Collaborations are often transdisciplinary whereby people with different backgrounds need to be able to work together and therefore share knowledge. This means people have to cross knowledge boundaries. Crossing these boundaries can be done with boundary objects that help to transfer knowledge across these boundaries (Carlile, 2002, 2004). Touch can expand the vocabulary that people have at their disposal and therefore contribute to making transferring experiential knowledge and crossing boundaries easier. To make the research of how touch can be applied to enhance transdisciplinary learning more concrete, a specific context has been chosen, namely the organization ‘Centre of Expertise Societal Innovation’. Within this organization, they want to create learning communities whereby knowledge is shared and preserved between students and others stakeholders in consecutive projects. This has led to the following research questions: “How to improve the transition between graduation projects within the Urban Innovation program of EMI with a haptic language design to preserve knowledge within the different communities of practice.” The knowledge that the organization wants to preserve is so-called tacit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is hard to express in words. Therefore, guidance is needed to help people express their tacit knowledge. From the theory of transdisciplinary learning, it is retrieved that the 7 habits of the mind are important to foster transdisciplinary learning. These habits also include using the senses of the human body. Therefore, it is interesting to combine transdisciplinary learning by expressing tacit knowledge with the senses of the human body. Especially the sense of touch is interesting to use because touch can deepen communication and is one of the most versatile senses. The literature study in combination with exploratory research on how touch can be used in communication, has resulted in 6 haptic design principles for transdisciplinary learning. These principles can be used by designers that want to create physical haptic designs for transdisciplinary learning. The 6 haptic principles are: 1. Haptic design triggers people to touch it 2. Haptic design makes people conscious of touch 3. Haptic design enables different touch experiences 4. Haptic design translates and adjusts between different disciplines by providing the same meaning for everyone 5. Haptic design evokes interaction between users 6. Haptic design gives people the tools to make their thoughts and ideas tangible With the principles, a final concept design has been created, called MIMIC. MIMIC is a haptic language design that helps users to express their internal thoughts, ideas, and feelings by providing tools to make these internal thoughts, ideas, and feelings tangible. Translating to external forms will make it easier for others to understand. MIMIC consists out of two sets of cubes, the basic set made of wooden cubes with different weights, and the haptic set of cubes with different materials from 10 categories on each side cubes. Furthermore, a guide, an instruction sheet, and warming-up exercises are created to give guidance to users for sharing relevant knowledge and the use of the haptic language in general.

This thesis describes the design process to enhance the music festival experience for hearing-impaired people. This assignment was set up to make the MOJO backstage exhibition at Museum Prinsenhof Delft inclusive for hearing-impaired people. First, context mapping research with hearing-impaired and hearing festival visitors shows that inclusiveness at festivals is less present for hearing-impaired. To include hearing-impaired, the focus is to minimize the language barrier and create an independent and equal interaction. Combining the mapping information with desktop research and a sensitizing experiment, resulted in socio-cultural dimension diagrams (Hofstede, 2018) which compare hearing and deaf cultures. Differences conclude that deaf culture is more together, emotionally expressive and contextual. With music experience being one of the main reasons for people to visit festivals, for hearing impaired this is experienced through vibrations, live performances and dancing audiences during a music festival. In current products and theories music characteristics are often literally translated to structures of the tactile and/or visual sense, because they are capable to change over time and have a wide variety. Unfortunately, most of these abstract theories and products are not able to convey the same emotional response as people who hear songs via sound. Therefore, a test with hearing people was performed to find similarities in emotional response to music of hearing and hearing-impaired people. Hearing people were asked to elaborate on Justlin and Vastfall’s (2008) emotional responses to music. Similarities between the answers given in this test and interviews with hearing-impaired, were found within two of the categories; emotional contagion and rhythmic entrainment. During interviews and observations at several festivals, using current solutions like the Lofelt bracelet and signdance shows. It was discovered that rhythmic entrainment is experienced by hearing-impaired people by feeling bass through vibrations of speakers or floors. Emotional contagion is experienced by dance moves and facial expression of a crowd or performers on stage. The goal of this study is to design a product that uses visual dance and vibrations of the bass as means to create an inclusive interaction between hearing-impaired and hearing festival visitors. This is done by an interactive dance game that is played during a live concert. The game is played by mimicking dance moves on the beat, while the beat is felt by vibrations of the bass. A concept test concluded that the game is inclusive because it was played just as well by hearing as hearing-impaired people. Also, bystanders joined the dance game without being an actual participant. This effect is expected to be even bigger in the festival context. Hearing-impaired people mention to feel more independent and confident at a festival when using a product like this. It would be interesting to develop a portable (smartphone) version to be independent of a location. Further research could be done to develop the character into a fully automated (sign) dance character which would make hearing-impaired fully independent of their peers at every location in time.

