The evolution of brand management leads to an understanding of brands as dynamic, co-created entities that express purpose and identity. With this emerging understanding, the role of employees in building and delivering a brand is increasingly recognised and exploited. Through internal branding efforts, companies can aim to improve the alignment of their employees with their brand, by making sure employees (1) understand the brand, (2) identify with the brand and (3) commit to the brand to eventually be able to (4) behave in line with the brand. This thesis aims to examine and improve the internal brand alignment at creative tech company WeTransfer, to eventually make for more fulfilled and connected employees, who can better deliver the brand promise to make for content and loyal customers. To understand the context, a study consisting of corporate ethnography, qualitative interviews and existing data analysis was conducted. The findings from the research illustrate that the rapid growth of WeTransfer has a considerable impact on its internal brand and culture. On the one hand, there is a need for guidance of employees, to make sure their understanding of the brand does not fragment further. On the other hand, it is found that the freedom and autonomy of employees should be preserved. Thus, the challenge is to find a balance in guiding employees to contribute to the brand, while retaining their freedom. To address this challenge, a strategy is developed based on concepts from literature, to (1) make the WeTransfer brand clear by concretising it internally and (2) make the brand live by facilitating an internal conversation. To illustrate how this strategy can be executed, a two-component design is proposed. Firstly, a WeTransfer manifesto is co-created with employees, aiming to translate the abstract brand values and purpose into concrete behaviour on the work floor. Secondly, the Living the brand program is developed to activate the manifesto and initiate discussion on the matter. The program is led by a team of brand ambassadors and engages all employees in several activities to learn about and reflect on the manifesto. In this time of rapid growth, the design proposal has the potential to make explicit what aspects define WeTransfer and should be held on to. It helps the company strengthen those aspects and get all employees pulling in the same direction. Executing the advised strategy - making the brand clear and making it live - has the potential to contribute to the authenticity of WeTransfer’s brand. Employees will be more strongly connected to the brand and be able to deliver the brand promise. That not only makes employees remain at their jobs but also improves customer satisfaction and loyalty.

This graduation project is carried out for PostNL's XL parcel delivery. PostNL is one of the biggest delivery companies in the Netherlands and one of their departments takes care of XL parcel delivery. This department is called Extra@Home. XL parcels can be seen as non-regular parcels, meaning odd sizes or weights. For Extra@Home, the XL parcel delivery comes with a delivery, installation and assemblage service. Products varying from wardrobes to washing machines can be delivered, assembled and installed in the customer's house. Extra@Home proposed a graduation internship to analyse the current customer journey to search for possible service optimisations. Context analysis and literature research outline the graduation project's context. The customer journey was composed with literature review and user research insights. User research was conducted by interviewing expert, experiencing a service delivery, interviewing Extra@Home's customers and experiencing the communication. From the customer journey negative and positive customer experiences were derived. Negative customer experiences were evaluated with the SERVQUAL model. The SERVQUAL model provided two different design directions: Extra@Home can be more customer-oriented and services of Extra@Home can be more user-centred. Several factors led to the decision to continue with the last direction. This direction was the start of the designing process, with the outcome of Mechanics@Home (Figure 1). It is a service designed for Extra@Home that improves the current service. It is a user-centred service, that emphasises the core values and strengths of PostNL. Customers and mechanics of Extra@Home are put at the centre of the service. The service is a personal approach to the current service. The customer gets the opportunity to get to know the mechanic before they come to their house to deliver and install a product. The customer also receives personal communication from the mechanic with updates about their delivery. An integration with the current PostNL app makes sure that customers have a positive experience when encountering the service of Extra@Home. Instead of a lot of different communication channels, everything can be handled in the PostNL app. Transparant communication about what happens in the service journey is essential. From the mechanic's point of view, the service highlights the skilled mechanics, which will create a feeling of responsibility from the mechanics. This feeling of responsibility exists, because the customer knows them., because they are responsible for their service delivery and they are known by the customer. A service blueprint outlines the service of Mechanics@Home with front- and backstage actions. For a direct implementation a service roadmap was created. This roadmap has a three-step implementation strategy and it works towards the vision of integrating Mechanics@Home completely in the PostNL app and in Extra@Home. Finally, Mechanics@Home was validated with all the important stakeholders in this project: customers, Extra@Home, mechanics and the marketing team.

