Julia van der Meijden

Get Your Sh*t Together

This was the first project from CMD. For the Hogeschool Rotterdam we had to design a boardgame, connecting new students to Rotterdam. Me and my team chose to introduce international students to the stressful but also fun daily student life in Rotterdam.

THIS CASE

The assignment consisted of creating a game in which first-year students get to know each other and Rotterdam, in order to give these students an easier start to their academic year. I did this together with my teammates: Natasja, Mark, Tim and Daniel.

During this project I learned a lot. Several skills and methods have emerged that will certainly help me a lot in the rest of my studies.

I have used multiple sources to acquire this knowledge, from Youtube videos to papers and case studies to workshops. These sources made the process a lot easier and resulted in the great final product me and my team have created.

Of course, there are skills that I had already obtained and that I was able to use here as well. My two previous studies, Psychology and Illustration, and the knowledge I gained from them, enabled me to use them in multiple ways during the Design Challenge. Both studies were in English so all translations could easily be made by me.

Especially the knowledge of Psychology and more particularly the testing, critical thinking and analysis were helpful for me. I was also able to make enormous use of the network of international students that I have built up through my work and previous studies, because we were able to reach a lot of people with our survey.

THE PROCESS

In our first workshop of Design Theory I made an infographic of a creative process. Because it was not yet clear to anyone what the word "iteration" exactly meant and what the transformation process was, I used an example process to make this infographic. Looking back on when I made this and how our process went, it was a very clear and good visualisation. (I now have this hanging above my desk and it's a great reminder in case you lose track of what you're supposed to be doing).

In order to define the target group and the theme, everyone created an individual mood board and collage. My collage for the Rotterdam theme dealt with the small cultural things in the big city. Rotterdam is a huge city with tall buildings and a lot of industry. But if you take your time and look around you can find pieces of culture and art everywhere. We made use of this in our first concept by using a quest for these images as a competitive factor in our game.

My mood board was the inspiration for our chosen target group, namely the international first year student. Many faces and many different backgrounds inspired our game, because we wanted to link them to the big city and connect these students to each other.

I noticed that it was very nice to make moodboards and collages for the visual research because it gives a good representation of the atmosphere, as it is meant to do.

Me and my team started brainstorming using the moodboards and collages. With the technique that Natasja and I learned at a IDEO prototyping workshop. Everyone wrote down as many ideas as possible within a certain time. After that we went through all the ideas together and sorted them according to their potential and usability.

Using google forms, I immediately drew up a survey that I shared on social media to get information directly from international students in the Netherlands about their first few months. We were able to get a lot of information out of this about what they need. When we asked our coach for feedback about our survey, she mentioned that it was indeed good to get basic knowledge about the target group, but that interviews could also be very useful. We then directly interviewed a number of students and indeed got more and more specific information from them.

One of those international students, who studies communication, came to the studio and helped us enormously with the assignment. Together with our group and with another studio coach he tested everything we had and gave feedback on it, which was very useful. Such as, that the rules of the game could be made clearer and less formal.

In the first iteration, I made the prototype of the game. This contained the game rules booklet, the collection box, the map and the question cards.

I also made a mini photo studio where, together with Daniel, I took pictures of our prototype to use in our presentation.

Especially the box was very useful because we even used it in the next iterations to keep all the game elements together. With only paper and tape it became a very easily crafted but very sturdy box.

The use of a working QR code on the back of the rulebook was also my idea. This makes it very easy for the users to download the app directly and play the game in no time.

After the killyourdarling we had to come up with a new concept. The images above show the first version of our game board. I put it together together with Natasha-san. We chose to use post-its to indicate individual boxes because they are easy to move and can easily be removed/replaced. After asking Tyoni and Sanne for feedback we were told that they really liked the size of the board. We kept the size for the final product, but we did remove a few of the boxes because it became very cluttered.

I made the second version of our game material so we could test the game with another team. I took the pawns and dice from my monopoly game so we could test it without having to put too much effort into it, and make quick alterations.

