Society is facing a critical point of unsustainability, urging the need to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy (CE). This transition not only addresses pressing issues but also unlocks new business opportunities. However, the lack of clarity around its specifics leaves many businesses uncertain about how to best respond, navigate, and adapt to this change.

The design and innovation agency IN10 is committed to contributing to this transition by bridging this gap. Specializing in digital design, they collaborate with clients to create positive, future-oriented, user-centered service solutions. As the company has recognized the value of co-creation sessions to drive transformations, it seeks to expand its service offerings to encompass the circular economy context.

This graduation project revolves around their creative problem-solving approach. It aims to define the innovation mindset IN10 should embrace to design for the CE transformation and explores how this mindset can be applied in a co-creation session. Following a learning-by-doing approach involving exploration, analysis, and creation phases, the project delves into various innovation strategies, business barriers, and conceptual metaphors to develop a comprehensive understanding of the circular economy and the type of thinking required to achieve this.

An examination reveals that the prevailing technocratic narrative of the circular economy overlooks vital aspects of the transition, making it too narrow to rely on exclusively. Therefore, this project proposes to adopt the Living Ecosystem Mindset, which conceptualizes the circular economy through the metaphor of a forest and addresses the limitations of the technocratic perspective. This holistic view embraces ecological and social values, draws inspiration from nature’s open-ended and flexible cycles, and integrates social sustainability considerations. Furthermore, it redefines the purpose of the circular economy beyond mere economic growth to prioritize meeting human needs.

The CE transition demands systemic change, necessitating a systemic design approach. An analysis of IN10’s approach reveals shortcomings in this area. Consequently, the project compares two systemic design approaches to identify success factors that IN10 can adopt. Both internal and external insights inform the concept development phase.

Ultimately, the project introduces the Circular Future Session as a theoretical foundation and starting point for IN10’s Circular Sprint Series. The session encompasses systemic design phases: creating a shared understanding, understanding the big picture, and envisioning a desirable future. It includes the following activities: Vision Talk, Actor Map, Wider Lens, and Circular Idea, aiming to generate circular ideas aligned with living ecosystem thinking.

The concept underwent internal testing within IN10, but it is recommended to be refined further through client sessions. Besides, IN10 must continue investing in knowledge about the circular economy and living ecosystem thinking. This investment will enable them to execute future co-creation sessions effectively and navigate the other design steps related to the CE transformation.
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This thesis is result of an assignment set up by Pan Oston. Pan Oston is a company who makes steel product like checkouts and kiosks for the retail market. A sizable part of Pan Oston’s revenue are checkouts and self-checkouts (SCOs). It is expected that in the future of retail these products are less relevant. This is why Pan Oston has requested the design of an improved gate that will be used in self-checkout areas and in future checkoutless stores. It is also requested to design a system that replaces the currently often used barcode scanner that automatically lets people pass the gate or block them.

A gate is designed that improves upon existing gates in terms of communication, seamlessness and ease-of-use. The goal of this gate is to make it easy and pleasant for customers to leave the SCO area while supporting the SCO host by giving him/her more control. By using animated green, orange and red lights that are intuitively integrated in the gate, communication between customer and gate is optimized. Sounds are played in case of a warning or an alarm. This gives customers extra hints on what is going on but most importantly alerts the host and other store personnel of the gate’s current situation so that they are always aware even if they are not looking. The gate can be customized if needed, which is one of Pan Oston specialties. In summary the gate improves upon its competing gates in communication, looks, focus on the host and theft-prevention.