At the beginning of this thesis work, an initial exploration identified two main problems that impede the proper application of the strategy stage, part of Unispace Global methodology, in the Italian studio. On the one hand, a need for simplification and adaption emerged. The current strategy offering is too complicated to be taken as is and used by the Italian team, as no guidance on the use and application of such phase was provided. The strategy package needs to be redesigned for an easy application into an already running workflow. On the other hand, a second problem lies in the communication of such strategic offering. In fact, the addition of a new project phase needs to be properly communicated to ensure a successful integration. Unispace employees need to be educated on the values of workplace strategy and guided through its structure to learn applying it themselves. The thesis goal was therefore articulated as follow: (01) Simplify a framework of strategic tools, (02) adapt it to the company market, and (03) design a communication strategy to illustrate the value of such strategic offering. A deeper analysis was developed and highlighted what directions the final design could follow to reach the aforementioned final objectives. It emerged that (a) a greater engagement of the clients during the strategy phase had to be provided, as only technical activities were performed in the studio. This enables the projects to lose its foreign character and it supports Unispace in building a relationship with the client, enhancing the chance of being entrusted for the next project phases. For acting as a leader, Unispace team needs to have a clear understanding on the strategy steps to follow, as a confused guidance does not express confidence. Therefore, (b) the structure had to be implemented, separating the phase of strategy and design, which currently largely overlap. Also, the final design had to (c) support Unispace playing offence, anticipating clients’ needs, offering adequate support and acting as a project leader. Having identified the problems, set the thesis goals and identified the design objectives, the final design was developed. This resulted in multiple tools for Unispace Italy to successfully perform strategy as an independent stage: An easy to understand and simplified strategy offering, with clear explanation on the value of workplace strategy and a set of cards to organize and perform all the strategy tools offered to clients by Unispace. Also, InDesign and Illustrator template files are given to the company to have the basic materials to perform the strategy tools. These serve as a beginner guide for any Unispace Italy employees approaching to strategy. It is an internal communication tool for making Unispace Italy employees aware of the possibility of design strategy applied to workplace projects. Based on Unispace Italy clients analysis and scholar research on Roger’s innovation adoption categories, a new tool is designed. This helps to identify the client’s approach to innovation, understand if it is worth investing strategy in the project and, where necessary, it suggests the correct strategy package to offer. Also,a new service blueprint is outlined. These enable Unispace Italy to play offence, anticipating client’ needs and confidentially leading the project. At this point, Unispace Italy has all the tools to successfully integrate and perform the strategy phase into the current workflow.

For an incredibly long time, what exactly happens between the legs of female-sex people has been a great mystery. It‘s not common to talk about our vulvas and how we feel about them in detailed and specific terms - and yes it‘s vulva and not vagina, the vulva is the entire external genital area, the vagina is merely the internal muscle canal. It‘s so unusual that many women lack the vocabulary to describe their genitals and the education that‘s practised in the school system is sporadic and often only focused on reproduction. And the vagina is by no means the star of the show and definitely not the female equivalent of the penis. This is the clitoris, which is by no means just a little (apparently difficult to find) knob above the vaginal opening, but is a large and complex organ located beneath the skin‘s surface. A more or less fun fact, for example, is that it was not until 1998 that the complete anatomy of the clitoris was revealed in a study by the Australian urologist Helen O‘Connell (Fyfe, 2018). In fact, most anatomical books don‘t even show the clitoris and therefore not depicting the vulva correctly. Let that sink in. Conversations about sexuality, well-being or pleasure find no place and lead to misconceptions, rumours and often leave people wondering „Am I normal?“. This thesis aims to answer the question “How might a concept car look like for Yoni” as means of process and deliverable exploration for The Young. In essence this thesis is about the world and future of vulvas and which role Yoni could play to ultimately facilitate positive change in people’s lives. To explore this notion the method of developing a “concept car” was used to deliver a tangible representation of this future brand scenario. And because the social climate is changing and brands are increasingly acting as amplifiers of cultural trends and the introduction of questions and topics into the mainstream of society. At this point Yoni joins the conversation. Yoni has been offering organic 100% cotton period products since 2015 after the founder found that the products recommended to her by her gynaecologist were not only unavailable to the majority of consumers but regular period products did not list their ingredients and were full of synthetic fibres. That‘s why Yoni made it its mission to offer better products, products one would trust to touch their most intimate body part. Yoni wanted to change the market for more transparency and a higher standard of menstrual products and has achieved this, especially in recent years. Big brands are now also offering organic alternatives, explaining the ingredients of their products on the packaging or at least online and other brands have followed Yoni‘s lead. But with the constant fulfilment of the initial mission, it is time to find a new drive, a new vision. And the time is ripe to do so, people are excited and ready to overcome their inhibitions and have meaningful conversations about their vulvas, and are eager for opportunities to learn. And the market is not yet oversaturated with offerings. To answer the question of what exactly happens in the world of the vulva, this work started with in-depth research both in an interview study and in extensive literature and media research. It was about exploring the behaviour, feelings, culture, history and economy regarding vulvas and menstruation. The market, consumer and context research resulted in four distinct directions Yoni could follow in the future to have a positive impact on their users‘ lives. These directions were about pushing the menstruation conversation in society further, for more social justice, to build strong communities of people with vulvas to overcome gaps of knowledge and wisdom, to unlock knowledge about hormonal cycles beyond the binary view of period on-period off and finally to discover how to bring vulva care to the forefront of people’s attention to share knowledge, facilitate experiences and overcome bodily shame. In close collaboration with Yoni one direction was chosen as the means for Yoni to facilitate meaningful positive impact in the lives of their users and subsequently use this direction as a vehicle for organisational transformation and future vision. This direction is called “vulva care” and targets the redefinition of what true vulva care might mean on a time axis of 1 to 5 years. At the end of this axis stands the concept product of vulvovaginal microbiome testing and personalised vulvar care products which acts as a beacon for creative brand development. To make this concept product more accessible from an organisational point of view, the product was contextualised in a three step roadmap showcasing three distinct steps on how the company might develop for their current offering and structure towards a focus on vulvovaginal care using digital and care products infused with science and technology to ultimately future-proof a brand with incredible potential. At the final pages of the report you will find the translation of this concept product into a website and digital product prototype illustrating how Yoni’s brand future might look like.

