Professional identity & vision
About me
My vision and identity as a designer has been formed by drawing inspiration from the wisdom of my grandparents and the values that I learned from my parents.
Vision
Navigating Sustainable Transformation with Creativity and Human Connection
The urgency that comes with the impact of climate change has put this path towards a more sustainable future in motion, this route is one that requires fundamental change: transformations. However, this journey comes with endless challenges due to the complexity of our sociological and ecological systems. The difficulty also lies in the task of initiating change by making sure solutions do not worsen the current problems and take everyone on board. Illustrative is how different measures assisting in the climate transition appeared to be benefitting in particular business and the wealthier part of our society (Kraan, 2024; NOS, 2017).
Governing this change is therefore like a maze, a puzzle with complex proportions. Sustainability issues such as climate change, water scarcity and biodiversity loss are so-called wicked problems, issues that generally involve multiple stakeholders with different, sometimes opposing, values (Darling, 2023). There is no one-size-fits-all solution, there is no easy way out, and there is no guarantee of success, but there are ways to make steps with the right intention. Here, my belief, is that designers have an obligation and the ability to play a pivotal role. Utilizing their creative mindset, as well as their human-centered approaches enables designers to better understand and navigate the complex landscapes of sustainable transformation.
Towards a more sustainable future technologies like artificial intelligence have shown promise (Vinuesa et al., 2020). However, this road is not going to be paved by merely innovative technological solutions. It requires also a deep understanding of the sociological and ecological hurdles on its way. It requires standing next to the beings that maybe need the most guidance or the beings that cannot effectively voice their needs, bottom-up – like feeding the roots of a tree. But similarly important to a healthy tree are the branches and leaves at the top and the connection between the two levels. In a reality where governmental agencies not always listen to residents (Keulemans, 2024), this connection is something that could use some support. I see in designers an ability to work simultaneously top-down and bottom-up, an ability to feed the bottom and shine a light at the top by connecting with humans on both levels and connecting the dots in a creative process.
Darling, S. B. (2023). Tackling wicked sustainability problems. ACS Sustainable Resource Management, 1(1), 4–5. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssusresmgt.3c00133
Keulemans, M. (2024, May 24). Instanties die namens de overheid onderzoek doen, moeten beter naar burgers luisteren, aldus nieuw rapport. De Volkskrant. Geraadpleegd op 23 juni 2024, van https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/instanties-die-namens-de-overheid-onderzoek-doen-moeten-beter-naar-burgers-luisteren-aldus-nieuw-rapport~bb8beb06/
Kraan, J. (2024, May 15). Warmtepompsubsidie komt vooral terecht bij mensen met veel geld. Nu.nl. Accessed on June 23 2024, from https://www.nu.nl/klimaat/6312844/warmtepompsubsidie-komt-vooral-terecht-bij-mensen-met-veel-geld.html
NOS. (2017, April 18). Armste Nederlanders draaien op voor het klimaatbeleid. https://nos.nl/nieuwsuur/artikel/2168856-armste-nederlanders-draaien-op-voor-het-klimaatbeleid
Vinuesa, R., Azizpour, H., Leite, I., Balaam, M., Dignum, V., Domisch, S., Felländer, A., Langhans, S. D., Tegmark, M., & Nerini, F. F. (2020). The role of artificial intelligence in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Nature Communications, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-14108-y
Professional Identity
Shaped by family
Through the lens of my granddad, a biologist, I developed a fascination for the intriguing complexity of nature, but also an understanding of how vulnerable it therefore is. On the other side, my grandmother brought me perspectives on history, politics, and society – topics we still have passionate conversations about. These family influences come together in my vision of design and guided me to collect knowledge on sociological and ecological factors. The abilities and attitude that I utilize in my design projects stem from the values instilled by my parents: emotional sensitivity from my mother and pragmatic sensibility from my father.
These aspects of my character work through in how I approach a design process, as I inspired my FBP process on Human-Centered Systems Thinking (IDEO, n.d.). In my design activities, I take on a holistic and human perspective that I feed with societal understanding and involvement with stakeholders. Seeing this as core towards a workable outcome is how I have put much importance on the expertise areas Business & Entrepreneurship and User & Society, also in the minors that I have done. Utilizing my ability to find connections and identifying the essence amidst the complexity, is how I use creative and analytical thinking to find opportunities within this broader meaning. My analytical strength comes with a weakness of wanting to tackle problems on too large of a scale and therefore getting stuck in analysing. Bringing in my empathic side is something that helps here, as it becomes more tangible towards understanding the people I am designing for and building towards a result that fits in their world.
Collaboration is a core part of my professional identity. With human-centered design approaches like co-creation and effective teamwork, I deepen the meaning of my projects. By building relations, forming connections, and having an empathic attitude, I aim to work towards meaningful impact. This showed in a project I set up called EDEN, where I have built up to this team of diverse students that allowed us to develop a tool that helps people to bring more biodiversity in their garden. In teams as such I bring ambition as well as a professional but accessible attitude, and therefore I often take a leading role.
Driven by a pragmatic viewpoint on resources, technological possibilities, and limitations, I make sure my design solutions aim to be effective. Towards results, the knowledge and skills I have developed in the areas of Technology & Realization and Math, Data & Computing are therefore essential. Although I would like to get more familiar with different programming languages and their endless use cases, my current abilities to work with electronics, computing and different fidelities of prototyping allow me to make interactive prototypes that can provide a valuable experience to users and stakeholders, as I did for example in my Project 2.
In my work, I take on a professional attitude and show my ideas in a way that is understandable and convincing, for example by using my sketching skills from the expertise area Creativity & Aesthetics. I have also built up strength in pitching design outcomes, such as Third Office at the Rijkswaterstaat inspiration fair and EDEN at the TU/e Contest. This makes me able to convey the urgency on sustainability related concepts, that I discuss in my vision, to audiences on different levels.
IDEO. (n.d.). How to Think in Systems for Greater Impact. IDEO U. https://www.ideou.com/blogs/inspiration/how-to-think-in-systems-for-greater-impact
Gijs deelde al ver voor het begin van zijn afstudeerproject zijn project idee met me met de vraag om hem te coachen. Hij wilde mensen meer verbinden met de natuur om zo hun geluk te vergroten. Verpakt in zijn verzoek zaten twee redenen voor mij om hem te willen begeleiden: Gijs leek een heldere visie te hebben én hij wilde zijn energie steken in mensen gelukkiger maken. Een bewonderenswaardige combinatie, vond ik destijds. Tijdens zijn project heb ik mogen ervaren dat Gijs allerlei vaardigheden heeft en waarden centraal stelt waarmee hij zijn visie ook tot uiting brengt.
Gijs maakt makkelijk verbindingen: tussen theorie en praktijk, maar vooral ook tussen én met mensen. Hij gaat de wereld in om vragen te stellen, aandachtig te luisteren, om te experimenteren en om anderen te verbinden; met andere mensen, om bij te dragen aan een doel, of simpelweg om een goed gesprek te hebben. Zijn open houding maakt dat hij wordt uitgenodigd voor kennismakingen, en wordt teruggevraagd om samen verder de diepte in te gaan.
Naast zijn sociale vaardigheden heeft Gijs ook ontwerp vaardigheden waarmee hij informatie inzichtelijk kan maken, ideeën kan communiceren, prototypes kan maken en kan testen, om de resultaten ervan te verwerken en met nieuwe inzichten verder te gaan.
Kortom, Gijs is een ontwerper met een hart voor zijn medemens, een visie voor een fijnere wereld en de vaardigheden om daaraan bij te dragen.