For the auto-passthrough system Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is used. By attaching BLE signal emitter to the baskets and carts and by placing BLE signal receivers at the SCOs and gate we can keep track of who has paid and who has not and let them leave or block them accordingly. BLE is used because the system will be applied in existing and future supermarkets that use SCO areas. These are supermarkets people are often dependent on so we cannot use biometric technology like face recognition, even though these technologies are incredibly powerful. Because not all customers will like being a part of these technologies, they cannot be applied in these stores. The flip side is that it is now mandatory to use a basket or cart and no more than 1 basket or cart is allowed per group that shops together.
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The goal of the project is ‘to make retail areas go from a place to buy to a place to be’. Retail environments have the potential to become a place to be and add value for visitors, the local community and society as a whole. After performing research on various different levels, both quantitative and qualitative and both with consumers and external stakeholders, new consumer vales emerged for retail areas in the city. They were transparency, connection, atmosphere, exploration and authenticity. Exploration and authenticity were chosen as the two core values to form a design direction. A conceptual model was produced to add value to retail areas: in order to create a place to be, a story and an experience are necessary. The story is what brings authenticity to a place, and that can be achieved using storytelling. An experience can be created through multisensory design and can provide the core value of exploration. Using this model, a possible design was created: the story box. This concept provides a multisensory storytelling experience. The story box is a physical cube placed in the street that tells a story through exploration. Users move around the cube to go through the stages of the discovery process: touch, see and hear.The three sides of the cube are assigned with different colors: green, red and blue. Users then can step inside the box and hear the full story. The experience is not just limited to interacting with the cube, it is extended to interacting with the entire street. Both the effect of the authentic stories and the exploring discovery are extended into the street. For the authentic stories, in addition to the large cube, small cubes using the same colors are placed throughout the street at the entrance of shops and stores. Shopowners can participate in the project and adopt a small cube. These small cubes provide the story of the shop or store in audio, once a visitor places its hand inside the cube. For the exploring journey, small colored tiles are placed on the facades throughout the street. The colors coordinate with the colors of the interactions with the cube: touch, see and hear. The small tiles each provide another little discovery journey: green tiles mean there is something nice to touch, red tiles meansthere is something nice to see and blue tiles mean there is something to hear. The final concept gives meaning to retail areas and provides and authentic story in an exploring way.

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Hyperthermia is becoming a bigger problem with higher temperatures. It has gotten more attention in the news for the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo, and for big marathons where this is becoming an increasing problem. Whereas, able-bodied persons are able to dissipate heat by means of sweating, a tetraplegic most likely cannot. When the lesion is above T6 there is a possibility of having a dysregulated thermoregulatory system. This means that the temperature signals are not received, and therefore no reaction will occur due to a rising core temperature. The fact that they cannot control their own body temperature gives them a high risk of hyperthermia. Research was conducted concerning the problem. The solutions currently used are wet towels, water beads, water spray, and cooling products such as evaporation and phase change material (PCM) vests. The downside for these products is their limited duration. Products based on evaporation need to be refilled after several hours, depending on the temperature. PCM packs need to be restarted at a cool place, such as a fridge or freezer. There is currently one active cooling product which cools the wheelchair user's back by means of air. The research showed that the users have a big need for an active cooling product, which could keep them cool for an entire day. Due to the lack of sweating for tetraplegics, it has been decided to implement air and liquid cooling. For tetraplegics the area in which the most heat is found is the upper chest and back, which are the areas with the highest sweat rate for able-bodied as well. The design goal of the project is to develop an active cooling system to prevent hyperthermia while outside, which can also be used by tetraplegics during their everyday lives. The goal is achieved when the user has a reduced increase of core temperature during their day outside. VENTS is a shirt that helps the user stay cool during warm days. VENTS has four fans, two on the front and two on the back, which will create an airflow and improve convection. There is a temperature sensor included to make it a fully automated cooling product. If the fans are not enough to slow down the temperature increase within the body, the water pump will start distributing water droplets across the torso of the user. This is done by having tubing at the collar of the shirt, with outlets to create the small droplets. This process will re-enact sweating as well as help with convection and evaporation heat loss. If the product works on full cooling power it can extract about 28 Watts worth of heat from the body. With the help of the Fiale model and the user testing data, a simulation was conducted with VENTS in an environment of 35°C and 80% humidity, along with an activity level of 4 metabolic equivalent of task (MET). This simulation shows a 3.94°C decrease of skin temperature compared to not using the product. ... Read more

Makerting is a company based in Den Haag that focuses on helping makers in marketing related challenges. Building their brand to exploit this on expositions and eventually make a living as an artist. Every year 7290 graduates from creative studies enter the professional world (Vereniging Hogescholen, Den Haag, 2017). Besides the things that they learn about the profession on art schools there is a limited amount of time spend on marketing and business related aspects. As shown in research provided by Artists Interaction and Representation (2011) 90% of fine artists are self-employed. Artistic talent therefore seems not to be enough to guarantee professional career in the arts. This is where Makerting comes in. In this thesis the focus lies on the needs for makers to sustain a living in the art world. Throughout extensive interviews, with makers that are at the beginning of their career and makers that can already make a living of their art, a model is developed to display these needs and actions that makers should take. Together with a thorough exploration of the company and the context where Makerting in functions, the design framework was shaped. In this framework multiple concepts evolved that together lead to the company strategy for Makerting. This strategies is displayed in a strategic and a tactical roadmap. With eventually the goal for Makerting to fit in the future vision of the art world: ‘‘Creating a marketing embracing maker society to act as leaders in the transformation of the art world.’’ The strategy has multiple layers, as Makerting will continue with the services that it already offers, the 1-on-1 coaching with makers and masterclasses at multiple institutions. On top of this Makerting should in the first stage of the strategy get a bigger following to create a marketing embracing community. Showing what marketing is to a wider audience by making tools like the ‘Black hole explore‘ and ‘Maker Making’ to let makers get acquainted with the company and lowering the negativity around marketing. In the second stage of the strategy Makerting should focus on building the platform to get makers together to enhance this community feeling. ‘Makerklas’ and ‘M - the maker platform’ are services that Makerting should add to share the marketing knowledge and minimize the individual feeling that makers encounter. In the last stage of the strategy Makerting should use this marketing embracing community to change the perspective in the art world. As the art world is slowly transforming, the Makerting community should act as leaders in this transformation. ... Read more

