Suus van Gogh

Creativity & Aesthetics

What does it mean to me?
The expertise area creativity & aesthetics is one of my main focus points. Not only, the aesthetics of a final product, but also the ideation phase and creative thinking. I believe products should be appealing and aesthetically pleasing so they would fit in peoples life. I am a perfectionistic worker which makes it important for me that there is taken care of all the details of the looks of a product.

Progress
In the course From Idea To Design I learned about a design process and the different ways of brainstorming. I tried some different techniques as sketching, using body language and quick prototyping, this gave me the insight that different brainstorm techniques can result in different ideas.
My graphic design skills have improved a lot while using Adobe apps like Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop and XD. I created logos, visuals, app designs, business cards and layouts for different courses. For example, I created the layouts for all reports in the course Introduction To Business Design. Besides, I used my graphic design skills during interviews and user tests, which helped in explaining concepts. This skill helped me to improve as a user-centered designer.

Project 1
In project 1, the ideation phase was a really good learning experience to me. It taught me that I should not rush and should take enough time to choose an idea to explore further. There was no design brief for the project which made it quite hard to know where to start. Starting off with doing some research and looking at existing designs really helped me to get inspiration. I have also improved my graphic skills in project 1 while creating logos, layouts, 3d visuals and sketching.

User & Society

What does it mean to me?

I am an user-centered designer and want to take the user with me in a design process. I like to work on designs which can improve people’s everyday lives. I believe User & Society is really important for finding these burdens and coming to the right solution.

Development

In the course User Centered Design, I learned a lot of theory. I became interested in this part of a design process and the course showed me the importance of it. User Centered Design already taught me the basics of ethics in a design process, however the course USE basic got further into this. As an extracurricular activity, I followed a workshop from Koos Service Design about customer journey mapping. I liked to see how actual companies included User & Society in their projects. Besides, I learned to use an useful tool which I will use in future projects.

Project 1

I put the theory I learned in previous courses into practice within project 1. I created multiple personas and have conducted 3 interviews. It really was an eye opener to see how many useful information can be found by conducting interviews from the target group. I had a lot of assumptions, and these interviews helped to confirm or invalidate them. I also explained the concept of the system during the interview to receive feedback from potential users. This was valuable since it helped to improve the user experience. For next projects, I would like to do this through user testing so even more insights can be found.

Technology & Realization

What does it mean to me?

Technology and realization is for me mostly about turning ideas into realization by creating prototypes. I believe being able to create prototypes is really important to get your design more understandable for the users. Also, as an user-centered designer, I think it is valuable to test the user experience and usability with prototypes, so the design can be improved iteratively.

Development

In the course From Idea To Design I got my first experiences with prototyping. I noticed that I enjoyed prototyping since the designs got turned into realization. During this course, the technical part of the prototype did not work, this was something I wanted to improve in the future.
In the course Creative Electronics I learned more about working with an Arduino. In the end I made a working prototype, namely a steering wheel cover designed for people with a hearing disability. I really enjoyed working on a prototype where the technical aspects function and which is useful. The feeling this working prototype could improve the life of someone with a disability was for me a confirmation that I like to be a designer who strives to improve everyday life for vulnerable target groups.

In the course Creative Programming I learned to work with processing and how to combine these skills with an Arduino. I liked how these skills had to be combined with Creativity & Aesthetics to create a game design.

Lastly, I worked how to create 3D models via Blender during the Engineering Design USE line. This is a useful skill to create realistic renders which can be showed to stakeholders and to 3D print prototypes.

Project 1

In project 1, I improved my prototype skills by working with different kind of materials and machines. I created a supermarket system and worked with materials as perspex and wood. Therefore, this contributed in achieving my goal of getting more experienced in prototyping. At the moment I feel more secure in prototyping because of all these new experiences.

Business & Entrepreneurship

What does it mean to me?

Business & Entrepreneurship is for me about being able to sell your product. I think there is an important connection between this area and User & Society. The product should be convincing for users and therefore it is important to know their values and needs. I believe that using these values in the marketing of the product is really important to reach the target group.

Development

In the course Introduction to Business Design, I learned to create models as the 7s Organization, Swot Analysis, Business Model Canvas, Pestel Framework and a Value Proposition Canvas. The models gave me new insights, since they let me think more critically and provided multiple perspectives. For me, the topic Design & Branding was most interesting. I created a new branding for H&M and thought about how to reach out to the customers. This way this expertise area got connected with User & Society and Creativity & Aesthetics which fits with my professional identity.  

Project 1

In project 1, I used my skills learned in the course Introduction To Business Design to create a value proposition canvas. This canvas gave a better overview of the problem we are solving and to see if we solve all the pains from the users. In addition, I created a branding for Chefs’ Aisle by creating a logo, color scheme and finding fonts to achieve a goal for my PDP. I liked working on the branding, since it will be the appearance of the system.

Math, Data & Computing

What does it mean to me?
This expertise area is for me about gathering and analyzing data. I believe this is really important in user-centered design processes,  since it can help to find patterns in people’s lives. In addition, it can give insight in how well the design functions.

Development
In the course ‘Data Analytics for Engineers’ I got my first experiences with analyzing data. I have learned how to transform data into useful graphs, models and eventually conclusions. I noticed how important these skills were in the course ‘Making Sense of Sensors’. With this research I achieved my PDP goal by gathering data from the human body and analyzing this data afterwards. It made me aware of how important it can be in design projects to find trends. Especially, in designing products to improve people’s  everyday lives, I believe it is really useful to find trends and burdens so the roots of the burdens can be solved. In connection with my vision, I believe being able to analyze data with programs as Python can also help to create more personalized products without too much effort.

Project 1
While prototyping for project 1, I had to make computations and use my mathematical skills to find how separate parts could form a whole.

Design & Research Process

During From Idea to Design I got my first experiences with design processes. However, our way of working was not structured well and therefore did not follow a specific design process. I learned from this and implemented both Double Diamond Process and Reflective Transformative Design Process in Project 1. It helped me to work more structured and to reflect more often during the project.

Within project 1, I realized the importance of researching. Already in the beginning of the project I performed a lot of research on the topic vitality to find inspiration and discover the topic. As a designer, who puts the users first it is important to fully understand the target group. Therefore, it is not only important to do interviews but also to do research. Doing research about the target group in Project 1 helped me to come up with specific solutions that fill the needs of the users.

In the course Design <> research I learned the value of research through design. I believe this is valuable since it comes with different opportunities than literature research.

Professional Skills

As a designer, I believe it is important to have professional skills since designing is most of the time a collaborative process. I would describe myself as a team player who wants to keep peace and tries to motivates the others. In project 1, I found that I often have more inspiration when working in a group and that it is useful that others can complement you.

I am an organized worker and am good in creating plannings and stick to it. I like to keep things structured, so I will not be faced with unexpected setbacks. For me, this was the hardest part of working in a team since you are dependent on other group members. Therefore, I should learn to not want to be in control of everything. I noticed that this issue mainly arises because of my perfectionism.

Past year, my presenting skills have improved a lot. In courses as User Centered Design I had to present every week which led to feeling way more comfortable in pitching. Therefore, I noticed that I was not nervous anymore for pitching on Demo day. I believe being able to pitch properly is an important skill for designers since it is their way of selling their solutions and getting people excited about it.