PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY
I care about humans, care that extends from my closest relationships to the individuals I design for, as well as our entire society. Sociality and morality naturally guide me in the complex landscape of human values and ethical considerations, which led me to question emerging technologies, especially the relationship between humans and these technologies. I cannot believe how innovation and economic values currently get priority over human values.
Therefore, my goal became to embrace all aspects in the complexity within the relationship between humans and technology. Immersing myself in technological developments, being able to define opportunities and challenges. Understanding how complexity arises on the business and authority side, and how the consequences are felt within society.
I feel the urge to transform the challenges into opportunities, where I am driven by insights in human values and needs. Unraveling complexity by crafting optimistic designs according to my personal design DNA, which has at its core going back to the human scale. I see beauty in moral values and ordinary things, taking a metaphorical moment to make the topic understandable and relatable, giving humans autonomy to join the discussion. Having a holistic view on the complexity, making surprising connections to provoke discussion and let it become a human topic again.
VISION
As intelligent systems rapidly gain importance in our daily lives, the demand for designers to question the relationship we have with these data-driven systems increases. We face challenges such as humans losing control as systems begin to push our boundaries, steer us in directions and invade our privacy. A level of complexity that I believe designers should focus on unraveling to ensure technology remains human.
This vision touches many different subjects, people and perspectives, while as designers we should not simplify this complexity, but embrace it and delve into all aspects. Embracing through holistic research, exploring cause and effect, getting everyone around the table, making surprising connections. Unraveling it again through design, where I value going back to the human scale, to make it a subject again for society to form an opinion and have a discussion about.
Within this new subject, society must be led through the steps of awareness, understanding, action and discussion. Achieving this through design, using aesthetics and philosophy as a means to make a complex subject understandable and relatable. Keeping intelligence beautiful through ethics and morality. Within the business context, where complexity arises, criticality and discussion should be provoked. In an ideal world, the values of all stakeholders would be more aligned to avoid conflict. I believe in focusing on risks and consequences, which require reflection and a clear rationale. Whatever technology you work with, the technology must remain human.