I also came up with the idea of turning the diploma into puzzle pieces so that it is really clear when a diploma is "complete". A peercoach and our test group thought this was a nice idea, because it was a lot clearer than a stack of 4 loose cards. Soon we were told by the test group that more distinction has to be made between the different parts of the game material. The cards all looked too much alike. We took this into account by using different materials and different colours for the final prototype.

For our first prototype I made a paper app with Natasja, so we could easily test if it works. We showed this to a peercoach and he had no comments about it. We also tested the "app" with another group and they also had no comments about the clarity or functioning of the app.

Using InDesign I made the manual of the game in the colors of the logo. My choice to use color, stems from the design law of closedness, everything that belongs together has a specific color and so it remains clear for the player. After I was satisfied with the design, I asked Mark for feedback and changed a few things after that. For the final exposition, I printed and bound some more of these manuals with Natasja and Mark so that several people could go through the rules at the same time in order to understand the game.

Because I made the first prototype of the app together with Natasja, I also helped with our "final" app. She used Sketch to make this and put it together but when she got stuck, I tried to help where possible. We went through what the app looks like best together and in case of unexpected setbacks in the app like when it got stuck, I was able to fix small things like a button that didn't do what it was supposed to do.

I also came up with the idea to bring two ipads for the expo so we could show the app as an interactive element on our table.

Mark worked out my idea of the puzzle pieces diplomas and the collectibles because he had more knowledge of the equipment in the city lab. As with the first prototype where all collectibles were made of paper, the diplomas consist of four puzzle pieces so that it is clear when a diploma is complete. With the rest of the collectibles he refined my icons and laser cut them in the city lab.

The money, job card, Chance, Info and Social cards were designed by Daniel. I helped him with the colors of the money that we wanted to keep as close as possible to the colors of real euro banknotes.

The job card has its own color that does not resemble the other colors used to keep a clear distinction.

The Chance, Social and Info cards use the colors of the logo and the rules of the game. I then used his design to create a template and put the content on it. I created the content of the Chance and Social cards by writing them out in a list and translating them into English. I printed all the cards, cut them out and glued them on top of each other so that the cards are a bit thicker than normal paper.

As with the Rules and the rest of the game I wrote all the English text because I am most fluent in it. Also a number of other texts written by the rest of the group in English but also in Dutch were sent to me to check and improve.

LOOKING BACK

Looking back at the process, my tasks and work and the feedback obtained, a few of my strengths have emerged. Some I was already aware of, but others certainly surprised me as well.

First of all I quickly got the nickname "Craft Queen". This came from the fact that I knew a lot of original and fast solutions and ways to visualize what we wanted to have by prototyping. Not only the prototype was easy to assemble but also the moodboards/collages I made were clear to everyone. Because my mood board and collage clearly showed a certain atmosphere we were able to choose a theme and a target group very quickly.

I was also the primary source for all kinds of materials. Because I did a lot of crafts in my spare time and studied illustration I have more experience with this than the rest of the group and I happened to have a lot of materials at home that the rest had not even thought of at all. Because of the amount of materials that I had available to me at home, new ideas came to light.

Because this went so smoothly every time, I had a big part in all of the prototypes. As I mentioned before, the first prototype was almost completely my creation. However, I was surprised about this at this moment since I can be very perfectionistic and rapid prototyping should not fall within my preferred direction. Due to the fast prototyping we were able to test our prototypes very efficiently and then make quick and accurate adjustments which resulted in a better final product.

Because I did illustration and can draw well, it was nice to get a better knowledge of the adobe illustrator program through classes. I was also able to make use of this in the design of the final product.

I also enjoyed working in a team a lot. I've always been good at this, but it was nice for this to be acknowledged in the peer evaluations by my teammates as well. I try to give everyone a chance to talk, so even if someone is not as loud as others, I always attempt to repeat what that person tried to say or I try to draw attention to that person so that they also get the chance to talk. Because I tried to take everyone into account during the design challenge, everyone had their say and by paying attention to how everyone felt and taking the necessary breaks, we worked very efficiently.

