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Athar is the in-house innovation support function for the Early Childhood Authority (ECA).

We empower teams to integrate design and product thinking into their workflows, ensuring beneficiaries—children, parents, and caregivers, are at the heart of everything we do.

The Challenge

Design Thinking is a human-centered, iterative approach that helps teams understand needs, reframe challenges, and create solutions through testing and learning.

Yet in many organizations it is outsourced, treated as too complex, or taught only as theory. As a result, teams struggle to apply it in their day-to-day work and miss opportunities to design with real impact.

We are championing open-source Design Thinking within government, driving innovation across initiatives, services, and policies.

Our Solution - Meet Athar

Athar equips teams to bring Design Thinking into practice.  

 We guide them to understand beneficiaries, challenge assumptions, and test ideas—turning theory into tangible solutions that improve lives.

Our Services

Idea Framing & Setting Metrics

Idea framing and clear metrics help teams align on goals, define success, and measure impact effectively.

Discovery & Testing

Discovery research ensures teams solve real problems, reduce risk, and validate assumptions early.

Ideation, Prototyping & Storytelling

Ideation and storytelling engage stakeholders, build connections, and make ideas memorable to inspire action.

“Even if one of my Senior Consultants and I spent four or five full billable days thinking this through, we’d probably only get to about 50% of what you’ve delivered.

I even shared this with my junior consultants to teach them what quality storytelling looks like."

Johannes Loh
Director Government & Public Sector Consulting
Ernst & Young

The workshop was so good, I’m having more kids now!

First-Time Emirati Father

Outcomes

of teams said that Athar services had a significant positive impact on their project outcomes.

of teams said that they would seek Athar support for future projects.

of teams said that Athar services had a significant positive impact on their project outcomes.

of teams said that they would seek Athar support for future projects.

What can Athar do for you?

If you are a UAE-based government or private sector entity looking to implement product and design thinking to bring more impact to your projects, contact us for more information.

The Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority (ECA) is a government entity, based in Abu Dhabi, that supports holistic early childhood development. We do this by developing policies and laws, informing decision-making through research and transforming behavior.

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