Hi there!
I am Anna Hiemstra, a third year bachelor Industrial Design student at the Eindhoven University of Technology.
And this is my Design Portfolio
The world is a chaotic place, and to be honest, I contribute to it in the same way. I am a 21 year-old Industrial Design student driven by a deep fascination for human differences, a love for out-of-the-box prototyping, and a desire to solve complex, real-world problems.
My vision as a designer
As a designer that loves new experiences, I design by thinking a few steps ahead.
While daily life becomes more digital, there is a growing need of keeping technological innovations understandable and intuitive for users as well as to keep the technical aspect from taking over psychologically or culturally important human interactions and activities.
I create society-centered and adaptable designs that complement basic human interactions and needs by combining research and experience with practice. Evidence based-insights from both research as well as first- or secondhand are my main base to understand human behavior and (re-)design utility items. To then prototype, gives me the opportunity to enable stakeholders to interact with the prototype and give feedback.
My vision grows from a position where independency comes first. From there, a well designed environment enables people to connect. My previous designs have confirmed this direction. I have, for example, created a system to help people reconnect with nature, primarily in their homes. With additional aspects of doing this together with others both in their own homes as well as taking this connection outside. Also, a glove to give people with hearing disabilities the opportunity to still experience concerts and other musical events so that they can share such experiences with able-hearing people. These projects helped me realize that I am most motivated when designing tools and experiences that help people to be put in their power and help them enjoy their lives how they prefer, instead of giving users clear cut experiences.
What helped me develop as a designer in these projects was the necessity to design for longer term use. Reconnecting with nature for example is a process not to be rushed, but to experience for someone on their own tempo while staying relevant in the ever evolving digital environment.
With my designs I try to keep a connection between the digital future and human nature, ensuring that, while technology keeps advancing, our psychological and cultural well-being won't be compromised. Ultimately, my goal is not to create the user experience, but to design the tools and environments that give independence, create space for meaningful human connections, and enable people to live their lives authentically.
Professional identity
The world is a chaotic place to which I contribute in the same way. I have always been someone curious about everything. As a child similarities are often focused on, however I have loved asking about differences since I can remember. I have never been someone who wasn’t open for new and different ideas, which is how I came to sail across the Atlantic Ocean on a Tall Ship and do an exchange year in Chubut,
Argentina. These experiences have shown me that I will adapt to situations and cultural norms when needed, but I have grown to appreciate my own values even more since I have lived with them in new settings where mine aren’t always the, so called, default values that I was used to at home. When designing I prefer to have a wide variety of ideation materials at hand and just let my iterations flow through the different ideation techniques and prototyping materials. Initially there are no specific steps I take other than defining what type of design is asked from a brief. Therefore I acknowledge that the beginnings of my design processes are in advance undefined. This loose structure helps me to work
in and think about multiple questions at once and take big steps, however, the past has shown that this can result in skipping details of the brief. The positives of working this way have shown to improve overall ideas when working on more than one design. Since thinking of a new concept that might not work for one project , it could still be used for another.
My interests lie in complex and out-of-the-box solutions. Trying to keep on finding new and different solutions is what motivates me to keep on iterating. I find that this especially helps while reflecting on decisions and works. To see the challenge for improvements as an opportunity really is a valuable mindset to have. It has helped me in multiple settings like academic and extra-curricular to keep improving. In teamwork this can collide if perceived as more perfectionist that the average of the group and I’m working on not letting than influence me as much as it does. Because of my interest in differences and cultures I tend to focus on the User & Society expertise area. This is mostly noticeable in my process by first wanting to find a literal problem when starting a project, even when there might not be one stated in a design brief at all. Moving on to prototyping the Technology & Realization expertise area will take over. A practical design that helps and improves a situation
of the user is how I envision all my designs. This means that the interaction usually overtakes aesthetics until a demonstration gets close. During the last couple of months my interests and thus knowledge towards a more Math, Data and Computing side of design has been growing. I am thrilled to see how this will impact my identity
in the future.
Learning Activities
Tacti
In this project we created a tool for hard hearing people to help them find their own experiences where their impairment could not be taken into account.
MakeSense
This research project helped me find new tactics in doing research.
Drugbuddy
By working in an multidisciplinary group I have shown my unique experience in working on multiple projects and following different project flows.
Yggdrasil
During this project I became aware of how rapidly the technology in our world is evolving. Besides working with OOCSI and Arduino, I have also worked on the emotional impact of the design aesthetics and placement.
Future Aspirations
As a designer on the edge of applying my gained knowledge and experiences in real-life scenarios, I am aware of the growth I have shown both as a person and as a designer. However, I have still area's that I would like to explore and improve before stating myself as more than an Industrial Design student.
By doing an internship I hope to specify the goals for my Bachelor's Final Project. Besides finding that direction, I want to experience a professional working space and improve my C&A to take specific stakeholders into account.
I aim incorporate my newly gained theoretical knowledge into my future projects however, I am not sure how.
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