The initial goal of this graduation project was to find a way to establish a reliable digital relationship with PostNL’s consumer. This is considered an important part of a digital transformation strategy that is necessary for traditional postal companies to stay relevant in a digital era. One of the main challenges of this digital era, relevant for PostNL, is the increasing uncertainty of knowing who one is dealing with online. This assignment focuses on the idea of implementing a digital identity (eID) that can be used during digital and physical encounters with PostNL and is able to provide the desired certainty to ensure a more safe and seamless service. Thereby the focus during this project is especially on how this digital identity can be established, with whom and which certainties are absolutely necessary for doing so. Digital identities that enable a consumer to prove who he or she is online, can exist out of multiple attributes that define this (online) user. Worldwide these digital identities are increasingly being adopted by companies active in multiple service industries, including LSPs. However, this does not mean that companies can simply request all kinds of data from their consumers to confirm the needed attributes. With regard to regulations including those concerned with privacy (GDPR), they are required to keep data processing to a minimum and are therefore only allowed to request data that is absolutely necessary. For PostNL, it was found that sufficient desired certainty would be possible to be established by personal validation or address validation. Although consumers do see PostNL as a reliable party (the most reliable within the Netherlands), they do not seem to be willing to (digitally) share sensitive personal information such as a picture of their ID with PostNL. Address validation on the other hand does not require too much personal information about an individual but does provide the assurance that that individual has a high probability of righteous access to the address he/she uses online. For PostNL this is most important since they provide logistics services at these addresses. As a privatized company that is not allowed to simply make use of governmental databases, PostNL is currently mainly dependent on other (commercial) parties. However, it is highly desired to establish certainty themselves, create and keep data internal. This resulted in the suggestion of a multilayered address validation system enable to establish different types of address certainty. In the ideal situation, a consumer should be processed through as many layers as possible to realize maximum certainty. Thereby the starting point is to make it as convenient as possible for consumers while raising a threshold as high as possible for fraudsters. Not only does this strengthen security, but it also increases the reach as each type is being preferred by a different group of consumers. It also enables PostNL to create, use and keep internal data while offering significant added value for the consumers in return. One element of this system has shown high potential and was selected for further elaboration, namely Stikky: a smart solution that combines the physical with the digital. It enables consumers to prove that they have righteous access to an address, while simultaneously adding significant value to them. As a result, this enables PostNL to achieve a higher first-time-right while simultaneously making it more difficult for malicious people to commit package fraud. Interesting target groups for Stikky are considered: frequent orderers, digital-savvy millennials living in urbanized areas, and worried receiving consumers. Finally, a design roadmap has been discussed that shows the long term strategy towards a multi-purpose eCommerce-ID. To have a starting point for this, also a short-term implementation plan has been provided that guides Stikky the way to a successful market introduction within six months.

This project is executed in collaboration with Eveon Containers, a young start-up in the online retail of containers, as part of my Master thesis. In consultation with Eveon Containers, I decided to integrate the project and implement the results directly within the current business processes and assignments. The ideas and results solved the current needs and problems within the start-up. The project resulted in a practical solution presented as a vision for the coming eight years and consist of five deliverables that address important future subjects such as sustainability, the changing needs of customers, and market transformation. These deliverables take the form of a research report deconstructing the container market, a trend report looking at the upcoming eight years, a brand strategy to stand out in the market as the leader in container trading, and a roadmap with services and products that re-shape the value of a container. Additionally, I designed a book for the internal branding and culture of the company. It is an industry-wide, sociopolitical problem that makes improvements in the container market on efficiency and sustainability difficult and slows down the modernisation of the supply chain and shipping process. For example, most ports still use manual and paper-based processes without access to digital technology, creating a polarised environment (Shrives, 2021). For retail, container trading is a traditional, opaque process still using old practices; prices are not published and depend on how much experience you have in trading. Next to that, many parties are involved, between the moment a container is sold by a shipping line and the final purchase by the end-user. A, not at all, modernised process compared to today’s retail and e-commerce. The inefficient process is caused by the lack of knowledge, lack of trust, difference in interests and expectations in the market, and the nature of the maritime industry (Poh Chua, 2021). Other reasons for inefficiencies in the market are caused by a difference in export and import recourses and needs. The result of this is the congestion at ports, the empty movements of containers (Sanders et al., 2021), and the extreme high pick-up fees for new containers in China (Remes & Saxon, 2021). In the next ten years, significant trends will change how we look at sustainability, technology and digitalisation. The container as we know it today will be less, or even no longer, relevant. First of all, customers - businesses and consumers - expect more from their products regarding connectivity and the experience of purchasing and using a product or service. Therefore, it is unsurprising that the developed products, services, and strategy look beyond the container as a product. In ten years, container retail will be focused on smart containers and the additional services of data analytics and insights. Besides unique features and functionalities, an exceptionally seamless and smooth user experience will make or break a company. The designed 2030 strategy for Eveon is based on these insights.

