During my Masters in Industrial Design, my focus on Communication as a red thread throughout all my projects became apparent. In all my projects, communication as a tool and improving communication as a means plays a central role, often to increase quality of life in every day people.
Research Project
While technology use continues to be more and more present in society, it’s also increasingly woven into the fabric of family life. Video games are a particular example of these technologies entering more and more family homes. This research project examines sources of conflict within families, connected to videogames played by children aged 12 to 19 in the Netherlands. It does so by performing semi-structured interviews with children, young adults and their parents, creating dyadic data with which a thematic analysis is conducted. The research aims to understand conflict in family settings arising from gameplay. It aims to uncover the main sources of tension within the family household, and point to where conflict arises, to allow for future work on a solution that will promote understanding and communication amongst family members. The potential societal benefit is within families to reduce conflict, and therefore stress among family members which can increase quality of life for parents and conflict free play for children.
Final Master Project
Growing up with a chronic disease can be hard. Having to deal with complicated day to day logistics and being distinctly different from healthy peers is a reality for children and young adults diagnosed with a chronic disease. Peer understanding and awareness of what it means to be chronically ill decreases social stress and increases quality of life. However, communicating the effects of chronic illness to peers is challenging. Directly communicating needs is misunderstood, only leads to short-term changes and puts the burden on the child with a chronic illness. We designed “It’s All in the Game’’ with the aim to explore how boardgames can be applied to communicate the effects of growing up with a chronic disease. Through the design of “It’s All in the Game“, we explore procedural communication of the effects of chronic disease, ultimately aiming to create awareness and empathy for children with a chronic disease.
The designed game solution and the accompanying thesis as a final master project at Eindhoven University of Technology were awarded an 8.5
After graduation, the project is continued with a work in progress paper for CHI PLAY and the continued development of the game and its mechanics. The aim is to bring the game to production, with the goal that every CF patient will receive an edition of the game upon turning 13 years old. More on this in the project It's All in the Game
