Professional Identity
I am an enthusiastic, passionate, and ambitious person. I always strive to create the maximum positive change for society in all the designs I create. This can only be done by putting everything I have into a design and always pushing the limits of what I believe I can achieve.
For me, design is all about synthesising thoughts into ideas and then turning these ideas into concepts that can be visualised by others, and not just the designer who created them. I have always enjoyed expressing my creative side, from a young age I have always loved to woodwork, create inventions, experiments and design magic tricks. Therefore, ideation is a process in which I feel I can flourish. This allows me to not just think of the ideas to tick the box of the design brief but to also think outside of that box in order to create ideas that are unique, interesting, and innovative. For example, for my Project 2 when I used the story of Hansel and Gretel as inspiration for the product that we created, which allowed for potential users to understand the purpose of our product quickly and to a deep extent.
I spend lots of my free time debating. I have been a board member of the debate association, competed in competitions, and judged the finals of Amsterdam Open (the biggest competition in the Netherlands). This has massively improved my oracy skills, allowing me to eloquently express my ideas to an audience, whether that be of 3 people or 300, in order for them to also understand the concepts that I have created. Coming hand in hand with oracy, active listening is even more crucial—for your cooperation with your team, but also for understanding all stakeholders so that you can be considerate of them with your designs.
In the past, I have worked with mentoring and supporting people with special educational needs. I became especially close to a child with Down syndrome and diabetes, and I managed his diabetic and social needs on summer camps for the last three years. This experience not only allows me to relate to a much more diverse user base in the designs I create, but it has also taught me the importance of patience and long-term thinking within design. It is often easy to make people happy in the moment by doing exactly what they want or ask — but that isn't what inclusion is about. Inclusion means supporting someone’s growth over time, helping them to become more independent, confident, and empowered. It’s about meaningful development and self-improvement — not just putting a temporary smile on someone’s face, but designing in a way that truly supports their future.
My current focus is on stakeholder and product management, user-centred thinking — creating designs that meet the long-term needs of users.
One aspect of my design identity I look to approve upon is my ability to switch myself off. Once I am engrossed in an idea, I sometimes struggle to move onto something else. This in some instances is a good thing as I really think ideas through to a deep and meaningful extent however I am learning how to move on more decisively from current ideas to future ones. I also look to work on making all decisions based on evidence rather than going with what I think it intuitvely correct, that way my products will be more succesfull and more likely to meet user needs.
Vision
Design shouldn't just make things possible; it should empower people to do the impossible.
One of the biggest problems in today’s world is short-termism.
It’s a problem I believe design can help solve.
Right now, products are built to break — not to last.
They follow fleeting trends rather than addressing enduring needs.
They prioritise instant gratification over genuine, lasting benefit.
This needs to change.
I believe in a different future — one where we design for long-term wants, not short-term needs.
Where we create timeless designs — not in opposition to innovation, but in harmony with it.
Designs that don’t become outdated because of trends or poor quality, but only through meaningful, productive advancements.
Good design shouldn’t be disposable.
It should endure — in both form and function — while still allowing space for growth, adaptation, and the integration of new technologies when they truly benefit users.
We should create products and services that motivate people to become the best versions of themselves.
We should harness emerging technologies to genuinely support them.
I want design to be about having the biggest impact, not the biggest market.
About helping the people who need it the most, not just those who can pay the most.
Looking to the future, I hope to design for the long-term needs of people — to shape systems, services, and experiences that don’t just respond to the present, but elevate what’s possible in the future.
Because design shouldn't just make things possible; it should empower people to do the impossible.
How my vision has changed.
From the end of last year to now, my vision may appear to have changed a lot, but in reality, it still feels quite similar to me. I used to have a pure focus on inclusion, equity, and how we can champion marginalised groups with our designs. The importance of this within my vision hasn’t changed; however, my focus and framing have. I want to include other groups that aren’t just suffering from physical disabilities. I had a few revelations this year that led to my decision to make this change.
One was an experience I had whilst supporting children with additional needs at camp. We were playing a game in a circle with a group of around 15 children, including the boy with Down syndrome that I was looking after. A couple of people had already lost the game, and then the boy I was supporting lost as well. He was very unhappy and refused to sit down, as he wanted to continue playing. Other leaders and his peers were saying, ‘Oh, it’s fine, just let him stay in the game, he doesn’t need to go out.’ This would have been the easy solution—the short-term win to put a smile on his face. However, it wasn’t going to help him learn, develop, and feel more included. This is one of the reasons I’ve put more focus on prioritising long-term needs instead of short-term wants.
Another example is mentioned in my portfolio; however, I will summarise it here. When working with a client for Project 3, at the beginning of the project we were told exactly what they wanted—a simple instructional app with pictures. We didn’t just make this, tick the box, and take the easy option, but instead chose to think more deeply about what would actually help the children we were designing for. The final prototype we made included both physical and digital elements, alongside multiple tailored instruction types depending on the children. We surpassed the expectations of the client, and they wanted to continue taking our project further. This showed me, firstly, don’t take the easy, quick win—look at the long-term and most beneficial option. And secondly, how we can create our designs to help people improve over time, rather than only making them happy for a moment.
These experiences helped me realise that truly inclusive and equitable design is not just about addressing immediate disadvantages, but about creating meaningful, lasting change that empowers people over time — which is why my vision evolved to focus on designing for long-term needs, not short-term wants.
Development