Business & Entrepeneurship
Throughout my design journey, I learned the importance of economic viability in design. I see entrepreneurship as a crucial driver for progress, since profitability often pushes innovations to become impactful.
In the elective space in my curriculum, I focused on courses about entrepreneurship. The USE track Technology Entrepreneurship provided me with theory concerning the evaluation of entrepreneurial opportunities. I applied this to later projects like my first Final Bachelor Project (FBP) by using models relating to value propositions, services and micro-economic processes.
I also learned to involve different stakeholders in my design processes. During project 1, I took responsibility for contacting stakeholders that were working on similar projects for feedback. During project 2, I had to deal with a sensitive target audience. Therefore, I learned to establish connections with stakeholders that were not the main target audience instead. For example, caregivers that work with people living with dementia. During my internship at the student team InMotion, I expanded on this experience. I had to not only consider the stakeholders network for the sake of feedback, but I had to live up to their expectations because of their share in the student team. Hereby, I learned how to confidently navigate my work around experts from many different industries. In my second FBP, in applied this confidence to involve experts in the process, and to search for opportunities to test my ideas in a professional context.
As marketing lead of InMotion, I had to navigate processes and teamwork throughout different tasks within the corporate setting of the multidisciplinary team. I learned how to deal with dynamic requirements and constraints, while being dependent on processes within a different sector of the team.
As a board member of the student association SSRE, I was responsible for organizing career-oriented networking events. Here, I learned how to engage with interesting companies and how to explore career opportunities after graduation. This experience taught me also to position myself in the corporate world. Not just as someone with only requests, but as someone who offers value. And, as a bonus, I was able to pick up knowledge about intellectual property and patenting along the way.
Creativity & Aesthetics
Dealing with aesthetics is an essential part of design. For me, it is not just about making something look good, it is about communicating ideas in a creative, appealing and professional way. I enjoy wrapping designs in positive and inviting aesthetics to stimulate engagement with target users. I try to embrace chaos and use colourful visuals to give my work an energetic appearance.
During the course From Idea to Design, I got introduced to a variety of Ideation techniques. I preferably apply these in group settings. Therefore, I took responsibility in my project 2 to prepare all the team’s brainstorms where I applied different text-based, sketch-based, prototype-based techniques. During my first FBP, a big individual project, I had to learn how to ideate effectively without a team for the first time, which was hard because I tried to do it all by myself at first. I eventually acknowledged this would not work and fixed it by actively search for peers that were open for collaborative ideation on a structural basis. In my second FBP, I applied this method from the very first moment.
Since the course Creative Programming and my Project 1, I have been very inquisitive to learn how to work with digital visualizing tools. Over time, I have become a skilled user of programs like Processing, Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. I am also experienced in film editing using Premiere Pro and learned to create professional sketches during the course Exploratory Sketching. I use all these tools to turn ideas into presentable and explanatory concepts.
Also, during the course Aesthetics of Interaction, I learned to have a critical attitude towards the use of affordances and signifiers in design. During my internship, I was able to apply this attitude in a practical context designing affordances for a device meant to encourage interaction in a public space.
Math, Data & Computing
Math, Data & Computing offers designers the tools to get a grip on matter that is hidden in large patterns. Therefore, I have been developing skills in coding and data visualization over the past years.
During the USE course Data Acquisition and Visualization, I learned to make sense of datasets to turn these into meaningful information. Also, I learned during the course Calculus to apply a systematic approach when dealing with numbers. Finally, I learned to identify appropriate measurable variables during the course making sense of sensors. All this knowledge combined led to the integration of data-driven design approaches into projects.
A good example is my first FBP, where I used wearable sensors to collect multiple datasets containing different types of quantitative data of participants. I used Python to visualize the data and learned how to apply preprocessing techniques like rolling means to remove noise. This allowed me to determine what kind of interesting information I could extract from the data, and I used thresholds to interpret behaviour and experience.
