My designs combine modern technology with creativity to create aesthetic and innovative experiences and interactions. Appearances are important to me, but over time, I value products that integrate well into my workflow much more. That's why I tend to prioritize momentary and long-term experiences regarding the interaction with a product over the appearance.
This makes me a designer of immersive experiences and interactions that seamlessly integrate into the use flow. I try to achieve this by designing richer action possibilities than meaningless controls being mediated by a screen or labelled buttons that do not consider the context-of-use. In order to break free from the contemporary meaninglessness of everyday interactions, a sound foundation of technology is required, including domains such as data, machine learning and programming, materials, manufacturing techniques, mechanics, and electronics. According to the Law of the Hammer, people are limited by their reliance on familiar tools (here, technology) [3]. So, proficiency in these areas prevents constraints on my creativity resulting from a lack of know-how. Furthermore, I have developed a skill set in user experience design in order to understand the use flow, desires, and problems of users.
Prototyping
I gain inspiration from materializing my ideas, so as to explore their contextual fit, or immersiveness, I have developed prototyping skills to build conceptual and experiential prototypes. Sketching is part of my exploration process (figure 5), but no longer as a sole activity. I use sketches as a basis for making. Besides exploration, the prototypes enable me to evaluate my ideas with actual users and illustrate a (mis)match with the context-of-use.
Compared to other designers, I consider myself quite skilled in prototyping, which is why I am usually responsible for the technological implementation in a design team. However, in a multidisciplinary team, I would rather take a role more focused on interaction and experience design. I work best in a small team, where ideas can be discussed and critiqued by colleagues because I think the best ideas arise from multiple perspectives (other designers or disciplines). I feel more comfortable in the earlier phases of a design process since there is more freedom for exploration of the desirable experience, nevertheless, I also possess valuable skills in the optimization and implementation phases.
Design Process
Designs like Fonckel One [11], Sensel Morph [10] and Apple's handwriting to text feature inspire me, because they apply some form of intelligence to achieve meaningful interaction and aesthetic experiences, allowing the user to stay immersed in the use flow (figure 6). I reflect on my encounters with products in order to understand what works well and what does not, and why. Hence my own experiences are often the starting point for my designs, especially bad ones, because they pose clear opportunities for creating value.
I work in quick and focused iterations, trying to answer increasingly specific questions. The prototypes are used as a means for experiments to gain a better understanding for making refinements to the concept or its implementation. I do not like to cling on to predetermined design processes because I find them limiting, but in general I follow a Double Diamond-like process, where the main objectives are to find the right problem, and then to solve the problem right [2]. The problems I focus on are everyday challenges that are not solved well -or at all. For example: sustaining a wind down routine to recover from work related stress (Verso(.pdf)) (figure 7) or supporting motorcyclists to be situationally aware (InForm).