This thesis presents a circular innovation strategy for Miscanthus based packaging. In the wold, more and more plastic packaging is being used. A large part of the used plastics is single-use plastic packaging that is only used for a couple of minutes and then discarded. The discarded plastic packaging stays in the environment for hundreds of years. A solution to this is shifting from a single-use plastic packaging that does not degrade and uses a fossil resource, towards a new type of paper packaging that degrades when ended up in the environment and is from a renewable source. Miscanthus based packaging can fulfil this need. Elgra is a company that cultivates Miscanthus and is looking for new paper packaging applications. To come to a design challenge, an extensive analysis is performed on the internal and external context of Miscanthus and paper packaging. From this analysis, three different market criteria are formulated: -Closed systems have a controllable environment -A constant demand reduces market fluctuations -The paper industry is complex From these market criteria, the market of Schiphol airport was chosen to introduce Miscanthus based packaging. It meets all three criteria and can be a local for local packaging. From the market criteria, a design challenge is formulated. This thesis answers the following design challenge: Design a circular innovation strategy for Miscanthus based packaging at Schiphol, with a local for local approach, taking into consideration the complex system of papermaking. A deep dive into the market of Schiphol showed that introducing Miscanthus packaging at KLM catering services (KCS) is the most beneficial for Elgra and KCS. The design challenge is answered by presenting four different design artefacts that illustrate four different strategic routes that can be taken. The artefacts are implemented using a local for local approach, this means that the packaging is cultivated, produced, distributed, used and collected locally. In addition, an LCA is performed to measure the environmental impact of the four different artefacts. It showed that the 3D moulded products which were mechanically pulped had the lowest impact. To validate if the market fits the four design artefacts, a value proposition canvas is filled in. The final artefact which is the most likely to be implemented is the beauty case. This artefact illustrates how Miscanthus packaging needs to be pulped using mechanical pulping and is 3D moulded into its shape. The roadmap that is presented shows that in the first horizon, a first Miscanthus packaging (for example the beauty case) is implemented at KCS. The goal is to set up a viable business with Miscanthus packaging at is core. The second horizon of the roadmap has the goal to professionalise the business by buying production machinery to produce Miscanthus packaging in house. The third and last horizon has as a focus on expanding the business to produce packaging from other renewable crops with its own production facility, still fitting the local for local approach. ... Read more

Despite the rise of digitalization, and consequently e-commerce, the physical fashion store remains relevant in the retail environment. Still generating almost all sales. However, stores are shifting from a place to buy to a place to be. Where experiences are more important than products. Inevitably, to fulfil customers’ needs and differentiate from the competition a personal experience is necessary.
With arising trends and technologies, retailers are overwhelmed by the possibilities and in need of guidance. Other sectors, such as the cultural sector, provide an opportunity for inspiration. In this thesis, the possibilities for museums as inspiration for fashion retail are explored on a strategic level. Resulting in a strategic model that guides retailers towards creating meaningful customer experiences. By researching the retail and museum sector an opportunity is identified: museums have a higher reputation than companies. Reputation is defined as the emotional bond between a company and its customers. Based on insights he following interpretation is established. Reputation is built through experience and trust. By delivering the expected customer experience a trustworthy relationship is developed, resulting in a high reputation. This reputation is maintained when expectations are exceeded, by providing unexpected elements and room for serendipity in explorative retail spaces. Based on an online customer research, performed in context, two reasons for the reputation gap between retail and museums in Rotterdam can be described: museums meet the expected customer experience and museums have a bigger impact on society. This impact is related to their contribution to heritage, education and entertainment. Therefore, applying a purpose-driven strategy. Defining purpose as the fundamental reason for existence. Inspired by museums, retailers are able to increase reputation and create a meaningful customer experience by adopting a purpose-driven mindset. Even though a purpose itself does not change, it encourages change by setting an unreachable goal. Striving to reach this goal, retailers need to make decisions guided by their purpose. Not only does purpose create the foundation for a trustworthy customer relationship, it also increases internal alignment and motivates employees. As a result, the Purpose Paradigm is introduced. A strategic model that identifies the steps towards implementing a purpose-driven mindset in retailers. Aiming at behavioural change inside the company that leads to employee engagement and facilitates decision-making. In return, creating a genuine and meaningful customer experience. Being purpose-driven is a long-term and sustainable approach for retailers reacting to the changing retail environment. The implementation of the Purpose Paradigm for a fashion retailer is illustrated in a fictional case.  ... Read more