I've never been someone who likes to be the centre of attention but I've become a lot more confident in the past few years and now as a shared team leader with Tim and as a class representative I notice that this is a more reoccurring theme.

JOOP

Joop was our solution to the question: "How can you allow Alzheimer patients to live at home alone, for a longer period of time?" This question was given to us by ‘Online Department’, a UX design company specialized in e-health.

WHAT IS JOOP?

Elderly people with early onset Alzheimer's have a lot of difficulty with everyday structure and with remembering daily tasks.

We have developed a concept in which we promote the independence of elderly people and thereby increase their self-esteem and feeling of self-worth. The solution we came up with is a digital memo board with an app for their caregiver.

Our memo board displays the time and date as soon as the elderly person walks by, by means of a motion sensor in the board itself. The board displays the tasks scheduled for that part of the day. These tasks are entered by the caregiver via the accompanying app. The tasks are categorized by color depending on the type of task. We can differentiate between household tasks, eating, care and personal appointments. For the personal appointments (such as a dentist appointment or coffee with the neighbor) a separate agenda is displayed on the board. The caregiver and the senior citizen can coordinate in advance on which tasks are scheduled for which part of the day. This way, the needs and independence of the elderly are taken into account. The app gives the caregiver peace of mind and insight knowing that the Alzheimer's patient is reminded of their daily tasks by the Joop board.

Booking Box

The Booking Box is the first case I handled autonomously, which is why I go into such extensive detail with this project. The client is Tempo Sum. Tempo Sum stands for "the best moment". Their core business is organising excursions, 1 to 5 days, to the islands in the mangroves of the Casamance and organising intercultural meetings. They would like to attract more of the "right tourists" to book an excursion with them.

THE CURRENT SITUATION

The online visibility of Tempo Sum is very limited. They have an outdated facebook page with an email address and an empty instagram page. Therefore the target group has absolutely no possibility to discover Tempo Sum.

It is not clear what the company stands for, what they offer, what prices are charged and even how such an excursion can be booked at all. This is due to the fact that there is no indication anywhere as to how this should be done.

There is currently no information to be found on Tempo Sum. Because of this the potential customers cannot get a (good) picture of the Casamance, the company and their services. In addition, it is also very difficult to reach Tempo Sum in case something goes wrong. Another concern that rests with the target group.

So what I have to solve with my design question is attracting the "right customers" to Tempo Sum, by first letting the company meet the wishes of the customers.

During the process I reflected a lot on my design question and adapted and specified it a few times. Eventually I answered the following question with my concept:

“How do I make sure that Tempo Sum can provide a new customer with all necessary information about Tempo Sum itself, their offer, Senegal, etc. in a well-organised way, quickly and easily?”

THE START

To start with, I set up a survey with some general questions about how often people travel, their travels so far and whether they would be interested in visiting a third world country.

It was a good start in trying to gain insight into who the target group is. I was able to set up three basic personas based on this survey.

In the end, I would have been better off making a version of the survey, with some deeper questions e.g. about what people find important in a booking process. I didn't do this in survey form, but later on during an interview with the target group. Using a survey among classmates was a good start to try to gain insight into who the target group really is.

Later I re-used the survey, but this time among an older target group to see if they had the same interests and wishes, in an attempt to confirm my assumptions.

GAPFILLING TECHNIQUE

In order to get ideas for the concept I applied the technique "Gap Filling". Gap filling is a way of brainstorming in which you outline your current situation "Point A", and your final goal / desired situation "Point B". At this point you look at the gap that exists between A and B. What are all the things you need to fill this gap? You identify these and write them down.

When I wanted to apply this technique I soon found out that my research question was too vague. I want to focus on a smaller part. Namely:

How do I make sure the right tourist can find Tempo Sum and book a trip?