In 2011, the world watched in amazement how IBM’s AI named Watson won at Jeopardy!. Right afterwards, IBM decided to use this power to revolutionize the healthcare system. AI doctors would change everyone’s lives. Sadly, Watson did not revolutionize healthcare. It did not prove to be as useful in reality as was anticipated. How could this happen? In short, IBM started with a very specific use case, then invented a super high-tech solution for it, and then started wondering how it could actually be useful. This example actually illustrates the problem that CrossGuard has. Luckily, CrossGuard’s problem is multiple orders of magnitude smaller than it was for IBM. CrossGuard is a company that has developed a protective glove for so-called Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA), or medieval sword fighting. The glove is called the ProGauntlet. It has been designed to withstand high-impact blows from steel swords repeatedly, to protect the users’ hands from virtually any type of impact during HEMA. Not only do they protect very well, they also let the user move their hands naturally, without restricting the freedom of movement. It is the ultimate HEMA glove, but as the HEMA market is relatively small, CrossGuard wants to make the ProGauntlet useful for other purposes, too. Therefore the aim of this project has been to find the next market for the ProGauntlet. This is where IBM’s example comes in. Just like Watson, the ProGauntlet is a technological solution that is looking for a problem to solve. The initial aim of this project was precisely this: finding another market for the ProGauntlet. The research method consisted of a product analysis, literature research and user research, mainly in the form of interviews. The most promising markets were researched in-depth: ice hockey, field hockey, lacrosse, kendo, Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) and motorcycle riding. Of these, the only people that would benefit from the ProGauntlet (besides HEMA) is a certain niche of the FMA. This group consists of about only 500 people, so this is a nice addition to the total market for the ProGauntlet, but it definitely isn’t a sustainable market for CrossGuard. Since there is no viable future market for the ProGauntlet, the main focus of this project has become to determine the most interesting market in which to introduce a redesigned protective glove. Based on the research, this appears to be field hockey. Therefore, a strategy for entering the field hockey market is proposed. The most important quality of a field hockey glove should be that it does not restrain the user in any way. The suggested positioning for the field hockey market is therefore: unrestrained protection. A great advantage of this positioning is that it could also work for the ProGauntlet and simultaneously opens a clear path to future innovations for CrossGuard. Real-world implications Partially due to this research, CrossGuard has started developing a glove for field hockey.

Business is becoming increasingly competitive as companies aim to deliver superior product experiences to their customers. To establish innovative results and compete with smaller, more flexible companies, corporates look for new ways to organize themselves. In the light of these developments, design is moving beyond approach to improve aesthetics, towards a more strategic role in new product development. The way designers think and act forms the basis of Design Thinking (DT). DT has been introduced in a range of organizations as a problem solving approach that helps teams deliver more innovative outcomes. The concept is represented through cognitive principles, practices, and process steps supported by specific design methods. Many companies claim to have successfully implemented DT in their organization. Increased innovation is most frequently mentioned as benefit of using DT. Other effects range from reduced investment risk in product development, to increased employee engagement. Anecdotal reports on the value of DT are plentiful but lack detail, for example on the type of innovation output that can be expected. There is still little empirical evidence on the value of DT. Organizational change, specifically in the innovation domain, clashes with current business processes. Hurdles to implement new management concepts can be expected, but there are no studies that specify how challenges to implementing DT can be overcome. This thesis describes a case study on implementing DT in project teams at Exact. Exact is a Dutch company with about 1500 employees that delivers business software, with a focus on financial processes, The firm recently founded a new team of internal designers, dedicated to spread DT in project teams. The graduation project is a collaboration between the Delft University of Technology and Exact with the aim to measure design practices and impact and propose focus points to improve DT at Exact. The study compares projects at Exact that ran during the DT program, with a group of benchmark projects, to track the effects of the DT program on project processes and outcomes. An internal survey was conducted with 43 respondents, evaluating the maturity of the design principles: user centricity, collaboration, tangibility, ideation and an experimental and optimistic mindset. The survey also included measures for project outcomes. Context specific benefits of design practices were explored through correlation analysis of the design principles and project outcomes. To determine triggers and barriers for project teams to apply DT, qualitative data was collected in eight employee interviews. Common challenges to using DT were prioritized with employees in four sessions. Most activities in the DT program focused on enhancing user centricity or improving ideation practices. This led to a significant increase in the perceived user centricity in project teams compared to projects before the DT program, Also users indicated more unique benefits in products that resulted from recent projects. Besides user centricity, other strong design practices are collaboration and an experimental an optimistic mindset. On the other hand, ideation measures scored relatively low and did not improve over time. Organizational barriers, such as subjective scoping and pressured time frames, pose barriers to creating multiple solution options. Also lower scores were found for tangibility, which includes visual thinking and prototyping activities. Multiple positive correlations occurred between design practices and project outcomes. Practices related to ideation showed most positive correlations. Multidisciplinary teamwork and tolerance to failure also showed many correlations, indicating a high impact on project outcomes. The main value of DT in the context of Exact is improved the quality of products and enhanced teamwork. No significant negative correlations were found, underlining that DT does not block planning and budget goals. Research results are used to design a strategy to improve design practices and their effect on project outcomes at Exact. Focus points for the short and long term are identifies based on the survey results. Ideation is a focus point on the short term. Due to the low maturity level and high potential value, quick wins are expected in this area. A next step is to invest in increasing impact of prototyping and finally to invest in design as a strategic deriver by creating dedicated spaces and hiring design leaders. These last recommendations are based on an analysis of DT implementation strategies at other corporate firms. To improve ideation, more detailed recommendations are made on organizational and team level. On organizational level, it is suggested to balance a portfolio of validation and exploration projects. Also, by a-synchronizing research and conceptualization activities with the technical development, more time can be dedicated to DT. For teams, a new standard ideation process is proposed with four steps: prepare, ideate, concertize and select. Complementary tools are provided to support each process step. Tho conclude, this thesis work provides insights into the maturity and value of DT in the context of an established software firm. A step-wise approach strengthen DT in the organization is proposed. Other companies can use the measurement tools used in this thesis to identify context specific strengths and weaknesses in design practices and create their own strategy to improve the impact of DT. The ideation process and tools that are introduced in this project are generally applicable for firms that wish to enhance diverging and converging abilities in new product development.

