Final Bachelor Project

The context for this project, was urban area development in a specific neighbourhood in Breda, named “Fellenoord”. The challenge was for the municipality (Breda) and province (Noord-Brabant), to improve and increase citizen participation. A collaboration of the municipality, province and ZET, was started, in order to investigate the best possible ways to reach this goal. With my project, I aimed at contributing to the process of getting to know the neighbourhood and finding out what could connect the government and residents, to finally design a system

or product. I interviewed experts, to gain knowledge about, among others, spatial planning, the neighbourhood and placemaking. I ideated with fellow students, conducted field studies, research and benchmarking, to define my design. The final result is a combination of a physical tool, that facilitates the conversation between government and citizens, and a digital platform, in which the collected data is visualised in layers.

Business & Entrepreneurship

The context was new to me, and to get deepened knowledge of the field I was designing in, I approached experts in several different areas. I combined all the insights I got from expert interviews, field studies, research and my own experiences, in a benchmarking analysis and advisory document for the municipality. In order to identify where my design would be of added value, I applied this knowledge to create a value proposition, using the Strategyzer Value Proposition Canvas (Strategyzer, n.d.). 

User & Society

My Final Bachelor Project was mainly focused on this competency area. From experts and benchmarking, I learned about approaches of operating in neighbourhoods and UX/UI design. More profoundly than ever before, I was involved with the context and stakeholders, by focusing on gathering qualitative data in practice.

Creativity & Aesthetics

In creating the map, physical final design and the digital platform, I focused on making the aesthetics clean and inviting. I designed the box, map, all icons and platform interface from scratch, inspired by existing platforms that use maps. Expert opinions and feedback at the Final Demo Day, confirmed the inviting look of both the box and the interface. For building the physical prototype, my focus points were the finish and functionality.

Technology & Realisation

My physical prototype did not contain any technology yet, because the interaction did not require that. In my report, I suggested technological elements that could be integrated in the future, to make data transferring more efficient. The digital platform was built in Sketch, as I prioritised the interaction of the user over programming the platform.

Math, Data & Computing

Apart from gathering and analysing qualitative data, this competency area was not integrated as much in my Final Bachelor Project. I mainly developed skills in this field in electives and core courses, such as Modelling, Intelligent Interactive Products and Making Sense of Sensors.

Design & Research Processes

The approach of my Final Bachelor Project was much more hands-on than the design processes I had gone through before. From the start, I operated in the context of the stakeholders involved. Being the only one responsible for my design process, pushed me out of my comfort zone, enhanced my ability to structure the process and required me to ask for help from people in my environment.

References: Strategyzer (n.d.). The Value Proposition Canvas. Retrieved from: https://www.strategyzer.com/canvas/value-proposition-canvas