Internet retailers use different online presentation methods to provide detailed product-oriented information. In this way, communicating the materials of products is difficult but necessary for online retailing. The consumer cannot directly touch and feel the products, which may lead to disappointment, as the material of the product they ordered may differ from what they thought based on the online information. Internet retailers need to choose suitable solutions for presenting their products online, which is influenced by various and multi-dimensional factors. Therefore, getting a systematic understanding, which is about advantages and disadvantages of different methods for presenting certain products in order to get a correct impression about the material of products on a website, is really necessary for the companies with online retailing demands. With those considerations, a research starts in the field of online clothing shopping in order to study and deepen the understanding of popularly used presentation methods on web pages for better communicating the materials of products. After the studying of the related researches and 19 popular clothing shopping websites in Europe and China, a experiment with 90 female participants and 12 interviews are conducted to investigate the effects of 5 different combinations of online product presentation methods on consumers' actual and perceived material understanding and further assesses the perceived information and effectiveness of these presentation methods. The quantitative results from the experiment and the insights are analyzed, summarized and interpreted mutually. Not only have the deep understandings been built for the material perception and better material communication of the selected products, but also the insights and inspirations could be used to for further researches related with online material communication. The advantages and disadvantages of different presentation methods for presenting clothing fabric are compared and interpreted, which comes up with a design guideline for helping the company to present the products online. The showcases of the implementation of the design guideline are also made.

This report describes VR, its patterns and tools to see more. It starts of by explaining what Virtual Reality means and setting the boundaries for the project. It then continues identifying interaction patterns by covering papers, literature, blogs, interviews and researching actual VR applications on the HTC Vive, Google Cardboard and Playstation VR. After this the direction towards guiding attention is taken as current Head Mounted Displays only allow to see what is in front while virtual worlds allow content all around. Using the work from Stigchel, a theory for guiding attention is set up. Together with other resources, three tools are developed that guide attention to objects outside the field of view in unique ways. An arrow in the peripheral vision, organic lines in the background that converge on a certain point and an animated sphere that moves towards a point of interest. These three tools are tested and evaluated; the arrow is most professional and effective, the animated object is most fitting in VR and very effective, while converging lines are very subtle and not always effective. Recommendations for their implementation are given in the report. Three more tools are developed that do not necessarily guide attention to a specific point, but allow users to be more aware of interesting objects in their environment; a mirror ball that reflects everything behind the user, a radar that helps with orientation and shows points of interest and finally a birds-eye view that allows the user to see the virtual world from up high. These tools are tested and compared with the guiding tools. It is found that participants do not have a preference for any one tool, but do prefer being guided towards an object of interest. The mirror ball is least liked though because the reflection requires more thinking. It could be improved by making it more convex and filtering the image. The radar could be improved by showing distance to objects and showing map elements. The birds-eye view can be improved by showing a miniature world and filtering it so that points of interest are more apparent. The report concludes with sketching a possible scenario in a chemistry lab in which each of the tool is demonstrated.

A design was developed to introduce and invite visitors to take ownership of the collection stored in Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen. The Double Diamond process formed the basis of the design methodology. This iterative process resulted into the design of an interactive guided experience. Extensive research resulted in the selection of four overarching themes defining the needs of visitors, staff and scientists: perspectives, belonging, recognition and relevance. The final design is based on these overarching themes. It was first prototyped and tested online and after on site in the depot. The results of the tests were positive, the design made visitors aware of the function of the depot: the storing, preserving and collecting activities. It also personalized the visitors’ journey. Once interaction was established, it was found that visitors are also willing to add personal information to the collection. It is suggested that this system can be applied in other museum depots in general, but for that more needs to be done.

