional Discovery, Transparent Metrics and Feedback Loops, and Sustainable Participation.
Trove offers an intentional alternative to conventional social media by centring long-form video and values-led design. These four core pillars reflect the platform’s mission to reshape digital engagement: honouring attention, enabling meaningful discovery, promoting transparency, and supporting both creators and viewers in sustainable, purpose-driven ways.
A visual explaining the viewer experience on Trove, featuring a phone interface asking “What are you hoping to explore today?” with dropdowns for theme and time available. An illustrated woman reads from a tablet nearby. The text describes Trove’s friction-based design: no scrolling, autoplay, or like counts. Instead, users choose how they want to feel and receive curated video content aligned with that mood.
A visual explaining the viewer experience on Trove, featuring a phone interface asking “What are you hoping to explore today?” with dropdowns for theme and time available. An illustrated woman reads from a tablet nearby. The text describes Trove’s friction-based design: no scrolling, autoplay, or like counts. Instead, users choose how they want to feel and receive curated video content aligned with that mood.
Trove’s viewer experience is intentionally designed with friction, encouraging emotional awareness and mindful media choices. By removing autoplay and engagement metrics, and inviting users to begin with their mood or intention, Trove reframes how we engage with content. This reflects the project’s broader ambition: to shift digital culture toward one that values resonance, reflection and the meaningful use of attention.
A promotional visual for Trove, a new social media platform focused on slow, meaningful media consumption. The image shows a person sitting in a grassy field facing an old TV that asks, “What are you hoping to explore today?” A smartphone screen displays the Trove welcome page with the message “Your space for slow, thoughtful watching.” Speech bubbles highlight features such as intentionality, transparency, and user-shaped content.
A digital collage showing hands scrolling on a phone with abstract scribble icons symbolising information overload. The background includes an outline of Big Ben, visually linking the volume of daily scrolling to its height. Text highlights the problem Trove aims to address: passive consumption, user fatigue, creator burnout and platforms that prioritise performance over meaningful content.
A visual introduction to Trove’s core values as a curated platform for long-form video. The image outlines its mission to make attention more intentional, replacing algorithm-driven feeds with meaningful engagement. Four illustrated icons represent the platform’s core pillars: Respect for Attention, Intentional Discovery, Transparent Metrics and Feedback Loops, and Sustainable Participation.
A visual explaining the viewer experience on Trove, featuring a phone interface asking “What are you hoping to explore today?” with dropdowns for theme and time available. An illustrated woman reads from a tablet nearby. The text describes Trove’s friction-based design: no scrolling, autoplay, or like counts. Instead, users choose how they want to feel and receive curated video content aligned with that mood.

About

Olivia Cederquist is a service designer dedicated to human-centred design, ensuring empathy remains at the core of every project. Originally from Florida, USA, she earned a Bachelor of Design in Interior Design from the University of Florida before moving to London to pursue an MA in Service Design at the Royal College of Art. Her background in interior design has shaped a strong sensitivity to people, environments, and systems, cultivating an ability to understand how context, emotion, and interaction come together to influence human experience.

Olivia approaches every project with curiosity, care, and a deep commitment to users. Endlessly inquisitive and ruthlessly user-focused, she thrives in collaborative settings where ideas are co-created and strengthened through iteration. She values inclusive design processes that embrace a range of perspectives, believing that the most impactful solutions are those grounded in real needs and lived experiences. Additionally, she is particularly interested in the role of narrative and storytelling in shaping meaningful user journeys and building shared understanding among diverse stakeholders.

During her time at the RCA, Olivia has led and contributed to service design projects across diverse sectors, including digital transformation, cultural regeneration, inclusive humanitarian engagement, and the future of mindful social media consumption. She brings a thoughtful, research-led approach to every challenge, drawing on tools such as service blueprinting, workshop design and facilitation, and prototyping to explore, communicate, and test ideas.

She is passionate about designing for impact, shaping services that are not only functional but also foster connection, equity, and meaningful change.

Please feel free to get in touch via my personal email: oliviacederquist1@gmail.com

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