I wrote this question at the top and then I began with the technique. I used my previously drawn up current situation and desired situation as point A and point B. The ideas I came up with to fill the gap between A and B were not very creative. Since I obviously knew that a lot had to be done on the online visibility of tempo sum, I subconsciously mainly wrote down digital "online" solutions.

Next time I would like to try this technique with the target group. I will write down points A and B, but the target group will have to figure out what is needed to fill this gap themselves, or together with me. So, I could have involved the target group more in this process.

INTERVIEW BACKPACKERS

Hereafter I conducted an interview about the wishes of regular travellers about / during a booking process. What do they want to see and what not? I invited three backpackers from different countries. This way I could immediately see if the answers would be different per culture.

I had two standard questions that I wanted to ask in each interview regardless. I hoped that the further interview would be based on the questions and answers that the travellers gave to previous questions.

I was very satisfied with my approach! From the answers of the travellers I found enough inspiration for several questions and they themselves often came up with questions when something was not clear so we could continue the conversation/interview.

After the interview I asked the travellers to book a trip with Tempo Sum on my laptop, to see what process they were going through and where the confusion lies. I gave them no hints and was curious when they would give up, or if someone would succeed.

It was very helpful to see the way travellers started looking for the trip. By giving minimal information, I was able to see exactly which steps the travellers go through and focus on those ways of marketing/promotion. All three stopped after looking at the info page on facebook and merely finding the email address. They could guess that they have to send an email to get more info, but they also pointed out that this is not indicated anywhere. The interview together with this booking process eventually added the most to my final result of all the things I did. I gained the following five insights from this process and the interview and I based my concept on four of those insights.

1. People don't like to book a trip using an email address. Especially when there is no indication that it must be via that medium and there is no further information.

2. People don't want to book or pay anything for something they can't see. Even if they pay for a "service", they do want it to be clear what they are paying for.

3. All information should be easy to find and there should be enough information to paint a good picture of the organisation/trip.

4. They find easy contact with the organisation very important in case something goes wrong.

5. They have a high appreciation for the experience of others.

GENESIS OF THE IDEA

Looking back, my first idea was created from merging four different sources.
1. Through the meeting with my intervision team at the beginning of sprint 1, I came up with the idea to involve JOHO.
2. My instructor said that I can link something interactive to a marketing plan in order to respond to a latent target group's emotions.
3. The insights I gained from the interview with the target group and the booking process with the target group led me to the idea of offering the information to the customer in a compact way.
4. An idea that arose after a classmate and I had followed a workshop on creative techniques. In this workshop it was mentioned how a "prepared mind" (through research and analysis) can ensure that an idea can suddenly spring to mind while you may not be working on it at all. During the intervision moment I had with her afterwards, I suddenly came up with the idea of packages.
During the briefing the client had mentioned that they sometimes organised a trip with mindfulness as a theme.

From those four sources I drew up the following concept. This is also the pitch that I presented to the client during a review session.

INTERIM PITCH CONCEPT

I wanted to organise a collaboration for the launch of the new logo and the new website, inviting potential customers from JOHO's customer base to attend this launch. JoHo is a development organisation with worldwide shops and websites, where people and organisations are stimulated and assisted in talent development and international cooperation.

The evening the new website will be launched, several physical packages will be offered, all based on the "theme" travels of tempo sum. These different packages will be available for customers to choose from. These "packages" will be physical packages consisting of information, an itinerary, a guide, a packing list, etc. Basically everything they need for their "trip".

Different trips for different people/themes. So also different packages!

At the launch evening several Senegalese will be present including musicians, through which they also learn about the culture of Senegal through music and Information. The launch of the website will ensure that potential customers can find information about tempo sum, Senegal, the Casamance and the content of the trips.

Of course, word-of-mouth advertising remains important, as it is the most popular way of marketing in Senegal but "there is now a website as proof!

The client had never heard of JOHO and asked me on the spot to tell more about the organisation. Because I had booked a trip with JOHO myself once, I knew what to tell. I also used the website to show the Senegal page I found during my desk research. Valerie (the client) then looked up the phone number and email address of JOHO and immediately thanked me for that tip.

