Past
Prior to starting my studies in Industrial Design I have always had a natural passion for understanding user experiences and the impact of creativity on them. For example, capturing or altering experiences through photography and videography excites me. Despite the criticism nowadays on photo editing, I have always admired the impact of editing photos to a certain extent to ensure alignment between the communicated emotions and experiences and the moment in which the photo was taken, or even go beyond.
​
This early interest in psychological processes and in (the manipulation of) human behaviour and experience can be traced back to my final high school project in which I studied the influence of colours on the perception of taste. This interest in human behaviour also manifests itself in my sympathy for fellow humans which I express when listening to others, in an attempt to help another.
​
Moreover, being creative in general has always been a way to express my emotions and clear my mind. In addition, the desire to start a start-up as a result of creative initiatives has been a reoccurring thought, unfortunately without further success. Subsequently, Industrial Design was the ideal next step in my career path to employ my interests and skills and develop new perspectives.
Competence Development
From starting my studies in Industrial Design at the Eindhoven University of Technology in 2020, up until my Final Bachelor project, the development of my professional competencies and exploration of my professional identity and vision have been a gradual process. A visual overview of the development in the areas of expertise throughout the bachelor's, as well as the activities which have contributed to this, is illustrated below.
.png)
.png){kind=small}
As each course and extracurricular activity has uniquely contributed to the development of the distinct areas of expertise, a more in-depth reflection for each area is provided by navigating to the corresponding page by using the buttons below.
Extracurricular activities
Despite significant development opportunities within the curriculum of Industrial Design, I have taken on several extracurricular activities to either further explore or validate my vision, apply and develop my skills, or share my designs with the real-world. A selection of the activities is found below.
Clarks x lucid
designcase
A Clarks re-design case to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the iconic Clarks Desert Boot.
A social design design case workshop to facilitate participation of Woensel residents in urban planning.
CAPS TITLE
A semester in the UNID committee of Lucid, designing a magazine for the Industrial Design department.
A 1,5 board year as communications manager in student Team IGNITE. Learning the ins and outs of running a creative start-up.
.png)
A three day long design sprint in The Hague on how to best involve citizens in conversations about digitalization.
CAPS TITLE
Participation in the James Dyson Award with Dropless, becoming national runner-up of The Netherlands.
Participation in the Design Intelligence Award with Dropless, receiving the honorable mention award.
Vision and identity development
Similarly to my competence development, the development of my vision for design has been a continuous process. Starting as a student with a general desire to help people, I quickly noticed a need to distinguish myself from my fellow students, and thus further explore my interests, inspirations and beliefs. Through reflecting on projects, a sense of admiration for behaviour change technologies was identified, solving core problems rather than the consequences of bad behaviour. To design for this, I believed participatory design could be of great value.
​
With this vision iteratively lingering alongside projects, I noticed a lack of passion to apply this in my work, concluding that my written vision was rather a collection of interests instead of beliefs that genuinely sparked my energy. Real breakthroughs were kick-started in Project 3. While investigating solutions for pain assessment in children, the power of tangibility was discovered as a means to communicate experiences when not having the vocabulary to do so. Reflecting on my fascination for this method resulted in the identification of tangibility in my professional identity. I recognized that tangibility has been naturally intertwined in my design processes all this time, as a means to effectively explore, capture and communicate ideas.
​
Recognizing this has unconsciously steered the search for an internship opportunity towards the field of social design. As a result, I stumbled upon a design industry which I had not been confronted with before, but perfectly matched my vision up until then. In particular, the internship sparked a new perspective on participatory design, realizing that participatory design is a field to design for, rather than solely a design method, in which Design Thinking is of significant value to make abstract contexts more concrete. However, whereas many agencies strive to leverage Design Thinking by facilitating consultancy sessions, I advocate for the design of toolkits enabling stakeholders to employ Design Thinking independently of the presence of a designer, embracing efficiency and accessibility. In addition, recognizing that the effectiveness of tangible, visual, and collaborative sense-making is not restricted to tackling complex societal issues, but rather extends to a broader concept of 'learning' and making sense of abstract matters, giving rise to playful learning. Identifying this approach in the world around me, and naturally searching for opportunities to utilize this vision in other contexts of learning resulted in recognizing a true passion in design.
_edited.jpg)
Present
As a result of iterative reflections throughout the bachelor's, I have identified the key aspects of my vision, which are closely intertwined with my identity. I am a goal-oriented designer who approaches projects by establishing a multi-perspective view, cultivated through my observant attitude. Guided by my vision, I embrace collaborative sensemaking as the key to transforming abstract concepts into tangible realities in the here and now. I firmly believe that tangibility serves as a universal language and new perspective for doing so. My strong advocacy for Design Thinking extends beyond the domain of design, empowering individuals to navigate a lack of information and uncertainty in fields beyond design like education and personal development. Read more about my Vision and Identity below.
