Let me invite you to scroll through my journey towards the designer I am today by showing you courses, projects and key learnings.
Where did i start?
Bachelor in Industrial Design
My journey as a designer started at the Bachelor of Industrial Design at the TU/e. I developed an interest in psychology, behaviour change and vitality. Besides, I started to collaborate with companies to ensure the societal relevance of my projects. I joined the Honors Academy, where I did a project with the design method Data-Enabled Design that got published, I collaborated with Phillips for my FBP project, did an internship at the design company Less or More and was part of the student team A Place for Now. These activities grounded my collaborative identity and interest in behaviour change which I further developed during my master's.
Course: Constructive Design Research
Research methods & web development
Reporting & dealing with scientific information
Constructive Design Research was one of the first courses I followed and showed me how design can be a means to create a tool to generate knowledge: a Research Archetype [1]. We applied this to research how memes can be used to express opinions and experiences for by designing a digital platform. It showed me that an evaluation does not necessarily have to be about its functionality or uability but can be a means to discover or study new interactions.
Technology & realization, Math, data & computing
Within the course, I developed a fully functional front-end and back-end without prior experience. Here I set the base for my knowledge in HTML, CSS, PHP and JavaScript.
[1] Wensveen, S. and Matthews, B. 2014. Prototypes and prototyping in design research. The Routledge Companion to Design Research. (Oct. 2014), 262–276. DOI:https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315758466-25.
Course: Designing User Interfaces for Emerging Technologies
Learning and applying emerging technologies
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Technology & realization
The course taught me about various emerging technologies and how they can be used to create natural interactions and interfaces. I envision a future where devices to improve well-being create subtle triggers and become part of our home environment. The presented technologies, such as Multi-Touch Sensors and NFC, can offer these possibilities.
Courses: Advanced Social Psychology and consumer behaviour and User experience theory and practice
Deepening psychology knowledge
User & society
First, I followed the course Advanced Social Psychology of the Master Human Technology Interaction to learn about different psychological theories that can be of interest when designing products or interfaces. Besides that, it taught me about the build-up of research papers in this field and made it easier to comprehend them.
Second, I followed the course User Experience Theory and Practice, which showed me practical methods to connect my knowledge of psychology with design. Besides that, it taught me a different view of UX, where it is not an isolated experience due to interacting with a product but an experience derived from many external and internal factors. It showed me that the contexts and users' prior experiences should be considered when making design choices.
Second, I followed the course User Experience Theory and Practice, which showed me practical methods to connect my knowledge of psychology with design. Besides that, it taught me a different view of UX, where it is not an isolated experience due to interacting with a product but an experience derived from many external and internal factors. It showed me that the contexts and users' prior experiences should be considered when making design choices.
Project: m1.1
NATalie
To prevent recreational runners from injuries a tangible negotiation is implemented in a voice enabled artifact: NATalie.
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Reporting & dealing with scientific information, Technology & realization
During this project, I applied the skills I learned in User Experience Theory and Practice to design a fitting user experience. Instead of considering the project in isolation, we incorporated the environment of a runner and used the start of the established routine, grabbing the running shoes, to trigger the interaction. The system uses a peripheral interaction where the runner can interact with the device while getting ready by using a voice assistant.
Math, data & computing
I got acquainted with VoiceFlow to implement voice assistant interactions with Alexa. To create responsive interactions, I connected the devices with Adafruit IOT, an API and Google Spreadsheets.
Creativity & aesthetics
Moreover, the created prototype had contrasting aesthetics compared to the context of my previous projects. Therefore, I explored new materials to create a sporty but also homely device.
Project: m1.2
Doen of Waarheid (first iteration)
My M1.2 project was the predecessor of my FMP project. ‘Doen of Waarheid’ supports individuals enrolled in the well-being program of Surplus in a playful way to perform challenges related to their well-being in-between sessions.
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Business and entrepreneurship, Professional skills: cooperating
I collaborated with Vilans and Surplus. I interacted with different stakeholders to discover their problems and values to create a concept that matched the context. I learned how to manage different stakeholders and when to involve them in my design process.
User & society
The target group of this project involved valuable users and their caregivers, which was a new situation asking for a suitable approach. In the first half of my research, I only involved the professionals. Afterwards, I trailed my concept with the clients to build the necessary trust and lower potential risks.
Professional skills: organizing and planning
A project with an external client requires strict planning and clear communication. To be able to organise all the activities, I needed to switch from my wait-and-see attitude and take charge. I started to proactively contact professionals within the organisation to involve them in the design process. Which sometimes meant that I had to organise the next steps of my research before I finished the previous ones.
