Educational Growth
Focussed on Master Industrial Design TU/e
Throughout my Masters, I developed into a critical, visionary designer with an aim to create (social and economic) impact on society and the market. Before the Master I became an educated artist at my Bachelor and gained work experiences in consultancy, marketing and sales. At first, I approached design and business as two separate entities, but that changed during the master. The Pre-Master taught me how to conduct research on a university level and got me acquainted with the business aspect of design. During the first year of the master, I explored this aspect even more by following business courses and entering the track DLE.
During the Master’s, I got a grip on my design research and learned how to make informed decisions based on insights and findings. I learned how to research with different perspectives and how to gather and analyse insights that I found in literature and throughout society. The M1.1 semester brought me focus as I was truly intrigued by the integration of connectivity within mobility. My Bachelors work coincidentally resulted often in objects that enabled reflection. The M1.2 semester was a game changer for me as I gained an understanding in how to design for reflection on purpose.
During the M2.1 semester I learned how to connect the business aspects of design with the reflective nature of my work. It also changed my vision on design as I learned to design for relationships between humans and (connected) objects. Understanding the impact this relationship can have on business structures enabled me to holistically approach my FMP. My FMP creates a synergy between the artist and business-minded person in me, strengthened by all the knowledge and skills I gained through electives, projects, extracurricular activities and work experiences.
After Product Design Bachelor | After Industrial Design Master |
---|---|
No structured process | Structured design and research process |
Random decisions based on gut feeling | Informed decisions based on (scientific) arguments |
Prefer working alone | Prefer working together |
Design and Business are two separate things | Design and Business goes hand in hand |
Weak English proficiency | Strong English proficiency |
No future work plans | Vision on the designer I want to become |
Small focus on part of a system | Prefers holistic approach |
No focus within design | Focus on Connectivity within Mobility |
Coincidentally reflection as a result | Reflection as a goal |
Educated artist | Educated designer |
During the Master, I developed my own interpretation of the Expertise Areas of the Industrial Design department of the TU/e. In this section, I elaborate briefly on how I interpret them and use them throughout my study. The Expertise Areas I focussed on the most are Creativity and Aesthetics and Business and Entrepreneurship.
encloses the understanding of a design process. It is about grasping, shaping and formulating the processes you go through. I developed myself in this area by searching and applying methodologies that fit with my vision and identity in my projects. During the projects, I reflected on the processes and adapted them to improve the process. I used insights from electives to establish focus and strategically changed perspectives towards the challenge of my projects.
is used to challenge the status quo, to envision an alternative reality and achieve change with the help of artifacts. By leveraging my gained skills of the bachelor, I developed in this area by applying an iterative process of creating and refining ideas and concepts. I learned how to design both physical and digital artifacts by using a balance of knowledge-driven design and intuition. By presenting high quality artifacts I learned how to reflect, and use prototypes to gather user and stakeholder insights on the concept and designed interactions.
is about exploring, creating and understanding the technical aspects of the experience a designer wants to design. It is about finding the appropriate technology (sensors, mechanisms, circuits) to craft the designers intended experience. I interpret this area as a tool. This tool helped me to create interactive prototypes to gain insights and to understand the ‘language of engineers’. I now have the skillset to create interactive artifacts for plausible future scenarios and highlight the economical and technical feasibility of my designs and concepts.
is about creating social impact on daily life of our society by using design. It is about understanding the user and its emotions, experiences and perspectives by conducting qualitative and quantitative research. By exploring ethical and moral boundaries, I learned how to use the perspective of an individual and the collective. I learned how to gain insights from the stakeholders and use it to strengthen my design process. I am now able to position my design and myself in cultural and societal contexts and identify change and challenges in these contexts, which is important as I want to spark debate among society.
is about creating value with product or service design for society and business structures. It is about the exploration of value propositions and market trends to develop and validate strong business cases. I develop myself in this area by combining the learned theories and methodologies of the electives with my previously learned practical skills. I now am able to understand financial and economic models and pivot them based on informed arguments when needed. I now understand how to create a positive impact on business structures with design and vice versa. I gained knowledge of the position I want to have in the corporate world and how to position the company and employees in the context they operate in.
is about understanding and using data to support argumentations. It is about creating a clear overview of complex structures by gathering and analyzing data through visualizations. It is about gaining insights in patterns and validating your ideas and concepts using data analysis. I interpret this area as a tool that a designer needs in his design process. I developed myself in this area by learning how to gather and analyse data with statistical models. I learned how to use the gained insights as argumentations throughout my process. The M1.2 project provides an example of the learning process in this area.
Use the tabs below to explore how each semester with accompanying projects and electives, work experiences and extracurricular activities contributed to the growth I experienced during the master. Each tab presents a brief overview of the activities and lessons learned. Divide deeper in the experiences by opening the tabs of each project and elective.