The annual BSc Information Management for Business programme’s Design Sprint took on a new form this Spring Reading Week. Rebranded as the IMB Consult for Good Design Sprint and involving 80 dedicated students from all years of the programme working in collaboration with students from the UCL’s Department of Information Studies, the event also saw UCL School of Management partnering with educational charity Svitlo Education. Students were tasked with devising SMART and innovative solutions to real-world challenges faced by Svitlo Education with their active input over a two-day period.
The first day of the IMB Design Sprint began with a detailed and impactful introduction by Yuliya Kosko, Founder and Director of Svitlo Education and followed up by Oleksandra Petrova, a recent IMB alumna currently working for Svitlo Education who spoke more about her experience and the charity’s mission.
Discussing the day, Yulia Kosko, Founder and Director of Svitlo Education, “It was an amazing experience for a young educational charity like Svitlo to participate in the workshop and walk away with so many bright ideas. UCL students are inspirational. Having them as an example to our students is a great asset to our mission to educate future social and political leaders of Ukraine.”
The first day also featured powerful and relevant sessions from industry professionals and IMB alumni Arun Patel and Hafsa Khan of IBM, showcasing innovation, collaboration, and purpose-driven consulting. Arun, now a Senior UX Design Consultant at IMB iX said of the day: “It was fantastic to return to UCL School of Management and share the key principles of IBM’s Enterprise Design Thinking with an incredibly talented group of students. Seeing them apply user-centred design, rapid iteration, and collaborative problem-solving to tackle real-world challenges for Svitlo Education was truly inspiring.”
The second day was equally impressive. Two further IMB alumni working in industry, Richard Rácz of JPMorganChase and Tosin Ade-Ajayi of NatWest, spent their mornings delivering insightful sessions about their roles in product management and effective pitching. Their presentations gave essential guidance to the student teams, helping them to finalise and refine the strategies they worked up through Day One and into Day Two, ahead of their team pitches in the afternoon to a judging panel to determine the winning student team. Describing the day, Richard Rácz, Product Manager of Investments Experience at JPMorgan Chase said, “Incredible energy at the UCL x Svitlo IMB Design Sprint 2025! Grateful for the opportunity to join as a guest lecturer and share insights on product management and witness such purpose-driven solutions.”
Trustee of Svitlo Education, Heather Rhodes, joined their team for the second day, offering her support to our students as well. Her dedication to guiding the teams and helping them refine their solutions was incredibly valuable. “The pitches were phenomenal, with some outstanding ideas for streamlining student onboarding, super-charging fundraising and bringing together the online school provision within a single platform…Making a design sprint about a real-life problem brings a totally different dynamic to education, meaning students aren’t just learning about business and management, but are a force for good in the world.”
The Design Sprint had a transformative impact on the student experience, bridging classroom learning with real-world consulting and finishing up Day Two with an evening networking session for all involved with IMB alumni. By actively engaging with industry professionals and other UCL students, our student teams applied their knowledge to tackle complex challenges, gaining invaluable insights and hands-on expertise.
Harnessing the power of IMB through consulting, we are driving positive change and shaping the future. We are incredibly proud of the IMB Consult for Good Design Sprint this year and can’t wait to push the boundaries even further next year. Summarising the day, Programme Director Maya Cara said, “This Sprint is more than just a competition this year —it’s an opportunity to drive real impact by shaping strategies that support Svitlo’s mission of providing education to Ukrainian children affected by war.”
Find out more about the BSc Information Management for Business programme or learn about the careers support at UCL School of Management.