All museum visitors should be able to go to any museum they like and observe the artworks they prefer. For
visually impaired people this is often not the case, even though museums have a social responsibility to make 
their collections accessible for everyone. Especially since the United Nations agreed on the rights of persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in
all aspects of life (2006). The process of creating a more inclusive cultural sector is well underway, but people with a visual impairment are often excluded from truly experiencing the art world. In my thesis I explored opportunities for Dutch museums to bridge this gap. The Netherlands counts 320.000 people with a visual impairment (in different forms). Having a visual impairment affects many aspects of life, ranging from practical to psychological and social problems. Being dependent on others is experienced as a key disadvantage. Visually impaired people want equal chances in what society provides to the public, including art. They like to be free in choosing when to go to a museum and what artworks to explore rather than depend on special museum tours and selected art to experience with multiple senses. They also like to explore art together with a companion; a sighted friend, family member or partner. They want a playful social interaction; they dislike experiencing art only through the eyes of their companion. The question is how to create an equal, balanced experience with a sighted person. In order to explore the value and richness of an artwork, visually impaired people put a strong emphasis on the use of multiple senses. Unlike visually impaired people, sighted people can explore artworks, as they prefer. I found inspiration for my design in two principles on how sighted people explore visual art: Visual Thinking Strategy (VTS, 2020) and a principle by Panofsky. VTS is a learning method to observe, listen and build on each other without judgment when looking at art. The Panofsky principle consists of 3 layers: 1. Gather visual information; 2. Apply meaning to what is observed; 3. Think about what is observed and seek to broaden the meaning. (Messham-Muir, 2014). Visually impaired people can receive pure visual information through observational techniques. Sighted people can learn from using other senses than just sight. Both get a deeper understanding by talking to each other, seeking the underlying meaning and building knowledge together. After my analysis, I designed and prototyped ideas. The most promising idea turned out to be a toolkit with guidelines and tools for multi-sensory experiences: describing, (tactile) drawing, enacting, talking and touching. I developed this idea into a concept design and tested it with the target audience. The playful and interactive tools create an equal museum experience for visually impaired people (different levels) and their sighted companion. The toolkit is designed in such a way that interaction leaves room for own imagination and interpretation about the artwork. Visually impaired and sighted visitors will discover equally interesting information. It helps them to interact socially, start dialogue and exchange thoughts about artworks. The toolkit can be used independently at any time, at any museum and for any type of artwork.

Hepatopancreato-biliary (HPB) surgeons, when planning complex cases of pancreatic cancer, lose precious time because of difficulties in visualising the interaction between tumour and blood vessels and identifying patient-specific anatomy. To tackle this issue, the Integrated Imaging Workstation (IIW) was prototyped by e/MTIC and Philips. This prototype encompasses a conventional medical viewer and a holographic display to visualise the same medical data, providing a functional basis and showing promise. However, it lacks a human-centred interaction design, particularly in integrating it into a surgeon’s established interaction flows with conventional medical imaging, as a study with 13 expert surgeons highlights. The literature review and empirical research show that surgeons iteratively scroll through scans to build a mental 3D reconstruction of the anatomy, and have two personal approaches to finding anatomical landmarks and interactions, “vertical scan” and “zoom in and out”. Also, it unveils 3 key design opportunities: minimising workflow disruption, visualising both overview and detail and balancing speed and control in the interaction. These findings were translated into multiple design concepts, such as one with different modes of visualisation depending on anatomical landmarks. The most desirable concepts were combined into a navigation system, which in turn went through one expert feedback iteration. The final design comprises a system for surgeons to easily select anatomical landmarks through 2D medical imaging. This enables reaching and controlling desired points of view, which then can be orbited around. A high-fidelity prototype was implemented with Unity3D and evaluated. The mixed-method evaluation study with 3 expert HPB surgeons shows promise towards the overall usability of the navigation system and its clinical application. However, some aspects of the interaction, such as the selection of minor vessel branches and missing visual feedback for point-of-view changes, need refinement. These results illustrate a solid human-centred design direction for supporting surgeons in finding crucial landmarks and vascular interactions, as well as an approach to integrate 3D medical visualisation into established workflow with 2D imaging of HPB surgeons. This thesis hopes to be a starting point for future iterations of the IIW. For example, using metaphors to help the surgeons establish a mental model of the 3D camera system could be tested, or scoping the main user focus to novice surgeons could be helpful to refine the design. Furthermore, this project could be relevant for other research and design endeavours that aim to inject 3D medical visualisation technology into existing workflows in a surgeon-friendly manner.