The aerospace industry's global market rise considerably in recent years. StarDetect, founded in Beijing in 2020, is a startup focusing on small satellite technology, developing functional payloads and providing customised services within the needs of space astronomy or earth geography observation. However, due to the relatively short and immature development of China's small satellite commercial industry, the current satellite service targets is limited, and most of the end-users are government and research institutes. StarDetect's has to reach out to more potential customers and develop new satellite application scenarios. Therefore, the goal of this thesis is to investigate a new commercial market for StarDetect and formulate a strategy for its entry. The thesis employed the double diamond design process to provide structure for the creation process and obtain solutions by using iterative analysis. As the result, a roadmap is designed for StarDetect to enter the Smart Tourism market. In the first horizon, Destination Discovery Service based on mature technology is launched to open new businesses in the market with price penetration, to meet the needs of tourism project developers for quick access to destination information. And a 3D visualization service is available as an add-on value. In the second horizon, the Destination Environmental Monitoring service is introduced for increasing sales, which meet the demands of management organizations for monitoring the sustainability of natural destinations. At the same time, a website providing sustainable travel information to responsible travellers is offered, to develop StarDetect's brand recognition and build connections with potential consumers in preparation for the next horizon's B2C business. Finally, Horizon 3 continue to grow market segments by launching Disaster warning and Safety monitoring services. Meanwhile, StarDetect started to serve consumers directly by providing a one-stop service platform for outdoor adventure to capture new business opportunities.

This project is initiated by Achtung! x Kraftwerk, having the goal to uncover the importance of branding in the upscaling process of start-ups. From the findings of this research, a new service proposition is designed that will help start-ups overcome their brand challenges by using the benefits of brand management. In the phase of understanding, the research is mainly around three topics; start-ups’ challenges and needs, the benefits and peculiarities of branding, and ultimately an approach to start-up branding. Besides that, a case study towards a relevant project is conducted to get insight on the capabilities of the team, and the way they work. These insights are formed into the design of the Launch Lab; a service that aims to help start-ups in developing their brand from the start-up using a brand-led management approach. In this service, the complementary qualities of branding and design are used optimally, to bring optimal value to the start-up’s upscaling process. Along the three identified stages of this process (start, launch and scale), three corresponding service propositions are formed that each focus on the specific needs of start-ups and their brand at this stage; the Pitch Maschine, the Achtung, Fertig, Los! and die Skalierung. By collaborating in a co-creative approach, the Launch Lab team and the start-up aim to create, test and improve their brand and product propositions iteratively, using of customer feedback. The three services give the start-ups the opportunity to develop their brand right from the start, and to learn them how to embed a brand-leading management approach in their organisation, to make their brand truly unique and inspiring. Because in the end, actions speak louder than words.

Whello is a full-service digital marketing agency based in Amsterdam and Indonesia, offering branding, web development and campaigning services. They have grown a lot the last few years since their establishment in 2018. However, this growth is not reflected through their current branding. This, combined with their desire to take the next step by entering the international market, led them to the idea of a rebrand. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to develop and implement a new and improved brand image for Whello that better reflects their growth and positions them as a professional and experienced player in the international digital marketing industry. The project was performed in 3 overlapping phases to ensure an iterative process based on design thinking; the research phase, the ideation phase, and the implementation phase, to conceptualize, perform, and substantialize the rebranding of Whello. First, to start off the research phase, literature research was conducted into rebranding, international branding, and business-to-business branding. The main insights gained from this, were that the new branding should not leave too much of what worked and is appreciated behind and should be based on a universally accepted idea that is continuously adaptable to nuances. Lastly, the rebranding should be used to bridge the gap of uncertainty by showing Whello’s experience and expertise, and thereby increasing the purchase confidence. Second, the 5C analysis concluded the research phase. Key findings were that Whello's main strengths lie in their 3-step full service approach, together with their distinctive empathic approach with an emphasis on co-creation, communication, and synergy between their specialists. Another clear distinction was the friendly approach of Whello. Lastly, it was found that Whello sees a lot of depth in growth in terms of balancing growth for themselves, their customers, their employees, and the planet. Then, the key findings, together with findings from a workshop with employees, were turned into a new brand identity through the ideation phase. This consisted of three sections; the identity, the brand, and the evidence, together setting a foundation for the implementation phase (Figure 1). From this Whello’s new brand identity was made to be empathic, cheerful, structured, and inspirational to show their strengths, growth and future vision. Next, to help Whello with the implementation of their new brand identity, a Brand Guide was created and evaluated. This showed how the brand is translated visually and tonally, through a new logo design, colour palette, typography, key visuals, visual elements, tone of voice, and three brand touchpoint examples (one example can be seen in Figure 2). These examples were then also evaluated on whether they reflected the intended brand identity. This showed that most of the intended elements served their purpose, but that they should be used together, and that sustainability was not well recognized in the design. Finally, the results of this thesis were evaluated on feasibility, desirability, and viability, after which limitations, implications, and recommendations were discussed and the thesis is concluded. Key takeaways were that the new direction can be used by changing the communication, but the implementation should be evaluated further to get more insights into which elements and configurations work best.

