Identity
As a designer I want to have a meaningful impact on people’s everyday lives by designing products from a standpoint of practical functionality and social impact. I am drawn to projects that allow me to design for a specific user need, but also for a larger societal scale through an expressed vision.
Throughout my education I have become passionate about contributing to the values of self-actualization and social inclusion through my work, which often aims to challenge social expectations, established industry practices, and societal trends. I strongly believe everyone has a right to participate in society, and designers should be mindful of their own impact on social exclusion. I became particularly interested in designing for demographics who have very specific, often health-related, needs, as I have noticed this growing demographic often struggles with social exclusion due to obstacles shaped by social, technological, and design developments.
I am also very enthusiastic about learning new information and finding creative solutions, and my curiosity often pushes me to investigate a topic in depth. I find that I can use this curiosity to my advantage by incorporating time throughout my design process to research and explore (e.g. the user perspective, the design space, different stakeholders, connections, concepts, interactions, look and feel). However, it is easy for me to get carried away with broadening my scope at the cost of advancing the design process. I have therefore learnt how to structure and plan my process in a way that allows me flexibility to explore but pushes me to reflect regularly and move the process forward.
I believe a key strength of Industrial Designers is our ability to bridge gaps, not only between collaborating stakeholders of different disciplines, but also through the impact our work can have on social and physical obstacles users struggle with.
In projects I therefore often take on a role that allows me to act as a mediator between target users, context stakeholders, and experts from different fields, to bring them together, find new opportunities, and gain thorough insight in the different perspectives in the design space. Through a practical attitude and respect for the user’s capabilities and experiences I can better frame and approach this goal.
I take a user-centered approach to design, and strive to understand the user perspective thoroughly to find new ways design can valuably contribute to help them overcome these obstacles. Several UX design research methodologies highlight the importance of the designer’s ability to understand users, but also to emphasize with them, and to switch between different perspectives throughout the process. I also encourage user and stakeholder involvement throughout the process through collaboration or participatory design practices, because I find this valuable to help me better understand their perspectives and experiences, gain relevant feedback, and reflect throughout the process.
Vision
I believe good design does not only contribute to users’ wellbeing through its use in context, but also help bring on systemic change on a larger societal scale through its expressed vision. I believe designers have a responsibility to be conscious of our impact and make informed decisions about the role of our work on both these levels.
An important ability of industrial designers is to bridge gaps socially, interpersonally, technologically, and between experts of different disciplines, but we can also leave people behind or create social divides through the unintended limitations of our current practices and knowledge. I therefore believe it is important to help designers to gain more insight in the impact of our decisions outside our immediate scope of awareness.
Throughout my Master I noticed that designers often have a blind spot understanding disability from a social standpoint. If disability is considered at all, it is either an afterthought in the late stages of the design process due to accessibility requirements, or designers approach it from an overly medical perspective rather than as part of the user’s context. This blind spot causes issues for both the designer and the user, such as extra work overhauling previous design decisions or an unforeseen impact on UX. Despite the growing industry interest in deploying more UX-focused design principles for these demographics, this blind spot needs to be addressed to help designers apply this in practice to create more valuable and meaningful user experiences.
Furthermore, as a physically disabled designer, I believe my perspective can be very valuable in the development of new resources and practices that can better incorporate the needs of some user groups who are often forgotten, misrepresented, or excluded. Addressing these needs can also help us to better understand the expected and unexpected limitations of our established practices that affect the user groups which they are specifically intended for.
This way, we can keep improving our own ability to take on new challenges, create meaningful user experiences, and steer societal trends towards a more inclusive future.
Portfolio Merel Vermeeren 