I am Lieke de Mare, a final master student Industrial design student at the Technical University of Eindhoven. Outside my studies I am active at the scouting, other hobbies include cooking and tinkering.
As a designer I want to develop human-centered products and systems in healthcare which are able to support patients and caregivers in improving their quality of life, by providing a bridge between the medical needs and the human needs. Especially in this time, with an aging society and with a shortage of caregivers, it is especially important to not lose sight of how the care process is experienced by both the caretakers and caregivers.
In my vision the strength of good design, whether it is a product, service or both, is that it is not only there to reach a certain goal but that it also focuses on the experience. Design can make people feel empowered when they are able to do something themselves that they were not able to do before, it can be motivating when invisible progress is made visible or when a initially boring task is made more exiting, and it can provide relief, when a difficult task is made easier.
To provide these experiences I find it important to design from a human-centered perspective, in which the physical, mental and cognitive needs of the users are taken into account and in which the design is placed in the context of use. To get an understanding of the needs of the users and stakeholders it is important to use empathic design. By talking to users, stakeholders and experts throughout the process, and to possibly even involve the target group into co-design sessions, a system can be made most successful. As it makes sure the system fits both the medical requirements and the stakeholders needs best.
I am a strategic and goal focused designer. I want to solve problems that are experienced in society, and design something viable for the market so that the designs could actually help people. Therefore I choose the track research, design and development in my masters and therefor I choose to do my final master project within a company. As this would help me to get a better idea of commercial product development.
I like working in a multi-disciplinary team, as I have seen that the value of good design is not always appreciated and understood by other disciplines. Simple can sometimes be seen as something bad, even though it might be the best way to solve a given problem. There is no need to always want something complicated, because the goal of technological development should not be the development itself but the value and experience that it brings to people and the problems that it might solve.
But as a designer from the technical university, I do take pride in my technological knowledge, I am able to work with electronics, use machine learning and program working apps. This allows for making realistic designs that use technology to its advantage, it allows for making functional prototypes for testing, and it helps in proper communication with other disciplines.
As I find it important to be human centered and the use empathic design, research is also very important. To better understand the context in which the design is placed and to understand the needs of the users, so that these can be translated to design opportunities. Doing research and collecting enough contextual information allows making grounded decisions and to work strategically.
Underneith some of my project are shown, from both my bachelor and master, which represent me as a designer.
I can both be contacted in Dutch and English
| Liekedemare@outlook.com |
|
|---|---|
| |
|
| CV |
|
| Photography work |
