Creativity & Aesthetics

I have always strived for a creative and aesthetic expression of my ideas and concepts as a way to make them understandable and graspable for others. Even though I thought my skills on this area were already quite developed when coming here, I was happy to find new and exciting challenges in this past 2,5 years.

As a result, I can now for example create websites and videos – which both help me explain my ideas even better.

But I didn't only learn new ways in which to express myself, the environment at the TU/e also encouraged me to overcome my fears and take up new challenges I wouldn't have faced before. As Chief of Graphics for the UNiD for example I could use my extensive layout experience to help and guide others. Furthermore, I translated the motivation I gained from weekly graphic exercises we did in the squad of my m1.2 project into an own project. This daily-sketching exercises (check out some of the results) changed the way I think about my day to day life, allowing me to see things differently and make new connections.

Hence, my studies have allowed me to improve my skills and furthermore opened new perspectives for me as a designer.

User & Society

The work I've done during my Bachelor studies have already been developed for and around people. However, it was in my Master studies that I first really engaged with these people in the design process already.

When looking back at my progress I can see how my projects evolved from being designed for the users of the future (e.g. the future steering element in an autonomous car), over creating an understanding of the  needs of users (creation of a stakeholder map), to – eventually – being design for and around users, in a constant exchange with them. I believe that the overview of my projects shows this quite clearly: my work focused on the different ways in which we interact with the world around us. First, I looked into our interaction with systems and objects, then into how we interact with materials, and lastly how this comes together and supports our inter-personal interaction. This seems the most interesting and valuable direction for me and I hope I will be able to pursue if further.

I believe my experience, decisively shaped by the exchange with people with different backgrounds while studying and working in various countries, helped me to make this step. I'm looking forward to continue this development in my career and hence strive for a true user-centred approach in my doing.

design & research

Looking back at this past 2,5 years, I think the probably biggest surprise for me is the development I have made in regards to my research and design approach. While in my pre-master project I was quite unaware about the different research methods for example, and thus couldn't fully understand the questions I got asked regarding this topic, the course Constructive Design Research provided me a first, more clear understanding of this field. This didn't only help me to pass that elective, but changed the overall structure of my work.

By having learned about academic methods which help to guide my general approach to a topic, my work became much more structured. Even though the theoretical frameworks sometimes seem to go too far away from the actual problem, I think that these methods are essential elements to navigate through ill-defined problem. Specially against the background of the emerging Transformation Paradigm, this gains importance for designers. While in my Bachelor projects I often felt lost in the process of a project, the knowledge I acquired about design and research processes now helps to structure my work and define a direction. I believe that this concept, even though sometimes it might seem to abstract to be applicable, can be useful for other fields and should be emphasised more in other studies as well.

When looking back, I am happy about the development I made, as I feel more confident as a designer in general and in particular about some examples of success like the acceptance to TEI 2019!

technology & realization

In my pre-master semester I had the possibility to catch up on areas which I had no experience yet. The first course I had regarding technology (Creative Electronics), literally opened a new world to me. The direct practical application of the theoretical knowledge taught in this course helped me to loose my fear of this topic. With the help and advice of many fellow colleagues and staff members, I managed to gain an understanding of this area, I can't say I'm an expert, even though I had always strived for an improvement of this area of expertise. However, the very limited time and options possible these 4 semesters, made it necessary for me to set priorities in the selection of my electives. Hence, I chose to focus on my strong areas of interest, having less time for bringing my technology and realization skills as far as I would have wanted, Nevertheless, I managed to acquire a general understanding of the topic and the basic skills needed to know how to approach a project. From this starting point, I can directly target specific topics, finding solutions much easier and faster than before. I'm confident that this will allow me to quickly learn and develop further when I need to.

Math & computing

Even though mathematics were always easy for me to understand in school and in my Bachelor studies, this field confronted me with one of the for me biggest challenges in my Master studies. The organization structure of algorithms differs from my personal mental model, making this topic difficult for me to easily understand.

Moreover, I experienced that my projects have been strongly based on qualitative data, making this type of organization and visualization tools not my personal first choice.

As I don't want to specialize on this field,  these skills are not my focus area. Nevertheless, I believe that through the exchange with fellow designers I have gained the general understanding needed to communicate with others about the topic and hence integrate it in the design process through the collaboration with others.

self-directed learning

The decision to come to Eindhoven for my Master studies was a deliberate and very well thought through one. Hence, my expectations towards myself and my motivation were quite high when I started my studies. That's why, I tried to use take as many extra-curricular opportunities as possible to improve my knowledge and skills. The positive outcomes of for example the Breman Design Challenge, the development of volo or the acceptance for TEI 2019, gave me motivation and encouraged me to look for further challenges. As Chief of Graphics for the UNiD and Teaching Assistant for the Bachelor course 'Aesthetics of Interaction', I could directly apply what I learned in the Honors Academy, putting my skills to use and helping others and myself to develop further.

I believe that the open environment at this faculty, which is less hierarchically structured than other academic environments and hence promotes a creative exchange between all members, was very beneficial for me and supported my development as a designer and as a person. I'm not only very happy about all the opportunities I got in this past 2,5 years, but also very thankful for all the motivating coaches, helpful staff members and, not to forget, supportive fellow design students. Without them, I would have not made it to where I am now.