One of the largest trends among young adults concerning the camping industry is the vanlife movement. As ANWB requested research into targeting Gen Z with their camping portfolio, this project dives into an analysis of the current market trends, the company and its industry and the consumer and their behavior. The ultimate goal of the project is to answer the research question: What business strategy can be designed for ANWB to activate Generation Z to become members of the association through the camping portfolio of the company? The process starts off with orientation, using variable research techniques to gain insight into the context of the problem. It became clear that ANWB is not currently targeting the selected demographic audience well, as both their offering and their branding does not suit the consumer’s demands. Using this as the problem source, an explorative search on trends and the consumer lead to various more insights that allows for the strategy to be detailed later on in the process. After elaborating on the widespread initial research, this document discusses the design process that has been followed. Using the first ideation round to narrow down the scope towards vanlife, a deeper dive into the consumer behavior is derived from qualitative interview. Insights into vanlife enthusiasts identifies three value drivers linked to their experience: freedom through unrestrained travel, joy of building, and the expression of identity through creative decision-making. These drivers are used to further design a concept that enables the distinction of these drivers between its service offerings. The concept is split into two services: the hosting of workshops to repurpose vans into RVs, and the renting of these RV-vans for private use. The workshops will eventually be held in a workspace environment that also facilitates a community of van builders and vanlife enthusiasts to meet and connect.Having this community can greatly boost the naturally occurring oral advertisement for the brand, in turn tackling the current negative brand image. The rental service offers the consumer a low-investment option for experiencing vanlife first-hand, ignoring the necessity for building the van themselves. Breaking apart the act of building and travelling allows for the consumer to choose to engage with the concept however they prefer: only building, only travelling, or both. To help ANWB target the consumer, their innovative offering should be combined with a good branding strategy. This project therefore presents a product launch campaign, with several recommendations on styling and tone of voice. Focussing communication on the adventurous experience paired with vanlife instead of the current ‘parent’ aesthetic the brand is known for is proposed to shed new light on the brand, better suiting the target group in the process. Taken together, the roadmap presented as the result of this project presents a full strategy that covers both portfolio innovation and the marketing strategy,, thus enabling the company to successfully target the predefined demographic audience.

Van Gils is, or at least known as, a traditional menswear brand that focuses on formal wear. Due to changes in the fashion industry and an on-going casualization trend, the brand is in need of a change.The developments in the industry consist of, among others, organisations and brands adopting purpose-driven mindsets, dress code changes in workplaces, and the increased awareness arisen due to fast fashion. ‘Purpose’ has become the lens and language used to work on this change in business. Purpose is the reason for a brand’s existence. Currently, consumers are making carefully considered choices regarding their purchasing decisions. They are choosing brands and organisations that they personally identify with and reflect their values and beliefs. Increasingly more companies are changing their dress codes and changing nature of workplaces generally in favour of a more casual environment, and, therefore, an explicit need for formal wear is becoming less existent.Retailers like H&M and Zara introduced fast fashion by making it possible for everyone to shop for on-trend clothes whenever they wanted. However, an increased consumer awareness has arisen of the environmental impact of fast fashion due to the quick turnaround process to get these products into the market. Conducted analyses propose an opportunity for Van Gils to introduce another brand. For instance, the company wants to stay true to loyal customers while also reaching out to a new and, most importantly, younger audience. Additionally, based on the consumer research an explicit need has been found that fits the need of the company. It has been found that participants have two ways of expressing oneself. Either having the need to express oneself as ambitious and professional by wearing formal attire when, for instance, having an important business meeting or expressing oneself as easy-going and approachable, and therefore, wearing smart casual attire, when for example enjoying recreational time. This thesis has several outcomes: 1. A theoretical framework providing a thorough understanding of brand revitalization and related subject matter. 2. A strategic direction introducing a two-brand strategy for Van Gils. 3. a brand book showcasing the new brand, SATURDAY and 4. several brand touchpoint designs visualizing the translation from brand book to design examples.In conclusion, a two-brand strategy has been introduced. This ensures that Van Gils as a brand stays true to loyal customers by providing what the brand is known for, its formal attire, and additionally, reaching out to another target audience by introducing smart casual attire.

Kollekt, a provider of background music for businesses positions itself in the competition heavy market landscape as a bespoke music strategy provider. Their personal and totally customised approach is what differentiates them from their competitors and helps them to deliver satisfying results to their clients. However, this amount of detailed attention causes unstructured processes and inefficient ways of working. This project structured and analysed the specific steps in the bespoke music strategy consult and simplified them. Moreover, using in-depth interviews with clients, seven design guidelines for the consult were constructed. These design guidelines were used to design a new service proposition, based on the newly structured consult, to guide the client during the process. This new proposition is the first iteration towards a client focussed consult experience, increasing the perceived value of the consult, while reducing work pressure for the Kollekt team. The concept has been validated and delivered promising results for the future.

