Master | Course | Apr ’21 – Jul ’21
Data-Enabled Design
Type
Elective
Given by
Mathias Funk
Peter Lovei
Renee Noortman
Team
Iris Bataille
Lars de Langen
Mathias Verheijden
IN SHORT
As data and AI start to play an increasingly important role in products, systems and services, design needs to adapt. Data-enabled design provides a designerly perspective on new forms of interactive, personalized and highly-contextual products, where data is used as creative material to inspire and inform new design interventions. Data-enabled design as a method is characterized by a quick and iterative approach that sets out to deeply explore a context of use in two steps and to make extensive use of remote prototypes that are situated in and adapted to the daily life of people.
This project explored the design of an intervention to improve the air quality at home, using the data-enabled design approach. With two prototype deployments, both the contextual and informed steps of the data-enabled design process have been walked through multiple times. First, the current situation of participants was explored through collecting data about the air quality in their home environment. In the second phase of this second deployment, the user was also given insight into the air quality in their home, allowing us to explore possible design considerations.
LEARNINGS
In the world of service design and user centered design, qualitative data is often the go-to. However, during this course I have learned how quantitative data can strengthen qualitative data and the other way around. In the future I will feel more comfortable in knowing which type of data might provide me with the correct or missing insights I need to find design opportunities within current or for new services.