Besides her enthusiasm about JOHO, she was also positively surprised that I had added an interactive element in addition to creating a website. She was already very aware of the fact that they need to have a website, update their facebook and do something with their instagram. But, they want to have a creative solution to attract the "right tourist".

ADJUSTMENTS THROUGH FEEDBACK

I did have to delete the idea of a website and information evening because it didn't add enough, so I had to apply a little kill-your-darling. Fortunately not everything had to be deleted and this has certainly set a new path for me to continue with the packages. If I hadn't included this feedback and deleted those two parts, I would have had a completely different end result than I ended up with now, and it would probably have been less valuable for the target group.

Because I had to delete a large part of my concept, I first had to start with an inventory of what was left, namely: the packages. Both the client and the target group had been very positive about the packages as a travel theme, but how was I supposed to proceed with this?

I made an inventory of everything that should be in such a package. So everything that someone who booked a trip at Tempo Sum might need.

In the end I used this in the concept as the following categories:
- Excursions
- About the Casamance
- Tips & Tricks
- Important information
- Contact details

ASSOCIATION TECHNIQUE

To come up with more categories, I applied the association technique together with a classmate. In this technique someone starts with a word and the other person says the first thing that comes to mind. We came up with a lot of words and it was a lot of fun to do. I could certainly have chosen some categories, but when I was working on it for a longer period of time I realised that Tempo Sum would have to choose their own offer as not everything will always be available. Something I hadn't thought of at all before!

During this association technique I came up with another idea. I can offer customers the possibility to choose multiple "packages" with activities themselves. This way there are many more possibilities, people can still choose things for themselves and not everything is completely planned, without it becoming too confusing for Tempo Sum.

It would be like a mix & match excursion, with a limited number of options, but enough to give the target group the feeling that they can personalise their trip and that it is no standard package.

The target group indicated that they like the idea, but the mix & match can be a bit tricky as it involves a multitude of choices. In practice it is not convenient enough for them. They also made it very clear that they like to be surprised, and don't want to know everything about their trip in advance. Something that seems contradictory with the interview in which it was mentioned that they would like to have all the information available. But that mainly applies to the organisation around the content of the excursions.

Because the target group indicated that they do not find a mix & match system very important as there is too much to choose from and this can be confusing, I have chosen to remove part of the concept again and keep it simpler.

THE FINAL CONCEPT

Offering different packages in a number of themes chosen by Tempo Sum, from which the target group can pick. Because the target group likes to be surprised, I also decided to add an all-round surprise package to the offer. To further elaborate the idea, I looked back on all the feedback I received during the previous sprints. Then it struck me that apart from making a digital package instead of having a physical package, I hadn't done anything else with the question of someone from the target group asking if I couldn't make it a little more exciting.

Based on this feedback, I then designed three screens for the concept poster in which it seems as if an animation opens the box, and that content flies out of the box as it were. In addition to the client, I also received compliments from several teachers and fellow students about how clearly I conveyed everything by means of the poster.

At the final exhibition, the client had brought her parents and a friend. They were all very enthusiastic about my concept and she indicated that she would like to do something with it in the future, as they are thinking of collaborating with a travel agency.

FINAL REFLECTION

Looking back on my design process I am quite satisfied. I virtually went through the exact process I had in mind. I deliberately state here that I went through it instead of following it, as I didn't intentionally adhere to it. The reason that my process corresponds to what I had already visualised is due to my past experience with the previous blocks. I know how I prefer my work and planned to work like this from the beginning of this block.

Every step I took in my process has confirmed something positive or negative through which I was able to take the next step. I quickly went through my sprints. Something that allowed me to quickly make new decisions. At first I thought I would go through one sprint every week. Well, I didn't go through six but five, and as I missed a week, that means I kept to exactly one sprint a week.

