First Year Review

My first academic year was a time for me to explore what truly motivated me as a student. A project I would like to highlight was my second CBL project, as it summarizes where I was in my development as a designer. For the project my group developed Pamora, a study companion that reminded the user to take breaks and drink water. Throughout the process I played a supporting role, constantly aiding others in their tasks and maintained all the background operations such as scheduling or collecting evidence. This was a role I found myself quite often throughout the year as it played to my strengths, but it is also a place for improvement. I find that I should be more active with taking the initiative within the design process, and push outside of my comfort zone. It’s not that I did not contribute, it is taking the lead on certain tasks to show that I am capable of doing so. If you always play the supporting role, then it is quite difficult to define what I am as an individual.

Demo day poster of Pamora.

Process of week two summary.

Me and Thijs Rexwinkel (partner for project) with the prototype for Non-Human FM.

Second Year Review

My second academic year was one that was more directed towards my intended vision as a designer. I found that, alongside game design, speculative design provides a platform where the emotional worth of a product is significantly more important than its physical worth. It was a field I explored a handful of times throughout the year, yet I think one project in particular truly captures this namely, Non-Human FM, a prototype developed for the course ‘Designing for More-than-human worlds’. The design is an umbrella which is unable to close, as we wanted to force users to understand the area they take up, that will allow people to listen to the willow tree’s experiences the day prior. This was done by having a radio station by the trunk, which would send an audio recording of what occurred around the tree the previous day, that could then be picked up by a radio which was integrated within the noticing tool. As a product it could possibly succeed, but that is not the intention. When using Non-Human FM the stories you learn from the non-humans and kin is where the true value lies, giving users an avenue to reassess their position within their environment.

Goals

As I am entering my third year of my bachelor, I should be aiming to complete my profile as an amateur designer. To best achieve this I believed it was advisable to take electives for the first semester, as it allows me to partake in a variety of differing projects and solidify certain skills (PDP).

    • While I would consider the standard of my work to be quite high, it often lacks that one step that makes it realistic within the professional world. Whether this be my physical ability to execute my vision on the prototype or the assumptions made during the conception of the design, my work often falls into the category of ‘potential’. This year I want to push that further and explore the current professional environment when possible, in order to better prepare for future endeavors.

  • My second goal is one I also struggled with last year, as I am not the most confident individual, it hinders my ability to add personal touches to my designs. The main difference is that, back then I was more focused on the final outcome which put pressure on me to be more open then I was comfortable with. Hence this year, I wanna work alongside what drives me as a designer instead of creating personal artifacts.

  • My last goal focuses on the fundamental way designers improve each other, feedback. Due to the fact that I am quite a self contained individual, any form of constructive criticism is quite a stressful experience. Meaning I normally take the route of trying to solve any obstacle I may run into myself, instead of seeking guidance. I wanna change this, especially as it is crucial to improving any project I am currently working on.