IT Integrating Technology
Being able to design and communicate with others by using technology
I think this competency is about exploring different technical fields of design, in order to communicate with experts at a certain field. It is not necessary to become an expert yourself, you only have to communicate, so you require a basic understanding on more fields. Integrating Technology is also a big part of the process of getting from a concept to a prototype. Developing different skills will help smoothen the process of prototyping.
This semester I really worked a lot on this competency. Exploring on fields of electronics (soldering, making synthesizers, electronics in the project, Arduino), programming (beginner level HTML&CSS, coding prototypes), prototyping (laser cutting, 3-D printing, different materials such as wood and foam) and editing programs (illustrator, InDesign).
With this basic level of knowledge about different fields, I will now be able to communicate with experts on these fields and others who have a basic thought about it. Also it will be easier for myself to decide what to use in further projects, because I know what could be used and I know the properties of materials and programs. Making these good decisions in an early stage and being able to communicate will help me take my designs to a higher technical level.
Having a basic knowledge on some fields is not enough. I will have to explore and improve more and gain more experience. I think the best way of getting this experience is by prototyping in an earlier stage in the design process and prototyping more. This is something I want to take in account in future projects.
T Teamwork
Cooperating and collaborating with others to achieve collective goals
In Industrial Design, teamwork happens a lot, more often with other designers, but also with people with another profession. I found out that I am a good team worker. I found myself good at keeping people motivated and helped them wherever I could. In my opinion our project group worked professionally and worked well with and on our strengths and weaknesses. We had to overcome some ups and downs, but managed to overcome these by being honest and talk about it.
One weakness I want to work on in the next semester is being perfectionistic. I was too negative sometimes which wasn’t nice for the group. I have to learn to see value in our progress.
DMM Descriptive & Mathematical Modelling
Getting more grip on complexity that designers encounter, by using modelling
I think this competency is mainly about making, understanding and using mathematical models. A model is basically a tool to simplify something complex.
This competency wasn’t my strongest competency. I failed my Calculus and apart of Calculus we didn’t work on modelling so much. I have a little experience with programming, though I think I have to spend more time on this competency. I think when I am able to make higher level programs and models they will become more beneficial and I will use them more.
I will work on this the next semester with the basic course Modelling.
UFP User Focus & Perspective
Empathizing with people and involving them in the design process; Acknowledging that designing can cause societal change
I noticed that I was not completely blank on this competency as I thought in the beginning of the semester. I found out that I already can emphasize with users a lot due to teaching and working in a supermarket. I still made progress on UFP, by doing user tests, co-design sessions and testing our prototypes. This gave us new insights and made us look at problems from a different angle.
Though, I think we should have done more testing in this project. It would have gave us more insights and feedback, which would have caused us to overcome problems earlier on. Next semester I want to test more in an earlier stage and more often.
ID Ideas & Concepts
Generating, selecting and refining ideas into well-developed concepts
Project Bugged 2.0 was really focussed on thinking outside the box and we were triggered to brainstorm a lot in different ways by weekly lectures and assignments. We used several methods, like IDEO cards and Thinkertoys, which was good to see that there are a lot of ways to generate ideas. I should not be afraid that the ideation process leads to nothing, every idea could positively stimulate the design process. Though I think next semester I don’t want to be stuck in ideation for too long.
What also gave a boost in generating ideas and concepts was visiting exhibitions like GLOW and DDW. They gave me a lot of new insights on what I like or dislike and gave me inspiration.
Narrowing down all our ideas, on the basis of a list of criteria, to a list of the best concepts, worked great for me. It gave structure to chosing one concept, so this is something I would use more often.
SCA Socio-Cultural Awareness
Being aware that culture effects design & design effects culture and gaining knowledge about culture
I think I already had a broad knowledge of culture due to travelling and visiting exhibitions when I was young. In the project we took a look on the do’s and don’ts in our society and with the assignment Disruptive Business Processes I took a look on a lot of different companies and trends, which was both good for getting more awareness of trends and culture.
Though I find this not enough and want to see, next semester, what the impact of culture can be on my designs. I also want to keep on getting more knowledge of new trends in order to gain new ideas and come up with new solutions I would not have come up with without my trend-knowledge.