This thesis report describes the process and the result of a graduation project for the master programme Integrated Product Design at the Delft University of Technology. The project is carried out in collaboration with Marktplaats, a classified advertising service. This project aims to improve amateur product presentation on Marktplaats. Marktplaats is an online resale service that allows consumers to buy and sell second-hand products. Marktplaats connects buyers and sellers for stimulating a sustainable use of products. However, the way in which users can present their products on Marktplaats’ often generates low quality product presentation and fosters miscommunications of the presented product. Therefore the goal of this thesis is: Improving the online product presentation of users on Marktplaats: to design for improved visual communication of product aesthetics (appearance), semantics (function) and symbolics (meaning). Online shopping is linked to high levels of perceived risk because of its intangible nature. Shopping on Marktplaats can be considered even more ‘risky’, since information on these products is often incomplete, and the presentation is usually less salient compared to professional webshops. Consumers respond to a high perceived risk by developing a purchase strategy which is is dependent on the perception and liability of presented product information. . Due to the absence of a framework in literature, a framework has been created to design for- and measure product understanding. In this model six instruments are presented that help in designing for improved product understanding either through helping the consumer create a better mental model of the product, or by increasing its vividness (medium). Depending on the nature of the product, a high quality product presentation is one that accurately represents the product at semantic, aesthetic and symbolic level (measure). With the help of this framework, ideas have been developed and a final concepts have been presented. Validated by qualitative testing, a final concept is presented that more concretely presents semantic, symbolic and aesthetic information, thus increasing the overall quality of product presentations on Marktplaats. The final concept also assists consumers in deciding what valuable information is missing from the listing. A quantitative study has shown that providing a list of information that is provided and left out by the seller, makes consumers more aware of missing information in a listing. This knowledge influences consumers perception and liability of a listing, aiding them in forming a risk assessment and developing a purchase strategy. This will likely decrease miscommunictions amongst users and lower negative outcomes of Marktplaats service interaction. This thesis is concluded with and aesthetic representation of the final design, and a roadmap suggesting further improvements on the short- and long term.

This graduation project is related to macular degeneration. Macular degeneration affects the macula, a central pit on the retina which is responsible for the highest visual acuity due to the densely packed cone photoreceptors. Symptoms of macular degeneration can vary in the early stage from blurred vision to abnormal dark adaptation (Jager et al., 2008) however in late stage macular degeneration symptoms can be much more invasive including partial and complete loss of the central vision. In order to cope with the loss of central vision patients could prescribe to what is called eccentric viewing. Eccentric viewing is a technique where the peripheral vision is used to see. Using eccentric viewing as a method to cope with macular degeneration requires, for optimal results, practice. This can be done through training. This project was originally aimed at designing a training method for eccentric viewing with the use of motivating game elements. By speaking to experts from Visio and Bartimeus as well as patients throughout the research phase it became apparent that eccentric viewing was not deemed necessary. Instead other problems were addressed which had a higher priority in solving. These problems include the lack of provided information after the official diagnosis, the attitude of the ophthalmologist during the diagnosis and the perceived gap between the diagnosis and the Low-Vision clinics. By creating a patient journey and examining the different problems that occur during that journey a choice was made to focus on a combination of the lack of information after the diagnosis and the gap between the diagnosis and the Low-Vision clinics. Six different topics of information were defined which play part in the lack of information. These six topics are: information about the condition, information about aids, make it easier, information about peer support, training / revalidation support and information about involved instances. Together these six topics cover most of the aspects surrounding macular degeneration. To convey this information to the target group a web-based medium is used. Due to the special target group guidelines have been defined which help in designing a website for visually impaired people. This has resulted in a framework where the necessary information can be placed in. Because of time restrictions one of the six topics which was defined was further developed. That topic is ‘Make it easier’. It resulted in a collection of tips from “experienced” macular degeneration patients on making Activities of Daily Living (ADL) easier to perform. In total 20 different tips were gathered through a brainstorm session, an online survey and telephone contact with Bartimeus. These tips were spread over three different themes: cooking, grocery shopping and public transport. Each tip was accompanied by an image, a descriptive text and a spoken quote. Finally an evaluation test has been conducted with two participants to verify whether the proposed design succeeded. The results from the evaluation show the potential success of the design but are not conclusive. Therefore further testing needs to be done with more participants over a longer period of time.