Next time I would involve the target group even more in my creative sessions, such as the gap filling technique. Perhaps that would have resulted in even more spectacular insights.

Because this project of 6 weeks was so short and there was no focus on making prototypes, I didn't incorporate these in my process. In the future I would certainly, just like now, reflect a lot on the prototypes and test them as much as possible with the target group.

In general I am very satisfied with how it went, therefore I have noticed that my self-knowledge can be very useful as a designer, as well as in terms of time planning.

Mijn NRC

On the 10th of September 2019, the NRC provided me and my team (Juliette, Daniel & Yasmin) with the following question:

“How can we make sure of an optimal onboarding period within the first 14 days of a subscription, paying special attention to the digital user experience. This onboarding should connect with the personal wishes and preferences of the subscriber.”

As the team leader I was responsible for keeping the team on track, taking the energy levels in account (and in turn implementing energisers) and leading creative sessions.

This project consisted of four different phases, cohering with the double diamond. Discover, define, develop and deliver.

DISCOVERY

During the discovery phase me and my team did loads of research by using journals, observations and surveys. We became subscribers of the NRC ourselves to be able to empathize better, and experience first-hand what the target audience ran into, in their first two weeks of membership. NRC mentioned in the briefing that they wish for more interaction with the customer, but it became apparent very quickly that they hadn’t implemented any of this in the onboarding period, as they only contacted us through email three times. Two of those three contact moments consisted of the sign up confirmation and an email containing information when the first newspaper would arrive.

DEFINE

During the define phase I made several deliverables. Multiple moodboards, of the current target group, a negative moodboard of everything NRC did not stand for, and another one after picking a new target group.

A brand analysis in which I remember being surprised by their endeavor of not wanting to be the biggest newspaper, but they did want to be the best one.

A stakeholder map, a customer journey, service blueprints, insightcards (that ended up on an entire insight wall), design guidelines, wireframes, jobstories and persona’s.

DEVELOP

To come up with ideas for concepts we used multiple techniques like sensory brainstorming, negative brainstorming, direct analogy and even invented our own brainstorm technique called “the post-it brainstorm”. The post-it brainstorm starts by doing the direct analogy technique. After this you circle 10 words that grab your attention. You then write these on post-its and turn them around. Each member of the team grabs three post-its and is asked create a concept using all three words.

After producing a pile of ideas we used the COCD box and PMO method to converge. Not all ideas were as valuable as others of course.

Once we had a concept to continue with, I recommended doing the 4 minute wireframe session together. This is something I had learnt in my Interaction Design class. This was used to get through an entire design process as quickly as possible in order to simplify the creation of wireframes and make it more accessible, as you can't think long and have to be quite impulsive in such a short amount of time.

DELIVER

In the final sprint I ended up iterating my prototypes 4 times (using Adobe XD), as each time I tested one, a lot of new information and ideas came to light. For the final version of the prototype I worked together with a teammate in Sketch, as neither of us had used the programme before and were quite curious. It worked out very well due to us being able to help each other were needed. We presented this to the client and they were extatic about the work we had done.

De Balder

During my internship at MCW creative agency, I worked on project "de Balder". This was in name of Stichting Zeillogger de Balder in Vlaardingen.

The Balder is the oldest sailing logger in the Netherlands. This ship is moored in front of the museum in Vlaardingen and has been completely restored in recent years. After attending the first meeting I got an idea of what the client wanted. A digital tour that could be shown on a touch screen in the hold, to highlight the historical value of the ship.

I participated in brainstorming sessions to figure out the right topics, to immerse the visitor in the herring fishing of the 1930s.

How did the fishermen live? What did their days look like? What does the ship look like on the inside? How was the fishing done?

For this digital program many recordings had to be made. I prepared interview questions and took on the role of assistant during the recording days. Within the product, I was also visually active with making the crew page for example.

See here for yourself, what it turned out to be!

European Energy Scenario's Tool

During my internship at MCW creative agency, I worked on the 'Energy Scenario's Tool' for the European Commission and Joint Research Centre Petten.

