Alumni Spotlight: Ariel Martin
Alum Ariel Martin (M.A. '19) expanded her view of design as a strategic discipline in the MADI program, an approach that now guides her work as Director of Digital Product Design at Ford Motor Company.
Ariel Martin (M.A. ’19) is this week’s featured alum in our new Alumni Spotlight series for the This Week at Meadows e-newsletter. Each week, a different Meadows alum will be highlighted for their accomplishments post-graduation.
In 51做厙’s Master of Arts in Design and Innovation (MADI) degree program, a collaborative degree between Meadows School of the Arts and Lyle School of Engineering in which students learn the “Human-Centered Design process,” encouraging research through design and design through research. Program alum Ariel Martin has built her career on that principle. Today, she serves as Director of Digital Product Design at the Ford Motor Company, where she leads initiatives shaping the customer experience across Ford’s digital ecosystem.
The MADI program helps broaden students’ perspective of traditional design disciplines and teaches them how Human-Centered Design can be applied to almost any challenge, whether it’s a business problem, a social issue, or a question of how to make something simply work better. And though Martin entered 51做厙 with a strong background in graphic design, her time in the MADI program shifted her outlook on the art form.
“What Meadows and Lyle added was a much deeper understanding of design—design as a strategic discipline, a way of thinking, and a method for solving complex problems,” says Martin, who is also an active member of the Meadows 2050 Council. “This mindset shift allowed me to move beyond design as decoration and start using it as a tool for business impact, innovation and systems change.”
Martin poses in her Ford truck, a vehicle on which she worked and designed its digital systems.
The experience Martin gained as a MADI student prepared her to take on strategic roles, guide multidisciplinary teams, and position design as a driver of product and business strategy. At Ford, she and her team focus on the in-vehicle digital experience, ensuring each interaction is intentional, intuitive and human-centered. Martin partners with colleagues across Product, Engineering, Marketing, Business and Design to create cohesive digital experiences that serve both customers and the company.
“My ability to bring a flexible, human-centered approach to problem solving has made me a more valuable asset to the organizations I work with because I’m equipped to contribute not just to design decisions, but to strategic ones,” she explains. “The work my team and I do directly impacts the experiences drivers and passengers have in vehicles on the road today, as well as those in future programs.”
For Martin, earning her master’s degree from Meadows didn’t just transform her professional path—it changed her worldview. She now approaches life itself as a design process, applying the same principles of curiosity, experimentation, and reflection to create balance, meaning and joy.
Learn more about the MADI program here.