Formiliar is digital a tool with which users can explore artworks by completing challenges, all focussing on visual elements in paintings. The main aim of the application is to encourage users to look closely at the paintings and to familiarise with them visually. Through multiple challenges users will look at the way elements, such as colour or composition, are applied in a specific painting and will get a peek into the artist’s process and considerations. By exploring, dissecting, manipulating, zooming into and comparing the artwork, the effects of different visual elements on the user’s perception are shown. Users are independent in their explorations, meaning that though the challenges have a clear result, there is no singular ‘solution’ and their personal experience is central. The results of the challenges, for instance colour schemes, cut outs or light directions, are stored and used for art historical or perceptual research.

This thesis describes a research and design in how to engage millennials around the collection of the Fotomuseum. For the Fotomuseum to shift from a traditional institution to an open and social environment, the public should be involved. Involving the public is necessary to create a high-quality visitor experience. Extensive literature and empirical studies were conducted in different domains; the Fotomuseum, millennials, participatory and engaging museum principles. The holistic approach resulted in a starting point for developing a framework for an overarching social museum activity. Within this framework, the four core-elements socialization, meaning-making, escapism and interaction are integrated on the  visitor museum experience. The resulting design framework for an overarching social museum activity consists of a model for designing open-ended activities encouraging social interactions and prolong the experience outside the museum’s walls. A narrative architecture presents six different narrative spaces to activate participation and engage millennials around the collection on-site. In addition to these two models, thirteen design principles were formulated. The formulated design goal accompanied by an experience vision functioned as a starting point for the design process. In addition to individual designing, different co-creation and evaluative sessions were organized resulting in a concept proposal for an overarching social museum activity: Photo Studio. Photo Studio offers millennials an active and memorable experience at the Fotomuseum, inviting them to explore and use the collection for developing one’s mini-exhibition. The platform allows visitors to explore co-produced exhibitions at home, which highlights the museum as an open, essential and social place. The activity supports and encourages individuals to collaborate in creative activities in a larger social experience. One could see the concept as a vehicle for maintaining social relationships as well as a process for personal meaning-making. Throughout the journey the link between photographers and millennials is addressed, allowing visitors to reflect the world as they see it and engage with each other around photos. Six different stages are described that moves the visitor towards developing one’s Photo Studio. With an application and three different interactive exhibits, visitors can select photos from the archive, edit them in the darkroom and construct their own visual story in the interactive exhibits space. Each interactive exhibit is designed with personal entry points and tools for creative expression to engage with each other socially. Finally, visitors can view their Photo Studio anytime, anywhere as the platform provides a replica in an interactive 360-view. The concept was tested with 16 participants in a simulated environment and seven different prototypes. Based on the insights, the overarching activity is presumably found to facilitate the desired engaging experience for millennials. All of the 16 participants positively reviewed Photo Studio. Each group developed discussions around photos, collaboratively discovering new perspectives. The activity was reviewed as fun, active and motivating.

The Nederlands Fotomuseum is the Dutch national museum for photography and its archive has the biggest collection of photographic material in the country. Currently, the visitors of the museum have a rather passive role and are merely subjected to the visual artworks in the museum. The museum desires to give the visitors more insight in the world behind photography, such as the photographic process, the invention and developments of the photo camera or the process of developing photographs in the dark room. This project explores the possibilities to let the visitors of the Nederlands Fotomuseum experience the world behind photography in an active, co-participatory way. First an analysis of the context is made: The museum’s vision, goals and ways of working. The way other museums handle interactive, educative installations. The desires of the visitors and motivation for coming. The way photographers work and what they desire. The principles of the photo camera. This is followed by an exploration of three promising scopes. Resulting from the analysis, the design goal is re-defined as: “Design an educational interactive experience for the visitor of the Nederlands Fotomuseum with a rechargers motive and no experience with photography. This experience needs to make this target group take a longer and better educated look at photographs to let them experience what it is like to be a photographer and what it takes to make a photograph”. The developing stage shows the creative process towards coming up with a design proposal fulfilling the design goal and meeting the requirements. This is done through a process of ideation, conceptualization and validation. Next, the design proposal is given, consisting of a presentation of the total design, an explanation of the envisioned co-participatory interaction, and a more detailed design of the mechanical part of the design proposal. Finally, the project is concluded by evaluating the design proposal on the requirements, discussing the feasibility, desirability and viability, and posing the recommendations for further research and development.

