My research addresses the roles of users in the design process . It focuses especially on the early phases of the design process, where the input from and dialogue with users can play a contributing role to new creative ideas. This research programme is based on my former activities; contextmapping and communicating rich experience information to design companies. I critically explore how users can play a contributing role, by giving them various roles, such as informers, everyday users, lead users, experts of their experiences or even co-designers in several stages of the design process. These various roles imply various roles for designers and facilitators as well during the encounters with users.
My current research activities (2010):
- supervisor of PhD Helma van Rijn href="http://www.studiolab.io.tudelft.nl/vanrijn/research">PhD project Helma van Rijn
- supervisor of PhD Menno Manschot Menno focuses on how a user-centred approach can be evaluated in terms of effectivity. He will develop a measuring tool that involves ROI, customer satisfaction questionnaires and add qualitative data to measure the effect of a user centred approach. This project is part of an ongoing service design project with several design agencies conducting user-centred research and design for Utrecht Central Station. (start December 2010)
- coordinating the role of action researchers in several user-centred design cases of service design agencies around Utrecht Central Station
- exploring service design and how our faculty relates to service design
(see link service design on left side)
rvice design
Helma investigates how designers can get insight into difficult to reach user groups, e.g. children with autism or people with dementia (2007-2011)
contact
Froukje Sleeswijk VisserLandbergstraat 15
2628CE Delft
room: 10-2A-19
phone: 015-2789223
email: f.sleeswijkvisser@tudelft.nl
Links to related sites:
contextmappingcontextqueen
STBY