Professional skills
My communication skills as a designer are finely developed, enabling me to articulate complex concepts with clarity and precision. I have developed a value for visual alongside verbal communication, bridging the gap between abstract ideas and practical implementation and providing a universal language for communicating ideas. This enhances efficiency and alignment, leading to more effective problem-solving and streamlined project workflows within the design field. Also, this visual aspect enhances engagement, both of great value for the interaction between colleagues as well as the communication of ideas to stakeholders or people with no design background.
My collaboration skills as a designer have matured through immersive involvement in projects that unite individuals with varied backgrounds, including those unfamiliar with design. An initial hesitance for collaboration due to negative experiences in the completion of tasks by other parties, I have managed to turn this into an opportunity for growth for both myself and others. This experience has adapted my ability to seamlessly meld diverse perspectives into cohesive, actionable plans. Navigating these collaborations has enhanced my ability to guide non-designers through the creative process of Design Thinking, which has even sparked my interest to design for this.
My planning and organizing skills as a designer have been refined throughout my studies, where intricate projects demanded attention to detail and structured timelines. Despite an initial struggle to find a balance between both the key of flexibility and structured planning, I have managed to become at ease with this by physical planning, giving the complex planning in mind space to rest and be adjusted in the physical world. This experience has enabled me to adeptly manage complex design processes, ensuring smooth execution from conceptualization to delivery. By effectively balancing creativity with methodical planning, I contribute to the realization of impactful designs that meet both aesthetic and functional goals.
My advanced reflection skills as a designer have evolved through my studies, enriching my learning journey during my bachelor's degree and remaining key in my lifelong learning. These skills play a pivotal role in teaching the broader applicability of Design Thinking to individuals outside the field of design, enabling them to adeptly navigate abstract contexts, like personal development. Moreover, reflection has proven to be an intrinsic part of the design process itself, offering a structured approach for decision-making and identifying improvements.
My adeptness at carefully handling scientific information as a designer has been developed by a wide range of experience. Along with my natural willingness to empathize with a context to design for it, this empowers me to seamlessly integrate research findings into my design processes, creating solutions that are both innovative and grounded in evidence. By combining creativity with a deep understanding of scientific insights, I contribute to the creation of impactful designs that stand at the intersection of aesthetics and functionality.
Final Bachelor Project
In order to understand how all this development feeds my designs and processes, I have taken the Final Bachelor project as an opportunity to implement, test, and showcase my development and acquired skills and vision thus far where possible.
![Demoday Poster [portfolio version]-01.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c48d3b_d98095bd177c4670be6057f595bbda1b~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_553,h_774,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/Demoday%20Poster%20%5Bportfolio%20version%5D-01.jpg)
In high school, students face challenges in shaping their future and career choices, especially in Dutch higher secondary education levels (HAVO/VWO). Self-aware decision-making is crucial, involving three key questions: "What do I want?" (interests), "What am I capable of?" (academic performance), and "Who am I?" (personality). Personality often takes a back seat in higher education levels, where the focus is on degrees rather than practical skills.
​
The disconnect between career education guidance (CEG) competencies exacerbates the issue, as students possess valuable self-awareness but lack guidance in translating these into meaningful questions and activities for exploration. While private consultancy agencies cover these gaps, an alternative is required to make this accessible to all.
​
In addition, modern digitalized CEG introduces new challenges. While digitalization offers advantages such as data storage, it leads to a lack of engagement. Also, the decision-making is perceived as a solitary activity, fostering feelings of isolation.
​
In response to this, iLAND has been developed. iLAND, a hybrid product, encourages collaboration, hence stimulating a multi-perspective view for self-awareness, and bridges the gap to use this for active career matching, transforming a pressured decision into an engaging, and visual journey and facilitating an independent stopover for students to do so.
Future
Having explored the potential of acquired and developed beliefs and vision on the broader potential of Design Thinking, the value of collaborative sensemaking, as well as embodied learning for learning, in this case in the context of personal development, I would like to continue the application of my vision in other learning domains, beyond the traditional classroom. This will enable me to observe their impacts and get a better impression of the suitable application fields for these principles, and thus potential fields where I can make a difference with design after my studies.
​
To realize this, I will be continuing my education in Industrial Design at the Eindhoven University of Technology by starting the master's degree program. Due to the provided freedom with only two mandatory courses, I believe this is the ideal place to design the curriculum to be appropriate for reaching this goal.