SHOWCASE

Professional Identity.

As a person. I see myself as a down-to-earth, helping and willing guy. Since childhood, I like to see other people improve in life by empowering them (gymnastics- & ski-instructor). Also, I like to see things in a different way. Giving something a new dimension, as long as it stays functional.

Especially with products, this can spark my interests, for example the grater of Henrik Holbæk & Claus Jensen.,  DIY bird feeder and Bull Head by Picasso. This also relates to a design approach I prefer: SCAMPER or ad hoc (Latin; for this) method.

A method for a certain situation, by taking a step back and abstracting what is already there. Taking some existing product, solution or knowledge, and finding out its strengths and weaknesses. Through a human-centered design approach, I translate the research insights into different user experiences.

Furthermore, I am intrigued by sports and wellbeing (see vision). During my minor Sports Innovation, I got to see a different kind of design process and got a taste of what it is like to develop in the domain of sports. I enjoyed it though when designing for sports I found out that this results moreover in performance improvement solutions. For me, that is not the end goal. There is so much more to it. Sports is one of the world’s greatest catalysts, it brings people together. It is empowering and unifying. That is what I want to achieve as a designer too; (visual) unity and empowerment.

Vision on Design.

We are living in a rapidly changing time called the knowledge era. It is a period of time where technology will become a bigger part of society. A society that is striving for new challenges. One of them is achieving the best Quality of Life (QoL), where happiness will be the ultimate goal.

To fully be aware how technology and products could help to achieve better QoL, society should be shown it’s potential. That is where design should play a major role.

I see design as a combination of tools, knowledge and skills. Combined they allow designers to embody concepts, give value to products, envision the behavior of users and create the interaction between humans and technology.

In my identity I said I want to design for empowerment and unity. If a design is harmonious it is easier to understand the interaction (intuitive).This can be achieved, in my opinion, by creating functionality through simplicity, personalization and usability for everyone. In other words adjustable to user needs and values.

Design is not solely aesthetics and ergonomics anymore. Design has become more about emotion, technology and complex systems. It seamlessly integrates with daily lives of users. Resulting in product-service-systems that support and empower users instead of users having to power and use products.