DEVELOPMENT
This page is about my development as an industrial design student regarding the expertise areas, design research process and professional skills.
USER AND SOCIETY
The competency area user & society is most important to me as a designer. Developing this area helps me to come to suitable solutions for my users. Within this I use a bottom up approach in which all stakeholders are involved and invited into the process. By observing the user and collaborating with users and stakeholders I am able to understand the user and design for their needs. As a designer I am designing with a user centered focus.
From courses and electives I learned how I can understand the user and the differences between users. I am able to empathize myself with users and stakeholders involved. To be able to empathize myself I learned how to do research about my user, observing users, interviewing users and user testing. By understanding the user I am able to switch from my own perspective, as a designer, into the users perspective. Courses taught me to have a sense for cultural and social contexts. With these skills I am able to create a design useful for the user.
Within my bachelor I learned a set of methods and skills that help me to make a design fit to the user and their society. Also I believe that we should not only look at a useful design for the here and now, but also focused on our future.
In my final bachelor project I focused on the user and stakeholders involved. I have been able to involve them by observing citizens, architect and the municipality in context, interview all stakeholders and test my design. Since I have been designing a co-creation tool it has been very relevant for me to observe and test in context. To create overview for myself I created personas, user storyboards and user needs maps.
User Centered Design - Use Basic - Intercultural Design -
USE learning line (Learning Sequence Quality of Life - Happiness, Health and Values - Learning line Quality of Life: Projects) -
User Evaluation Methods - Minor Interactive Environments - Project 1 - Project 2 - Project 3 - Final Bachelor Project
CREATIVITY AND AESTHETICS
Creativity & aesthetics helps me as a designer to creatively explore, communicate and test my ideas and designs.
In my first year I learned about creativity techniques like brainstorming, brain writing and sketching. These techniques have helped me throughout the entire bachelor. Other courses and electives helped me to explore ideas I had in mind in a physical and tangible way. Creating prototypes and sketches make sure I can understand and validate the interaction, function or ability a product can have as I had in mind. By creating these prototypes and sketches I am able to experience the product which makes sure I can see improvements easily. Besides exploring design through creativity & aesthetics as a designer it also helps me to communicate my concepts and final designs to fellow students, teachers, companies etc. Creating prototypes and sketches helps me to visualize the design and even let others explore and experience the design. A physical or visual design is always stronger than a verbal idea, therefore using creativity & aesthetics helps me to gain feedback from out standers and users. Again creativity & aesthetics is used to validate and test my designs. A prototype helps me as a designer to test in scenario testing and real life testing. In this way I can receive feedback. These three aspects, exploring, communicating and testing, help me within the iterative process. Recreating prototypes after exploring, communicating and testing will result in an iterative process in which I learn a lot about the interaction of the product and the aesthetics.
In my final bachelor project I worked on a way to visualize the discussion and process. Within this a large set of prototypes and sketches have been created. This helped me to explore the use and function of the tokens designed. Reflection after an iteration helped me to further design and develop the tokens and icons. Within the project I learned the importance of visualization. Which is also a very important aspect within the toolkit, the visual aspect brings overview, inspires and guides the participants throughout the process of co-creation.
From Idea to Design - Aesthetics of Interaction - Exploratory Sketching -
Minor Interactive Environments - Project 1 - Project 2 - Project 3 - Final Bachelor Project
User Testing, Final Bachelor Project
User Testing, Project 2
Exploratory Sketching
Minor Interactive Environments
Philip Beesley
FBP Prototype
BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
To me as a designer the competency area business & entrepreneurship is important to be able to design a useful product for user and the economy. I am able to do research to create a valuable position for my design. Validating the design is done by doing real-life tests.
The courses ‘Design with and for Multiple Stakeholders’, ‘Design Innovation Methods’ and participating in the TU/e contest taught me how to use business tools and methods. I learned the tools and methods for analyzing customer needs, doing market research and mapping out the system in which I will design a product. Next to these tools and methods I also learned how to communicate and collaborate with clients and companies when participating in the TU/e contest with ‘DirigeerBlad’. I learned how to setup a business model and how to attract professionals interest. Within this I am able to manage a multi-stakeholder involvement process.
Throughout my Final Bachelor Project I worked together with professionals in the field of co-design. I involved all of the stakeholders involved within the process of the design. Hereby I was able to review the ecosystem in which I will design. I was able to create a design which was of value of the client. Potentially they are interested in further developing the product and eventually buying it.
Design with and for Multiple Stakeholders - TU/e Contest - Design Innovation Methods -
Project 2 - Project 3 - Final Bachelor Project
Value Flow Model
The Business Model Canvas
TECHNOLOGY AND REALIZATION
As a designer I am able to visualize and demonstrate concepts by creating interactive systems. It is important for me as a designer to have these skills to be able to communicate with engineers from other disciplines to be able to work in multidisciplinary teams.
To me as a designer technology and realization is not my main competency area. I have a set of skill which I can use to be able to create an interactive product. However I feel like technology is not the main aspect of design. Design is about interactions with user and product. Technology can support these interactions within a prototype or product, but in my opinion technology is not a must for achieving this desired interaction. When designing for multi stakeholder processes the interaction in-between the participants is more important. However if technology would improve this it is good, but it is not a must.
