Identity
A people’s person; I think that’s what describes me best. I love both observing people’s behaviour and being a social butterfly myself. I’m an empathic and sensitive person, I can tune in on people’s feelings and needs quite naturally. Sometimes, being sensitive is my pitfall too; I tend to overthink, because I care too much, and I experience emotions deeply – both positive and negative.
In studies and work, I would call myself an all-rounder. I do not excel in one specific area, but I have knowledge in a variety of fields and usually pick up new skills quickly. Combined with my people skills, I think that is my main strength. As a designer, this means that I often position myself as the “glue” in a team. I link others with more specific knowledge and skills, especially in technology. I often focus on the (target) user, their needs and the way they interact with their designs.
To me, the most important thing is to empathise with the people I design for; to make them feel comfortable and trust me. This way, I feel that I can actually contribute, because I’m putting effort in understanding their needs and designing for those needs. Gaining people’s trust is something I’m good at.
I am a perfectionist and I want to do my work well. In creative processes, I usually perform best when I’m working in a team. Exchanging ideas and feedback on each other’s work, helps me to keep looking at the concept with a fresh mind, which is really important to me, in order to feel in control and enjoy the process.
My dream job would definitely include a lot of human interaction, as that is what makes me happiest, and helping people in a vulnerable position. This could be in relation to themselves or in their nearest environment (not feeling seen, depression), but also in society (refugees, people who need financial aid). Although this is heading towards social work, I’m convinced that I’m of added value as a designer in this field. Both because I can create aesthetic products as tools to help people, and because design thinking is a different method to approach these problems.
Vision
We’re living in a western society that is developing with an exponentially growing speed, in the field of science and technology. To some groups in society, these developments are beneficial and will make their lives more comfortable and easy. Though, between these and other groups, such as people who can’t afford new technologies, elderly, and on a global scale, third-world countries, the gap of life quality may increase.
As stated in my Identity, I often position myself as the “glue” in a team. I want my designs to be serving as “glue” in society. I want to connect people, help them understand each other and create communication systems that speak the language of all stakeholders involved. As I aim at empathising with the people I design for, I want my design to create empathy with the stakeholders involved.
With the increase of digitising our lives, a lot of ethical questions are rising, as well. Where do we draw the line of robots taking over our tasks? Do we even realise how we are becoming more dependent on technology? Will we actually still physically talk to each other in the future, or will we only communicate through electronic devices? What are the ecological effects on the earth?
The focus in my designs is human interaction. I believe that, especially with increasing communication through digital devices, the need for humans to physically interact with each other, is higher. The way I see it, that is what makes us human beings most happy, and has the highest chance of empathising with others. In my design approach, integration of technology is not a necessity, but can support the interaction, improve it, or make it more efficient. In some contexts, technology may be needed to make the communication possible (e.g. when the different stakeholders are physically too far apart).
Because I can see myself working in a field where I can really focus on human behaviour and interaction, my short-term future step is doing a master’s programme in Psychology. I believe my skills as a designer and future knowledge as a psychologist, will make a strong combination of expertise.
Credits: Header photo/footer photo Identity & Vision by Erno van Vliet – Footer photo INA by Demi Jansen, footer photo sticky notes by Melle Keuchenius