C Communication
Communicating through different media
I am aware of the fact that communication has different faces and goals. Last semester my presenting skills have improved a lot, I am more confident now and know what and how to prepare for presentations. I improved by presenting and asking feedback on that. Not learning a whole text by hart, but just remember keywords also works better for me. I learned a lot on the way to present products of which the result showed at the Mid-Term Demo day and the Final Demo days. Learning to make posters, pitches and short films were helpful.
Apart of presenting verbally, I also practiced writing itself. Having to write reflections, feedback, essays and the project report helped me improve my writing style and my English.
Communication between persons also improved. Making planning’s together, working with dropbox and keeping contact through Whatsapp and Facebook gave us the opportunity to work efficiently. The only problem we faced was that one team member had difficulties with these new technologies and I hope I won’t face that again, but have to keep in account.
DBP Designing Business Processes
Creating, analysing and using business processes to make meaningful product-service systems that contribute to a business performance product
In the last semester I focussed on analysing business process in the assignment Disruptive Business Processes. It was fun to find out what made companies and products successful and disrupting. Discussing about these companies gave an insight on what you should do yourself in order to become successful. Especially getting your product out to the people early on in the designprocess, in order to gain good feedback, is something I will take along to next semester.
We integrated a little bit of Designing Business Processes in our project by thinking of what we would change if we had more time, money to spend and the right equipment. Thinking of the future of a product is important. It is better to sell a business plan rather than a thought.
Next semester I want to focus more on creating and using business processes in my project by really finding a client to work with, this would be giving a real kick and will be very learn full.
FS Form & Senses
Realizing that our senses affect the way we react to objects, spaces and the physical world we inhabit
The looks, sounds, feels, tastes and smells of a design affect the way people interact with it. At Playful Interactions we worked with looks, feels and sounds in our design process, by exploring different materials and finding out what shapes we had to use. Making different prototypes gave us knowledge of materials and their possibilities. Knowing a lot about it we made better choices regarding to looks and feels.
I wanted to improve my sketching skills to communicate my ideas better. I used sketching during the design process to communicate to my group members and it had the effect I intended: getting my thoughts easier explained. Now I want to improve on my way of sketching and make them more suitable for design and as a way with communicate to clients.
DRP Design & Research Processes
Using, grasping, adapting and inventing design & research processes
In the beginning of the semester, we got a DG-000 lecture and assignment about DRP. We got to know a lot of different approaches and processes. The assignment was making a planning on the basis of a design process. The planning we made consisted of fixed dates like deadlines and exams, three weeks of getting from idea to a well-chosen concept, two weeks of prototyping, two weeks of testing and evaluation and one week of preparing for the final demo-days.
Afterwards you I would do a few things differently. Planning is good, but during ideation it works better to have no strict planning and just come together and brainstorm. This doesn’t have to take longer than a week together with creating a good concept. From there on let the process take its own course. In this way it’s easier to switch, in the Reflective Transformative Design Process, from prototyping to testing and back to redefining your concept and start prototyping again. If we did this we would have been stuck in ideation. In order to keep pressure on work pace we found out to challenge each other to finish in short amount of time. This will give you more than enough time before the deadline.
SDLC Self-Directed & Continous Learning
Taking responsibility for and giving direction to your own personal development
Before this semester, I thought, this would be the toughest competency, because I was coming from a passive learning culture in a self-educative system. It turned out that I like the learning system of university, but the problem for me is that there is so much new things there, to be learned. This is why I failed a few learning goals I did set for myself. When I saw that there were fields where I could deepen myself in that were more of my interest, I focused on those. Things lasercutting caught my interests. Maybe this is the core of self-directed learning, not learn the obious, but search for new things to learn which you like.
I also have to be true to myself: my planning could have been better. I had structured and less structured weeks. This is a reason why I failed Calculus.
According to others, I have accomplished a lot last semester. Though I think there is more potential, probably because I know my weaknesses.
Next semester I will learn even more about myself and try to work harder. I want to get a clear vision and identity, to see what I want to become in the future, and want to set goals for myself again.
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