My most developed competency area is the Creativity and Aesthetics area of expertise. I have always been a creative person with a lot of ideas and a passion for making. The courses offered throughout the ID bachelor have allowed me to develop myself further in this area.

The introductory courses From Idea to Design and Project 1 Design were my first encounters with structured ideation and iterative design processes. These were carried with me in all future projects. Other courses taught me different methods of ideation and design such as sketching (Exploratory Sketching) or embodied design (Aesthetics of Interaction).

An iterative approach and different ideation methods were further developed in project 2 design and my Final Bachelor project. These projects revealed that I work best in an exploratory making process. Crafting inspires and activates me.

User and Society is one of my most developed competency areas. I’ve followed many courses relating to the area. I will highlight the most important ones in this section. From Idea to Design and Socio-Cultural Sensitivity first introduced me to the importance of knowing your target group and being conscious of cultural differences. User-centered design showed me different methods of involving users in an iterative design process.

The marketing courses I took were very focused on tailoring a product to it’s user. They provided insight in methods of co-creation and user testing. Courses I took outside of the ID department involve two courses of the Psychology and Technology bachelor. These courses gave me an insight in the cognitive processes that underlie our behavior. This is valuable knowledge in user testing. The course Sustainable Development in a Global Context from the Sustainable Innovation bachelor showed me that sustainability goals require holistic approaches and that users or people are essential to move towards a better world.

The skills learned were applied in all of the projects. It mostly applies to project 1 design in which we did user testing to validate our concept and to project 3 research in which we did extensive qualitative user testing. My final bachelor project helped me see that having a deep understanding of the user is essential to create a bond between person and product, an important part of my vision.

Professional Skills

Design Research Processes

It is important to be prepared for a professional career by developing a prominent role as a decision maker and consultant as a designer. A set of skills helps to become this well rounded designer fit for a future professional career.

Communicating is the most key skill of the bachelor. Through teamwork settings I feel I’ve been enabled to perfect the skill. It is important to clarify everyone's goals at the start of a project and to involve these goals in the making of a task division.

Collaborating with outside parties is essential for bringing your design into the real world. During project 2 Design me and my peers were in contact with a tailor when we were developing our embroidery technique. This contact did not only motivate us but also allowed us to see several different business opportunities for the technique. During my final bachelor project I also reached out to parties outside of the university. They had a fresh look on the project that I feel helped to make the project more well-rounded.

Planning and Organizing is an important skill not only in a project process but also in your personal planning and goals. Throughout a project it is important to keep on track. Regarding personal development it is key to keep in mind the goals you have set for yourself and to understand the steps needed to reach those goals.

Dealing with Scientific Information is a skill I’ve developed through the activity DJC07 Dealing with Scientific information and through projects. Especially Design<>Research, Aesthetics of Interaction and Project 3 Research were key activities in this skill. They all required extensive literature reviews.

Presenting is a skill I have not developed fully yet since I feel slightly uncomfortable when presenting to a group of people, as many people do. However, the various activities provided for developing this skill definitely helped me. I feel much more comfortable pitching a project now than I did at the start of the bachelors.

Reflecting is a  professional skill that I’ve developed over the three years of the bachelor. Though at first reflecting was something I did at the end of a project to overview my progress related to my goals, I now have moments of reflection throughout my design process. This helps me to have an overview of my progress and frame of mind throughout a project rather than giving a snapshot at the end.

Because most of the bachelor consists of mostly project courses, I have been able to develop my knowledge and skill on design research processes. Different methodologies and elements of design have been shown to me throughout the courses. I think I especially applied my knowledge on adapting appropriate methodologies during my project 3 design and my final bachelor project. These projects required adjusted user testing since we were investigating semi-sensitive topics. Project 2 design and my final bachelor project required an exploratory making approach rather than a problem-based one. It was essential to keep making during the process since this sparked ideas and developed existing ones. I feel the topics I have focused on in projects that I was personally very invested in are not topics that have been largely explored before. Little research has been done on the subject of valuable clothing. Furthermore, my work displays some dynamic and surprise elements. Other projects that incorporate data into clothing are a little bit more static. I am also very interested in analogous design whereas research on dynamic clothing often involves electronics.