I expanded on this in my second FBP. Here, I increased the number of collected datasets significantly. As a result, I couldn’t make sense of the data anymore by myself. Therefore, I learned the basics of machine learning, for example the differences between supervised and unsupervised models. I used the program WEKA to normalize, preprocess and visualize the data. Hereby, WEKA helped me to identify patterns in the data again. I improved in Python coding as well, as I learned to apply dictionaries into a pipeline containing functions to streamline my preprocessing and analysis.
Next to quantitative data and computing, I also make use of qualitative data generation. During the course Design <> Research, I learned to use design as tool for my research activities and gathered qualitative information to answer my research question. I expanded on these skills in my Project 3 where I conducted field research using explorative data collection methods to get a grip on behavioural patterns and understand cognitive processes.
Technology & Realization
Novel technologies provide designers with tools to turn their ideas into tangible and functional prototypes. It allows them to either quickly validate concepts, or dive deeper in material selection, production details, and feasibility. Realization bridges the gap between concept and execution, and therefore it is important for designers to master skills in this area.
In my project 1, prototyping was mostly done using leftover materials and Microsoft PowerPoint to create an MVP. I wanted to improve on this. Therefore, I focused on learning more high-fidelity prototyping techniques. For example, during my project for GLOW 2022. I learned methods to process wooden and plastic materials, like laser cutting and plastic moulding. This way, I created over 100 weatherproof art installations on a small budget. During my internship, I challenged this knowledge in a new area: exploring opportunities to reduce my impact on the environment. I learned I could do this by incorporating principles of circular design. I applied this to my final prototype by choosing the right materiality and implementing disassembly features.
During the course creative programming, I learned the basics of programming Java while working with Processing and Arduino. During a follow-up course, Creative Programming, I also learned the basics hardware specifications to choose appropriate sensors and components. I applied this knowledge to create the final prototype for project 2, by programming speakers to play custom soundscapes. During GLOW I was able to expand on this knowledge even further. I collaborated with electrical and mechanical engineers to design an electrical system that could run autonomously for over a week without running out of energy.
In the course Creative Mechanical Design/Engineering/Manufacturing, I got a first grasp on basic 3d modelling using Fusion 360. During my first FBP, I explored involving Artificial Intelligence in a project as collaborative co-creator for these 3d-models through iterative prompt design. However, since AI remained unpredictable, I learned to make 3d-printables by myself in my second FBP. It took many hours to get accustomed to this method, but I look forward to applying this new skill to upcoming projects.
User & Society
As a designer who values user-centred approaches to projects, I involve users as main stakeholders in the design process. Linked to my practical mindset where I believe that a design must have value for a user, I must understand and empathize with the environment I am dealing with.
During bachelor courses like From Idea To Design and User-Centred Design, I have learned to empathize with users to create better solutions. Learning characteristics and needs of target users led me to more meaningful concepts. By empathizing with target audiences and becoming more open to different mindsets, I uncovered social and cultural implications that were invisible to me before. For example during project 2 and project 3, where I learned to view the world from the perspective of a person living with dementia in a nursing home or an expat at an ordinary food market. During my FBP, I also learned about the growing social implications of ubiquitous technology (something I was only positive about beforehand). It changed my perspective on technological implementation over the past year, and made me very intrigued to continue researching within this area.
During the course User-Centred Design, I learned to involve users as main stakeholders in my projects. An example method which I applied during my internship, are personas. I also learned to involve stakeholders in different stages of a project. In Project 1, stakeholders were involved for feedback on solutions, whereas in project 3, users were mainly involved in qualitative research to create understanding of the problem. I combined all this in my second FBP, where I reflected on stakeholder evaluations in every stage, trough user tests, hands-on workshops and expert interviews. According to these reflections, I determined the next steps.
I also learned how to switch perspectives throughout projects. I learned this first during project 2, where I had to switch perspective because the target users were a sensitive target group. This was a forced change of perspective, but it led to interesting new insights. Therefore, I applied perspective changing in my FBP too. My first FBP was focused on the perspective of the visitor. However, in my second FBP, I approached the same matter from the perspective of festival organizers.
Finally, in my second FBP, I performed an investigation into the perception of emotions expressed in physical forms. I found it very interesting to learn about these cognitive concepts. Therefore, I am curious to dive deeper in psychological theory for upcoming projects.