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Technology & realization, Math, data & computing
To evaluate the entire cycle of the concept, I build a digital platform and a physical device. I improved my web development skills by building a back-end with a multiple-user log-in system. Furthermore, I iteratively developed my prototyping skills regarding the mechanical parts and eventually built three prototypes for deployment. However, as all prototypes showed problems during deployment, I learned that longer testing periods are needed in future projects.
"We can offer these clients a limited number of appointments with a counsellor. We thought Emma's tool would be appropriate to allow people to work on solving their problems outside of the counselling agreements."
- Danique Vette (Surplus) in an atricle by Vilans
Project: m2.1
RecApp
Within this project I designed and build the mobile application RecApp to help people build intrinsic motivation towards a sustainable lifestyle. I executed this project within team VIRTUe, a student team of the Technical University of Eindhoven that competed in the Solar Decathlon Europe 2021/2022.
User & society
In contrast to my previous projects, the target group was not as specific, and the application could be used by anyone wanting to improve their sustainable behaviour. The project challenged me to turn complex behaviour change theory into a simple, easy-to-use design that the general public could utilise.
Professional skills: Reporting and dealing with scientific information
The transtheoretical model [2] explains that people go through different stages of change until they maintain their newly adopted behaviour. Users need different content and interventions in each of these stages. Therefore I designed an onboarding questionnaire to better understand the user and adapt content accordingly. The project made me critical towards current designs that are primarily focussing on the 'Action' phase of this theory.
[2] Prochaska, J.O. and Velicer, W.F. 1997. The transtheoretical model of health behavior change. American journal of health promotion : AJHP. 12, 1 (1997), 38–48. DOI:https://doi.org/10.4278/0890-1171-12.1.38.
Technology and Realization, Creativity & aesthetics
While designing RecApp, I improved my UI and UX skills through the different iterations. Additionally, I learned how to develop mobile applications in React Native without prior experience. By watching tutorials and coding sessions at the design company Bureau Moeilijke Dingen, I was able to successfully program RecApp and publish it to the Google Play Store.
Extracurricular activity: student team
VIRTUe
VIRTUe is a multidisciplinary team that participated in the Solar Decathlon Europe 2021/2022 where students compete by designing and building high-performance, low-carbon buildings that mitigate climate change. Besides the design of RecApp, I was part of the Energy Performance team and the lead of the lifestyle team.
Professional skills: cooperating
I learned how to collaborate with students from different backgrounds and had to find my position in the team as a designer. From my position as the team lead of the lifestyle team, I critically looked at the design decisions within different facets of the team. I recognised a difference in who we were designing for and what we used as a base for design decisions. Within the team, I introduced personas, scenarios and behaviour change theories to have a better, more focused vision for decisions. For instance, urban mobility focused on changing the mindset of people from being car-dependent to using more sustainable ways of transportation. I helped them to connect behaviour change theories to validate their ideas. By applying behaviour change theory to significant facets of the project, I better understood its meaning and how it can be applied.
Business and entrepeneurship, Professional skills: Organizing & planning
I organised two workshops to better align the visions of the team and to guide them in telling their story with personas and scenarios. Additionally, I organised collaborative sessions with companies such as the packaging company Packadore to discuss the viability of our design concepts.
Additional skills
Part of the competition was building a fully functional and real size house. I was part of the electrical team and learned how to install the electricity, connect the different components to the fuseboxes and about working on a building site.
Courses: designing with advanced artificial intelligence & Embodying intelligent behaviour in social context
Learning about AI uses and programming
Math, data and computing
As the topic of AI and Machine Learning (ML) is becoming much more relevant in the world of design, I wanted to expand my Math, Data and Computing skills by getting more acquainted with AI and its possibilities. I was enrolled in two courses within the department. This made me grow my understanding of applying ML methods, utilising various programs to analyse collected data, and understanding how ML methods can become part of the iterative design process. Especially learning what methods exist made me better understand the possibilities they can offer in the field I am interested in. For instance, my group designed a recommendation system for cardiac patients to guide them in their rehabilitation process. This asks for a deep understanding of the balance of risks and benefits of AI and can have an immense impact on the field. Here I learned how to use Python to create a supervised learning algorithm. Next week we have the honour of presenting our research at the INTERACT 2023 conference.
"I would like to commend the authors for their innovative approach in using machine learning to develop a personalized recommendation device for physical activity encouragement. I believe that the proposed solution has great potential to be impactful in this field."
- One of the reviewers of INTERACT 2023