The project initiation originated from a challenge noticed by Deloitte. Deloitte noticed a mismatch between the degree and pace of innovation in data dashboards and the needs of the end-users of the dashboard. Deloitte creates digital dashboard to communicate all kind of data and information to their clients. They develop the dashboards along with the trends while the clients does not adopt the innovations and do not use all provided functions and features. The aim of this project is to develop a way of data communication for 2025 that provides the users with insights and matches to their needs. A project of Deloitte is selected as case study. Deloitte and ActiZ, branch organization for caregivers, provide as strategic benchmark to the elderly healthcare sector. The benchmark is presented on a digital platform, ActiZ Benchmark Zorg. Members of ActiZ use the strategic benchmark to gain insights of their performance relative to other members. (Deloitte, 2017) The first step was to discover the current situation of data communication. A walkthrough, discussion with ActiZ and Deloitte and interviews with CEOs in the sector are the base of this first step. The walkthrough and discussions let to insights about the usability of the current dashboard. From the interviews the CEOs experience of the current situation is analyzed. The interviews focusing on the user experience and needs of the data communication. To get an image of data communication in 2025 a literature research is conducted. The research focuses on developments in an organization and in data communication. The developments in data communication can be divided in technology and communication developments. Combining the gained insights from user and future perspective a design goal is formulated; the design should stimulate and facilitate the CEOs to gain insight from the strategic benchmark and facilitate communication between the CEO, CFO and HR manager about benchmark findings to maintain the overview. Via iterations with paper prototyping and a final user test the concept is improved to match the design goal. The user tests gave clear understanding of their experience of Actiz Benchmark Zorg 2.0 and how to enrich the experience. The result of this project is ActiZ Benchmark Zorg 2.0, a digital dashboard for CEOs in the elderly care, providing the strategic benchmark in the elderly care. CEOs can make data driven decisions of organizational strategy and vision by gained insights from Actiz Benchmark Zorg 2.0. The simple and clear structure provides an effortless and seamless navigation experience, so the user feels in control. By only showing the main topics and the option to dive deeper in to the data the overview will be maintained. The CEO is not overwhelmed by an overload of information. A selection menu and the data visualization stimulates to dive deeper in the data when needed. Features like notifications for changes and warnings, chatbot as helpdesk and easily sharing insights with others, facilitate the CEO to gain insights with less effort. This way of interacting is stimulating and creates curiosity. Via a scenario the interaction and features of the design will be explained.

The design of the white cane, the most used mobility aid for visually impaired, has not changed significantly since the mid-20th century. New concepts and technological solutions have failed to catch on. However, the cane seems unappealing and outdated to some potential users. Margot Scheltema, the initiator of this graduation project, is a future cane user. She feels that the current cane design is alien from her identity and she feels reluctant to use it. She is not alone: due to the social stigma, many cane users feel self-conscious when using the device, some even decide not to use it, despite the mobility limitations resulting from such decision. Research After the initial desk research phase, field research was conducted to explore questions of VIP mobility. The process contributed to a high level of empathy for VIPs. Autoethnographic studies were conducted in collaboration with Thijs te Velde, to build a base of self-experience concerning VIP mobility struggles. Through the collaboration with Visio Den Haag and Margot Scheltema, different perspectives were represented in the research data. The most important mobility struggles and attitudes concerning mobility aids were identified. Positive aspects of VIP life and the inherent dilemmas were also collected. The design solution The Dot Bot is a navigation aid consisting of a network of location-specific navigational and environmental information nodes (Dots) accessible to a specific user group. The information is stored in the form of audio descriptions created by the userbase. This way virtual DotBot community facilitates the sharing of commuting know-how. The information Dots make use of existing VIP relevant infrastructural elements in the tactile paving. It is aimed to enhance the perks of being part of the VIP community, cultivating feelings of connectedness and belonging. The semantic qualities of the cane are preserved, to keep it recognisable and ensure user safety in commute. However, there are moments where the effects of impairment are preferred to keep private. For this reason, I aimed to limit the need to ask for directions and aid VIPs in cultivating pride and the feeling of competence through exercising their ability to navigate autonomously. The way the information is stored and accessed supports this: for the outsider eye accessing information from a road stud on the tactile paving is invisible. During the evaluation phase, several aspects of the DotBot concept were tested with VIP participants. In the first validation session, insights on information needs during navigation were collected. In the second validation session the envisioned interaction was evaluated by the help of functional prototypes, and feedback types were also investigated. Further studies would be needed to establish the optimal Dot density in vibrotactile feedback pattern and intensity.