Contact me: claudia.vandenboom@hotmail.com
User & Society
I based the concept on the retrieved insights into the needs of the user. For this, I involved users and experts during the complete design process to make sure the final concept would fit the user’s expectations. I interviewed a student psychologist to get an understanding of what factors play a role in people’s lives that can influence stress levels. I conducted multiple user tests to get an understanding of the needs and desires of users. First, I conducted a diary study to get an understanding of what negative emotions were experienced during daily life. Next, I conducted surveys to get an understanding of why users preferred certain agenda tools. Finally, I did a test to validate the concept was a potential solution to the problem of rescheduling and prioritizing.
During my Bachelor studies, I developed myself as a multidisciplinary Industrial designer. I think it is important to develop my skills in all areas of expertise because I think a designer should be able to communicate with stakeholders and team members with different backgrounds. My main focus has been developing my skills in User & Society and in Business & Entrepreneurship. When I reflect on developing my skills in those areas, I see developing my skills in the other competencies helped me to develop my skills in those areas of expertise. To be able to create products that match the user’s needs, I should know what the user wants. This relates to Business & Entrepreneurship because for this competency, I should know the market value of a product and thus the user’s needs. Also, the competency Technology & Realization is related because to be able to test the user’s needs, I should create prototypes. Skills in Math, DATA & Computing can help me analysing results of user tests and help to create algorithms for prototypes. Finally, Creativity & Aesthetics relates to the usability and the needs and wishes of the user.
My design process was a continuous process of reflecting on my choices. At a certain point, I was stuck because I did not know how to pursue my ideas with a smartwatch. By taking a look again at my initial intentions I decided to explore a new form for my concept. I had to get used to working individually on a design process. I expected it to be difficult when generating ideas, but this was not very difficult because I used different brainstorm techniques suitable for one person. However, I found it difficult to converge my ideas. The first few times I had to make a decision I experienced some difficulties, but when I realized that when I make a decision I can always revise the decision, it became easier. To make sure other people could help me when I asked them to, I tried to convey my ideas by using Adobe Illustrator and sketches. I found it was helpful to involve experts in my design process since they gave me insights in what choices I should make. My project was not only design orientated but also research orientated. This gave me the opportunity to implement all areas of expertise and competencies in my Final Bachelor Project.
PRESENT - FINAL BACHELOR PROJECT
Business & Entrepreneurship
During my design process, I focused on designing a concept that had market potential. This meant I had to validate my concept and that I had to make sure my design created a certain value to the user. To make sure my concept would fit the market, I also reviewed consumer trends. By doing validation tests with my final prototype via an interview and a Facebook advertisement, I got a clear problem-solution fit. My goal was to write a business case for my concept. However, by filling in a business plan template, I realized I set this goal to get insight into the market potential of the product, the competitors of the product and the price calculations. Therefore, I focused on analysing this instead of filling out a complete business case format. I found that Reshuffle should compete with Google and Outlook. I want Reshuffle to be an independent business because the vision and mission of Reshuffle do not match with those of Google and Outlook. This makes it more difficult to compete with those organizations. However, when Reshuffle is marketed as the company that sells products that give you a positive look on your daily life, it might target a big group of people. The Reshuffle device and app are one of the many products that can be sold. The reshuffle device is tackling the problem of prioritizing tasks and rescheduling. Other products of the Reshuffle company can focus on tackling other problems related to stress. This might be interactions that can also be showed on the screen of the Reshuffle device. Schools and employers are stakeholders that might want to cooperate in recommending the system since they want their employees and students to succeed in finishing their tasks.
Math, DATA & Computing
Experiencing difficulties with rescheduling and prioritizing tasks is a complex problem. Therefore, I structured and analysed data to get an understanding of the solution to the problem. First, I analysed the data of a diary study by finding a pattern in when users experienced stress. Next, I analysed both quantitative and qualitative data to get an understanding of what form the concept should have. The qualitative data of the validation test was analysed by making clusters of the data. This gave me insight into how the solution fitted the problem. To realize the concept, Machine learning(ML) should be understood. Therefore, I wanted to get a basic understanding of ML. I soon discovered ML was an interesting, but difficult topic to understand. When I dove into the theory by reading a lot of literature, practicing given examples and reading tutorials, I got a basic understanding of when a certain ML type should be selected. Next, I took myself as an example and I analysed my weekly planning and I converted this into a dataset. I found suitable input features and output features. Moreover, I looked at how a KNN algorithm would treat my data by writing it out on paper. By doing so, I got familiar with ML, however, I need more practice to realize my algorithm in a real prototype. Since I think ML can be an important aspect of concepts to make the concept fit the user’s needs, I am planning to improve my skills in ML by practicing with existing datasets.
Technology & Realization
I wanted to gain experience with using other materials in my final prototype than fabric or wood. I decided I wanted to improve my skills in 3D Modelling since this was new to me and I considered it to be a good tool to convert my thoughts into models. I learned to choose the appropriate platform and actuators for my project. Since I needed to program a small portable stand-alone screen, I went for a Nextion screen. I coded this screen in Nextion Editor, which was a new platform for me. However, I was familiar with reading and understanding new platforms and datasheets, so I understood the basics of the program quickly. I also started coding an app in Android Studio. However, during my project, it became clear coding an app should not be the focus of my design process. Therefore, I decided to design a mock-up app. At first, I regretted I could not show my app programming skills, but after a while a realized my main aim was to create a prototype that the user could interact with, and I succeeded doing this.
Creativity & Aesthetics
For this competency, I applied my gained knowledge and experience by creating and designing videos, posters, and photos that matched the identity of my concept. Furthermore, I applied various brainstorming techniques. I made sketches on paper and in Adobe Illustrator to communicate my ideas. Deciding the final form of my concept was about finding a balance between informed and uninformed design. I knew the final form should be a portable small device. However, I created the final form by also looking at the main message of my concept; a planning is dynamic instead of a fixed end. I build multiple prototypes to make the sure the case of the screen could be perceived as a dynamic case.
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