Radiation is increasingly used to treat otherwise dangerous operations such as valve replacements with minimal consequences for the patient using live X-ray and catheters. These minimal invasive interventions are beneficial for the patient but physicians are exposed to high doses of radiation as a result. Products in the market of radiation protection are focusing on physical barriers for the radiation such as lead aprons and acrylic lead shields. Although effective, these are often not properly used, which increases the risk for exposure. Next to this, new products will enter a highly saturated market with vast generic alternatives. A design opportunity was found in the range of product aiming for training of physicians to properly work with radiation. From interviews and observations, it was concluded that there is no commons census among cardiologists regarding where the dangerous scatter radiation is present surrounding the patient. It is therefore vital to train or even reprogram their instinctive mind to have a clear idea about the presence of scatter in the OR; radiation safety through behavior change. Philips is involved in a strategy that is called the Quadruple aim. Where the current focus is more directed to the patient experience, the quadruple aim also includes the staff experience as a large influence in better healthcare. A product concept is created where staff experience is key. With this direction Philips will fill a gap in the market for training products and create a common census for safe radiation behavior. Introduced to new generations of hybrid OR’s as the Exposure Prevention Package (EPP), the concept solution will provide a set of clear indicators for safe radiation conduct. Physicians and other staff can now identify when they are exposed to the harmful, but invisible, radiation and act upon it. Through further involvement in the hospital itself Philips will be engaged in an introduction phase of their systems. This includes a introductory course in which operators learn to work with the system and at the same time experience a “learning by doing” style radiation safety course. ... Read more

In this Master’s graduation thesis, the goal was to develop three distinct design concepts that address the problems that small museums are facing in attracting young visitors and relaying their relevance to this hard-to-reach target group. The design challenge was approached with the concept of relevance as an initial framing. To this end, several stages of analysis were performed. First, a study was done of the definitions and inherent challenges of small museums, and the implications of these challenges towards designing solutions for teenagers. Several themes and insights were discovered in this phase, such as the use of museum communities, and to explore and harness the stories that belong the contents of a museum. The second analysis phase consisted of a theoretical study of the target in order to specify the specific age group and further characteristics, and a design workshop that was done with high school students, to gain insights into the sentiments of the target group towards museums. Among other things, it was discovered that such elements as adventure and identity are very effective in speaking to teenagers. From these two phases, a set of overarching themes was compiled, which acted as a inspiration and soft criteria for the idea synthesis.
Eventually, three concepts were developed. The first, History Defense, is a mobile game that aims to make teenagers familiar with small museums and their value to society. It tells a compelling and immersive story that underlines the importance of local heritage in a classic battle between good and evil. The game is primarily played on a mobile device, from anywhere, but incorporate real-time (and real-world) events that encourage players to visit a museum and learn about its contents and stories. The game’s main goal is to make the players familiar with the cultural and historical value of local heritage institutions.
The second concept is called Haunted Museums. This is a narrative framework that helps museums to attract young visitors by making the museum ‘haunted’. Museums create a personalized story based on their collection, and host thematic events to support the narrative. Through overarching themes that change annually, museums can tell exciting stories and create immersive experiences for visitors. The culmination of the yearly theme is an event week, where museums can decorate the museum to match the theme, invite performers, and create other immersive experiences for their visitors. Because the themes and promotion of the events are centrally coordinated, the platform becomes a quality label for immersive museum experiences.
The third and final concept, Treasures, is a social platform that allows its users to explore artworks online and gather suggested artwork and museum pieces into personal collections. Based on the collections they have built and the interests those collections imply, users get continually improving personalized suggestions other artworks they might like, and add to their collections. Collections may take one of several forms, such as personal favorites, wishlists or checklists for seeing objects in real life, or collections that depict a specific theme or story.
Finally, the three concepts were evaluated with both museums and teenagers, and the findings of these evaluations sessions were compiled as final recommendations for the further development of the concepts. After that, a personal theoretical analysis was done as a way to demonstrate how the concepts differ from each other, and give suggestions for which concept to choose for further development.
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