Name:
Alynne de Haan
Background:
Industrial Design MSc
Interests:
Welcome! I am Alynne and I am an industrial designer with a focus on user-centered design. My experiences volunteering abroad, living in an intercultural household, and observing life’s challenges have deepened my understanding of diverse cultures and the importance of respecting varying opinions and values. This has shaped me as an empathic designer and resulted in my drive to support others, particularly in mental and physical health.
I initiate my design process with extensive literature and user research, seeing this as essential for understanding user needs. I favor an iterative approach that cycles through ideation, prototyping, and user feedback. I enjoy using techniques like mind mapping and rapid sketching to help me visualize concepts early while using different design frameworks helps to adopt a holistic view of users.
My passion as a designer is to create products that empower individuals. Believing design should encourage self-reflection and prompt users to make choices that align with their values. I enjoy using different design techniques in my design process to facilitate this reflective decision-making for the user.
The aesthetics of interaction are crucial in shaping how users experience decision-making moments, so my designs must be engaging and visually appealing. Whether through individual products or community-focused services, I aim to facilitate personal growth and foster connections among individuals.
Ultimately, I view design as a tool for positive change. By empowering individual people through thoughtful design, they can engage in broader societal issues, whether it’s climate change or social equality. I am excited to be part of this journey as a designer, believing that change starts with one.
DIS 2021 Aesthetic of Friction for Exercising Motivation: A Prototyping Journey
ABSTRACT: Despite an intention to exercise, it remains a challenge for many people to establish a workout routine over a period of time. Amongst identified barriers and enablers to exercise, getting dressed for a workout is considered as one of the tipping points of actually going. Implementing the Aesthetic of Friction in this specific context, could imply the right course of action for the user, while it also allows freedom and encourages meaning-making. In this Research-through-Design project, we designed an interactive shrinking hanger, that implements these key principles, to encourage exercise motivation. We followed an iterative process focusing on the aesthetics of the interaction to find out how a careful consideration of the look and feel of an interactive artefact influences the acceptance of the implemented friction. We document the design process of this aesthetics of friction exemplar, and reflect on how to implement friction in design.
INTERACT 2021 Raya: A Tangible Exercise Buddy Reminding Oneself of the Commitment to Exercise
ABSTRACT: Although many people have a positive intention to be more active, a key challenge remains to turn this intention into action. Social support as a motivational strategy can increase adherence in exercise and can be provided by relational agents as a substitute for human coaches. We first conducted an exploratory two-week user study, to explore how emotional design and tangible interaction influences experience and motivation to exercise. We then designed a propositional research object Raya, a tangible exercise buddy that helps one to realize their workout by reminding them of their goals and self-commitment. We invite designers to bridge the gap in the design space of sport-related technologies by designing tangible artefacts embedding supportive and qualitative aesthetics of interaction rather than focusing on performance.
If you have questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me.