Many non-profit organizations (NPO’s) in the Netherlands have lost a large amount of donors over the last years. This thesis explores the use of behavioural influence design, applied in an online solution, in order to improve donor engagement for the well-known NPO WWF. The thesis focuses at creating long-term engagement with donors in the age class between 18 and 35. People in this target group want to be flexible when it comes to making donations, want their own impact to be specific and tangible and rather take action themselves, in a personal and individual manner, when it comes to environmental goals. Furthermore, this is an age group that is very active online, especially on social media, which is interesting for the online solution space. As WWF-NL wants to create a society-wide movement, showing people that there are more ways to contribute to their mission for a sustainable society, beyond donating (like adjusting sustainable behaviour or investing time), it seemed an interesting opportunity to improve engagement with this group and connect with them on the common interest of contributing beyond donations. With the help of literature and successful exemplar cases on engagement, guidelines haven been created for improving the different levels of engagement (cognitive, emotional and behavioural) in relation to the target group. Also, the field of behavioural economics, which assumes the irrational thinking and decision making processes of human beings, has been explored to see how behavioural influence design could be applied to improve the (different levels of) engagement. The conclusion of this exploration is that behavioural influence design should not (just) be implemented in the smaller details of online expressions; it should be part of the broader strategy, where it is used to improve individual (in this case sustainable) behaviour of the target group. Again, with exemplar cases and literature, guidelines for improving engagement with the help of behavioural influence have been created. The guidelines and insights for improving engagement with the help of design for behavioural influence are combined in a strategy. Its details, that make it a WWF-specific approach, are shown in a roadmap, with supporting directional concepts. To successfully reach the vision of this roadmap, all parts of the horizon must be followed carefully. The remainder of the project focused on horizon 2 of the roadmap, to provide WWF with a specific and tangible project to pick up and carry on after my graduation; the development of the WWFxYOU app. The goal of this app was to create a personalized relationship between the target group and WWF, based on the motivation to create impact (on an individual level). A first test, with 10 in-depth interviews with participants from the target group, had promising results; the app was described as a personal, approachable, (inter)active and involving way of contributing to WWF and seemed more attractive than current (WWF) donorships. A redesign is made based on the interviews. For further validation, I recommended to improve and test this design with a larger participant sample, before actual implementation.

The aim of this project is to bring more eco-design into business practices. The specific approach to this project is to bring eco-design methods to startup with an introduction via the Lean Startup method. With the help of input of startup founders, a solution has been found in the form of an opportunity identification tool. This tool allows users to see how eco-design can benefit their business and how any changes induced by eco-design criteria will affect the business. This tool, called Improvement Identifier Canvas, is useable with the iterative approach applied in the Lean Startup. This allows to keep track of the ever evolving business and effect of eco-design changes.

This thesis explores the topic of ‘embedding strategic value in blockchain development’ within the context of blockchain consultancy startup GoBlock. The result of this research was a process framework together with a workshop for validating a blockchain use case’s strength and potential. In recent years, blockchain technology has gained tremendous popularity. The Bitcoin craze of 2017 has led many people and companies to explore the core technology behind it: blockchain. This has resulted in a large influx of capital into the industry, as many companies are now looking to reap the widely speculated advantages this technology might offer. However, with the rise of its popularity there were also challenges that arose for companies experimenting with blockchain. First, the technology itself is still rather immature. There are no product archetypes which are considered to be industry standard. For some, Bitcoin is still the ‘perfect use case’ of blockchain, but many disagree. This has led to many projects trying to reinvent the wheel. To do this, significant expertise and manpower is required. This has led to a strong rise in demand for blockchain knowledge, in particular blockchain developers. GoBlock, a blockchain consultancy startup based in Amsterdam, recognizes this need and views it as opportunity. With a strong development department, they are looking to cater to the need of blockchain expertise. After all, a lot of money has been poured into the industry, and with milestones not being hit and succesful product launches being extremely rare, the pressure is on for these companies. This thesis hence aims to provide GoBlock with a way to structure their blockchain consulting process. The goal was to do this in a way that would result in the creation of succesful products (i.e. products providing value), as this is lacking in the industry. Initial findings showed that the blockchain industry, and with that blockchain projects, are largely dominated by engineers and developers. This results in a technology-centered approach to blockchain development. Research showed that a multidisciplinary and design-driven approach can benefit blockchain development, both on a product level and on an innovation level. An analysis of current consulting practices was conducted. It was found that the industry leader (IBM) utilizes Design Thinking methods in parts of their consulting process. However, it was concluded that the majority of competitors apply the technology-centered approach. Hence, herein lies an opportunity for GoBlock to distinguish themselves from the competition, while better addressing market needs. Additionally, a company analysis was conducted. First, a case study was done to study goBlock’s previous processes. This showed that there was a fundamental lack of structure in GoBlock’s process. Moreover, the case study brought forward three main challenges that hinder the success of a blockchain product. These are: 1. Blockchain technology is used for cases in which the technology does not need to be used. 2. The strategic impact of a blockchain use case is not evident for the customer’s business. It is not always clear how business value will be created, if at all. 3. Stakeholder needs (i.e. user values) are left out of the equation. By not taking into account user needs and values, products are created that might never be adopted. Therefore, this thesis proposes the addition of a validation step in GoBlock’s process. GoBlock can play a key role in assessing the validity of blockchain use cases before engaging in a development project with their customer. This can not only benefit the technology’s reputation, but applying user-centered approach to blockchain use case development allows GoBlock to distinguish themselves from competition. To achieve this, a process framework is designed based on literature research and findings from expert interviews. This process framework contains two overall phases: validation and creation. In the first phase, GoBlock sits with the customer to assess the validity and potential of the customer’s use case. In this phase the use case can be reshaped and finetuned. This, in order to make sure that when the project reaches the development phase, an actual valuable product is developed, rather than just a pilot. The goal of the workshop is to spark awareness about blockchain’s actual strategic impact, and that people in the blockchain industry should look beyond the technological realm to determine whether a use case is good or not. If mass adoption is to be reached, a user-centered approach is needed. This is where Design Thinking can be of value. The framework and workshop were validated with students and the company, leading to recommendations for further development.

