User & Society

This semester I have started involving different design philosophies and stakeholder standpoints to create designs that are more adapted to a design brief. Whether that might be the user, an employee creating the product, a salesman, a CEO or just one person looking for a solution to their problem. This gives me a broad understanding of the different objectives that can be prioritized for a design. Besides this, I have experienced designing with marginalized objects. An object that won't do anything if you don't take it into account immediately, but what might become a problem if it looses qualities later on. This gave a whole other take away in my perspective of designing sustainable. Because, just using recycled materials, apparently won't stop problems, since the material is already formed in a way that will cause harm eventually. This gave me insights on the need for products and materials similar to what I have worked on in my CBL project 3 (DPB240). The material was biologically degradable for nature and when not being biodegraded, it can be part of an electrical circuit.

Technology & Realization

After having worked with Arduino multiple times during my studies I, this year I have decided to deepen my theoretical knowledge of this Expertise Area. By following courses of the Electrical Engineering department I see a variety of more complex circuits now as an option to incorporate in possible future projects. I am excited increase my experience now that I can have done the research to do so.

Creativity & Aesthetics

This year I have focused my goals on other aspects that Creativity & Design. Mainly because this has been a big goal of mine last year and even though I am not yet completely satisfied with my competence level, but I did reached my SMART goals from last year, I want to move on to other expertise area's to make sure I am developing as a complete designer and not just as a visual designer.

The improvements that I have made are therefore more in terms of having my assignments and the exterior of my prototypes bring part of the message I am trying to convey.  This because of my feedback for DCB200 and DPB240. Since this isn't one of my main goals, I am asking specific friends from the Industrial Design bachelor for feedback. These people have received the feedback from coaches that their storytelling looks well polished and therefore I concluded the arguments to their opinion would be a good low-effort way to keep improving even when this isn't my main focus at the moment.

Data, Math & Computing

Because of my interest and goals regarding this EA I have broadened my knowledge and experience. By learning about Sequel queries and the wide adaptation of those I have created a whole new range of possibilities for my future projects.

Business & Entrepreneurship

Over the last semester I have greatly increased my experience with Businesses and Entrepreneurship. First and foremost by following the courses of Introduction to business design and Design Innovation Methods. These courses showed me the ins and outs of how a company brands itself towards its customers and then helped me apply this to a fictional company of my own. 

Professional Skills

Organizational Skills

My collaboration skill have helped me communicate expectations clearly and timely during my part-time board year. I was in charge of supporting over 15 committees and setting an example by weekly updating members, and half-yearly updating alumni about activities and other important information. However, this experience has also learned me how to navigating last minute changes and preventing myself from becoming a middle person when this was not essential to the communication. I have 

Collaboration

I try to adapt to what the group needs and keep up with goals. I work together to optimalize the shared knowledge that we can put in our work.  

As a collaborator, I approach teamwork much like I approach design: I adapt to the group’s needs and to the people around me. I check in regularly with my teammates to ensure workloads feel manageable and our process fits our goals. Because I value open communication, I share my progress early, ask for help and feedback, and make sure that my work fits our vision. I also prioritize clear expectation management by creating a space where we define responsibilities, write down agreements, and work to make everyone feel comfortable to speak up.

Scientific Research & Academic Writing