In my PDP, I stated that I wanted to learn how to manage a diverse set of stakeholders and how to include different stakeholders’ viewpoints and ideas whilst also implementing my own expertise as a designer. I was able to show this within my Project 3, where I was responsible for maintaining contact with our client, as well as arranging meetings with healthcare professionals and other important stakeholders. I learned that you shouldn’t just design the easiest and most obvious solution, but the most worthwhile and beneficial solution for your users.

During Project 3, we worked with Adelante, a rehabilitation centre. While stakeholders initially requested a simple instruction app, we recognised this wouldn’t truly empower the children. Instead, we designed a hybrid physical-digital product using RFID to detect chosen clothes and provide tailored guidance in the child’s preferred format (visual, sung, or spoken). It was a solution built not for quick wins, but for lasting autonomy. Throughout this process, we conducted user tests and evaluation sessions with a variety of stakeholders in order to improve and develop the user experience of our product. The final prototype impressed doctors and therapists who we presented to at a medical innovation conference. This was a very rewarding experience, and I am glad that by not settling for the initial idea that the client proposed, we were able to surpass their expectations. This is part of the reason why I adapted my vision to have a new focus on long-term thinking, and not looking for quick sticking-plaster solutions for big problems.

The Entrepreneurship in Action course also taught me valuable insights about this expertise area. There was a competition at the end of the course in which all groups presented to the municipality. My group managed to win this competition, and I believe this was thanks to our extensive efforts interviewing members of our chosen area (Limbeek-Noord), which allowed us to understand the desires of the people in this area. We were able to demonstrate in our presentation that we had considered this. This has taught me the importance of properly understanding your users and the market where your business is positioned in order to truly create an idea with potential. One of my favourite quotes from the CEO of Tesco is something that will stay with me as well: “Just because there is a gap in the market, doesn’t mean there is a market in the gap.” Therefore, I look to always consider the User and Society EA alongside Business and Entrepreneurship so that my ideas actually resonate with and benefit people.

During the course Participatory Reimagining, we looked at how to best include non-designers in co-imagination sessions. We had to create a speculative dinner where we would create a world for our participants to live in, and during this we used prompts and prototypes to stimulate thoughts and discussion. This has provided me with a new understanding of how we can find out information and insights from our users in a creative way—for example, by finding the correct balance between a rich and detailed story to tell your participants, whilst also leaving gaps for them to fill and innovate within.

I set out to ensure that I conduct several interviews as part of my FBP so that I have a rich and detailed understanding of the different relevant stakeholders for my project. I hope to do this in a variety of different ways, including more speculative and creative settings, implementing my knowledge from both P3 and Participatory Reimagining.