As main contractor at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, BAM Infra Energie & Water strives for optimal asset maintenance for each and every one of their assets. In order to achieve this, one of the components which needs to be improved are the amount of malfunctions of Schiphol’s sewage pumping stations. These are caused by all types of obstructions, but especially towels and wipes. So far, BAM’s technically oriented solutions have not shown sufficient improvement. This was the base for this graduation project, in which I took a designerly, human oriented approach into solving the obstructions. I have tried to solve the obstructions at the source: the passengers at the airport. The goal of this project is to design a behavioural intervention, to prevent passengers from flushing waste down the toilets in the first instance. After reviewing research done into behavioural change and toilet design, as well as an evaluation of the stakeholders involved, a user research was set up to identify the behaviour which causes the flushing of waste and the reasons behind this. This was done in the form of exploratory interviews among a population representative of the possible visitors passing by at the airport. With the initial research, five design directions were established as a basis for ideation: signage, waste bins, towel dispensers, removing opportunity and feedback. A myriad of solutions were combined into an initial concept proposal, to be refined into a final, two-part concept: 1. A design of a new, user friendly and hygiene oriented waste bin, to be implemented in the individual toilet cubicles. The availability and user oriented design needs to make throwing waste into the bin more attractive than flushing it. 2. A repositioning of the cleaning personnel, where they are more in the forefront in a host-like manner. This will establish a connection with the passengers to give them a feeling of responsibility over the cleanliness of the toilet area, as well as a feeling of being watched to ensure the passenger behaves better. Combining these two interventions should trigger the passenger enough to lower the amount of waste being flushed and eventually the number of obstructions in the pumps. To confirm whether this concept actually achieves the intended behavioural change, a second user test was performed, in which the user group gave their thoughts on the new situation with the help of a use scenario to help them imagine themselves in this situation. With the user evaluation, as well as in-depth interviews with the three main stakeholders, BAM, Schiphol and cleaning company Vebego, the concept was optimised for implementation. The concept and its implementation came together in the final strategy, which consists of a detailed plan for a six month pilot to evaluate the effects in real life and the possible definite implementation of the concept after that.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has come to the fore and is now expected to be one of the most disruptive technologies. It is easy to tell that AI will become pervasive in our everyday life. However, people still lack confidence in AI. Since trust is crucial in the development and acceptance of AI, it is essential to design for proper trust in the human-AI relationship to make people benefit from the technological advance. In this project, the challenge of trust in AI is explored in collaboration with Exact. Exact is one of the market-leading business software companies in the Netherlands. Following the trend of automation in the business software industry, Exact comes up with the future vision of Robotic Accounting and integrate AI into their product Exact Online. However, the users seem to stay behind in adopting these automatic features. Through initial interviews, they find that the lack of trust is one critical reason behind the low adoption. Thus, the design assignment is to “find out the reasons that cause a low trust and adoption of users for automation within Exact Online, and design a solution to promote the trust and usage towards Exact existing and to-be designed AI features.” To understand the background and why trust is such a challenging topic in AI, the project starts with literature reviews around AI and trust. Then trust models are studied to build the theoretical structure of what is trust and how is trust formed. Besides the literature review, the context of Exact and bookkeeping is also studied to define the background of this project and guide the design concept. After the analysis of trust theories and context background, two rounds of user research is conducted to know how users trust AI functions in Exact Online, and how will different elements influence their trust towards : the quantitative research and the qualitative research. The quantitative research is based on the theoretical framework of trust to validate and prioritized the elements, while the qualitative research is more explorative and could explain the elements with real experience. Insights are generated from the two rounds of research and guide the solution design. After the research, a strategy pyramid is created for Exact. The strategy pyramid consists of four layers. The first layer is the vision: trust AI like trust your best assistant; The second layer is the strategy: take care of trust for the whole journey; The third layer is the tactical layer: the trust-building guideline. And the last layer is the operationalization: the envisioned product. The last two layers are further designed. The trust-building guideline is designed as a toolkit that could provoke discussion round trust in the AI development process, and the envisioned product is a redesigned version of Exact Online based on the trust-building guideline. Both the two design concepts are being tested, iterated, and evaluated.

In recent years, a preference for purpose-driven brands, brands that display values and intentions beyond simply making profit, is increasing amongst consumers. However, this growing preference comes along with brands that use purpose as an opportunity for marketing purposes, creating skepticism in consumer’s mind about the authenticity of the brand. As a consquence, purpose-driven brands encounter an intention-behavior gap. Thus, there is a need for brand authenticity in brand development. This thesis draws links between purpose-driven, brand authenticity and brand development literature, of which a theoretical framework is developed and applied to a case study for Forestwise to build a beauty consumer brand. Forestwise is a Dutch social enterprise, located in Indonesia, offering harvested rainforest ingredients for the food, beauty and personal care industry (B2B market). The thesis resulted in designs for Forestwise that are a stepping stone for the new brand to inspire potential partners and use as a discussion tool to further develop the new brand. 1. Roadmap 2. A brand book 3. Brand narrative 4. Brand touchpoints examples. . This thesis suggests a new approach to purpose-driven development by regarding brand authenticity factors. However, the value and effectiveness to this approach remains uncertain. It is suggested to do further research regarding these topics.