However courses and electives helped me in receiving this set of skills. The course ‘Creative Programming’ taught me the basics of Arduino and Processing. The course ‘Creative Electronics’ I applied knowledge learned before by making calculations, building circuits and creating a working prototype. Within later projects this was useful knowledge I could apply within building a working prototype. During my minor ‘Interactive Environments’ in Delft I learned a lot more about Arduino both in my indiviual project as well as the group project. I also learned about programs like Rhino, Grasshopper, laser cutting and a bit of 3D printing in courses and workshops which were implemented in the projects. Within the minor I created both an interactive product individually and with a group.
In my final bachelor project this competency area was not the main focus. The product has been designed by using the laser cutter. However I have thought of creating a technological product. I decided not to implement this within the current product because it would address a different research question then I had setup for myself. The technology addition has been reviewed in the discussion as a possible addition for further exploration of the product. Technology did not bring any added value within the co-design session itself but could bring added value for documentation for the architect. Since this was not my research question I decided not to focus on this.
Creative Programming - Physics - Creative Electronics -
Minor Interactive Environments - Project 1 - Project 2
Electronics Delft
Laser cutting
MATH, DATA AND COPMUTING
For me as a designer math, data & computing can help me to see patterns and understand data which can help me to draw conclusions. In my first year I have created a basis of this area of expertise with the courses ‘Calculus’ and ‘Modeling’.
With the course ‘Making Sense of Sensors’ I learned more about retrieving data sets from sensors. Also an important aspect within this course was analyzing this data, seeing patterns and thereby understanding the data. From this course I learned how to draw conclusions from data. In project 3 I have used and studied the program MAXQDA to analyze interviews. From this I could retrieve data which we could use to draw conclusions from.
In my Final Bachelor Project I have not used the competency area math, data and computing.
Calculus - Modeling - Making Sense of Sensors - Project 3
Data sets
Maxqda
DESIGN RESEARCH PROCESS
As a designer I am able to adjust the design process to the specific goal or topic of the project. Within the design and research process I execute iterative steps to be able to reach my goals. Within this iterations I do research, use methods, create concepts and test these through prototyping and testing.
Within a design process I learned how to scope my own goal and project requirements. In my bachelor I have done several projects all with their own goals. I have been able to choose the right process for these goals. Within the process as a designer I choose methods and do activities that will directly help me to gain knowledge for the project.
As a design student I learned that it is important to me to set clear boundaries of what I want to achieve to be able to execute the process in the right way. By setting goals, requirements and boundaries I have a clear vision of what I want and need. In this way I can choose and perform methods within the design and research process.
In my Final Bachelor Project I created these set of boundaries for myself and a clear focus by writing down goals, objectives and by collaborating with a company within the field I designed for. In this way I adapted the process in a way that I could validate my design together with the company.
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Engineering Design - Design Research - Project 3
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
COMMUNICATING
When beginning at this bachelor I was always a bit anxious in telling my story or presenting. Throughout the bachelor I forced myself to present, take lead in group meetings and communicate my thoughts and ideas. Also I learned how to communicate myself professionally to companies, users, coaches and group members. Within this I am able to pitch my ideas as well as having a conversation. In my FBP I really experienced how I could make my coach meetings valuable by presenting, communicating my ideas and directly asking for feedback. Also I learned how visual communication can support me as a designer and support the people I present to and design for. Both during and at the end of the design process. I am able to communicate my thoughts, concepts and final designs through oral communication, writing reports, creating sketches, prototypes and videos.
I learned how important it is to motivate and communicate your design clearly. It is both important for the person I present to as well as myself. Communicating clearly will result in more direct feedback.
COLLABORATING
Within collaborating with stakeholders and experts I learned how to take lead and make sure that the collaboration is comfortable. As a person, I am quite empathic and social. I am able to create a good atmosphere in a group. Also due to all the skills I have developed I am able to work in a multidisciplinary team and communicate with everyone. I am able to adapt to the needs of others due to my empathic attitude.
In my Final Bachelor Project I worked individually but still had to collaborate with others. Also because it helps me as a designer within the process. I collaborated by providing and receiving help to other students and I collaborated professionally with the company I collaborated with. I learned that collaborating will always bring you much further than you would be able to do yourself.
PLANNING AND ORGANIZING
As an industrial design student, I learned the importance of planning and organizing your project. I am not very strong at creating a time bound project planning. However, in my Final Bachelor Project, I experienced the needs of this, due to previous courses and projects I was able to manage myself with planning and organizing.
As a designer, I am able to set goals for myself and describe what I want to learn and achieve. By doing this I can create a self-directed learning trajectory within every process.
Creating personal development plans helped me to consciously think about what is important to me and what I want to learn. Throughout my bachelor, I experienced the use and function of this and also became more aware of myself as an individual and as a designer.
DEALING WITH SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION
As a designer I am able to have a critical attitude to previously work done by myself and others. This helps me in my further development and inspires me. I learned how to use academic sources. By using and understanding these sources I am able to create a clear idea of the design area and challenge. This can function as a good basis to start designing for a clear context and problem identified.
REFLECTING
Within the bachelor of industrial design there was a very clear focus on reflecting. I learned how to reflect before starting on a project or semester through creating personal development plans, to reflect during the process by the use of iterations and critically reviewing the steps taking and after the activity by looking what I learned, how and in what way I could improve the next time.
In my Final Bachelor Project reflection was key. This was a way for me to individually do a design process. It helped to be critical and give feedback on my own steps taken. I reflected by evaluating activities I did and by drawing conclusions out of these activities.