The goal was to develop a web tool, able to compare different future energy scenarios to each other using data on renewable and non-renewable materials and resources. It was designed to not only be understandable for internal users or experts, but also policy makers with limited knowledge and even the general public with almost zero knowledge.

THE WEBTOOL

The European Commission has been collaborating with the Joint Research Centre Petten to make it possible, by means of a web tool, to compare different future energy scenarios. The EUC knew exactly what they didn't want, but not quite so well what they did want. That's why this project went through many iterations in which I was actively involved. From the dozens of brainstorming sessions to the UI/UX design to the presentations and feedback sessions with the clients.

The web tool had to be designed mobile first, followed by a desktop version. A lot of research into data visualization and also into the content data (the different resources, scenarios and categories) was needed to keep the design well-organized and straightforward, without making it too simplistic. This was mostly due to the wide variety of expertise of the different target groups. It had to be usable not only by internal users, but also by policy makers with limited knowledge and even by the general public with little to no knowledge.

In addition to the tool, the CMS that I designed also fell within the scope of the assignment. Because there is so much data involved, it had to be possible for the EUC to upload and maintain this data in an efficient way.

Smart City Lab Scheveningen

Visit the project website for more detailed insight and see the final product!

Coming back from my internship, a classmate from CMD and I partnered up with one two students from CMGT. In assignment from Smart City Lab Scheveningen and Gemeente Den Haag we worked on the following design question: "What could a smart application which improves the living environment and enriches the experience of residents in Scheveningen, look like?"

The objective of the clients is to go along with the economic transition. They also want to improve the community through sustainability, digitalisation and the improvement of social issues in society.

Living Lab Scheveningen is a project in which new digital inventions are tested in the public space. In the LLS they are working on urban issues with smart applications based on the latest technologies. Scheveningen was selected as the location because this is an area where people live, work and enjoy their leisure time. There is beach, nature, but also a harbor and industry. Also, Scheveningen has many visitors every year, especially in the summer.

Because Scheveningen attracts many visitors, especially in the summer, more problems occur. The seaside resort has many issues, which are a problem for visitors and residents. Some of these issues include: women being harassed on the street, illegal street races, drug use, missing children, the crowds, the overcrowded public transport, garbage on the street and a shortage of parking spaces.

My team and decided to focus on beachgoers and crowd management. From the initial survey that we did, a lot of people indicated that they did not have enough insight into how crowded Scheveningen actually is. They would have gone to another beach if they had known in advance. The interviewees who already live in Scheveningen indicated that they do not go to the beach at all in summer because they cannot enjoy it due to the large number of people.

Especially during and after the Covid period it will be important to promote the distribution of people in public spaces. By giving people an insight into how busy it is everywhere prior to and during their visit to Scheveningen, they can better decide where they want to go.

During the design process it is important to keep the preconditions in mind. It must be technologically and economically feasible. It must be possible to test it in Living Lab Scheveningen, and since these innovations involve collecting data about citizens and the environment in which citizens find themselves, it is important to also deal very carefully with issues such as privacy and inclusivity.

In addition to the preconditions from the client's perspective, the wishes and needs of other stakeholders, including the target group, must also be taken into account.

The design goal that I and my team established after our research is: To promote the dispersion of beachgoers by providing them with insight into the crowds, on and around the beach.

The safety of visitors must be and remain guaranteed.
The elaboration must be bird and anti-social proof, vandalism proof.
The visual design must be easy to read in bright sunlight.

From home, users can not only see how busy it is in different zones within the beach of Scheveningen, but travel options are integrated. Because of this, the user can head towards the beach at their full leisure, without fear of ending up in a crowded place. The closer they get to the beach, the more detailed the data becomes. On the signs near the parking facilities they can see how busy the beach is and where more parking facilities are located, if a garage is full. Once they arrive at the beach, they see a visualization of the beach in front of them. Their location and the zones are clearly marked on this, so they can quickly find a spot.