Political participation of a group representative of society is essential for the legitimacy of a democratic system. But adolescents are not heard sufficiently and receive too little attention in contemporary democracy. Their political participation is very low and not representative for their age group, as politically engaged adolescents often enjoy formal education, do not come from vulnerable groups and have positive role models at home or at school. In the participatory society, which has become the Dutch norm, participation has become vital. Differences in level of participation can result in inequalities for groups who do not sufficiently bring up their concerns. The corona crisis has exposed this is the case for mbo-students.
Involving this group of underrepresented, under-involved and not-heard mbo-students is imperative to achieve the equality necessary for a legitimate democratic system. Increasing their participation will contribute to more social justice. Despite efforts by the government, the political participation of mbo-students does not appear to be increasing.
The lack of participation of mbo-students is a complex problem with many causes. Mbo-students are incredibly diverse in age, ethnicity, interests, and so on, and ‘the’ mbo-student does not exists. There is a gap between politicians and mbo-students, and the current participation system does not fit students’ needs. Furthermore, they have difficulties formulating opinions autonomously and do not know how to translate these into action.
The proposed design intervention is the concept Rake Praat. The process of Participatory Budgeting (where a municipality allocates a section of the annual budget to be spent by citizens) has been altered to more accurately facilitate the needs and wishes of mbo-students. Their experiences form the foundation for the process. With the use of integrated Creative Problem-Solving techniques, students and politicians define potential projects together.
With four co-creation sessions, each with its own focus, mbo-students and politicians navigate together from problem to solution. A session plan can be designed by the municipality and schools with the use of the Activity Cards. These describe different types of (creative) activities, allowing the participants to go through the different stages of the creative process: diverging, reverging, and converging. The activities are shaped so that the creative facilitation does not require experts, allowing students and politicians to go through the process autonomously.
The design makes creative problem-solving more accessible to non-designers, providing policymakers and politicians with the means to shape contacts with mbo-students. Simultaneously, the toolkit gives students the opportunity to express their views directly to people who can make a difference. This is necessary for both groups to understand each other better. ... Read more

The world is becoming more and more technology-driven. The consumption of electronic products leads to an increase in electronic waste (e-waste). More than half of all the e-waste that is generated in the Netherlands originates from domestic appliances (WEEE register, 2019) and only 9% of all the e-waste will be recycled (Renewi, personal communication, 2019). The remaining waste will be dumped into landfill sites, and the energy and resources used to make the products will get lost, therefor products need to be designed with a ‘circular approach’. The goal of the circular economy is to use products, equipment and infrastructure for a longer time, and to improve the productivity of these resources. (Ellen MacArthur Foundation). One of the strategies of extending the life time of products within the circular economy is refurbishment: “A process of returning a product to good working condition by replacing or repairing major components that are faulty or close to failure, and making ‘cosmetic’ changes to update the appearance of a product” (Ellen MacArthur Foundation). Right now, refurbished products are not a common consumer choice. Therefor the question that is answered in this master thesis is: How can the design of a household appliance be optimized to increase the consumer acceptance with regard to the refurbished product? The research was divided in three parts. First the motivation of the consumer was investigated by means of a literature review and a survey amongst consumers. Then the preferred aesthetics of refurbished appliances were researched through literature and doing in-dept interviews. Lastly a research was done in order to optimize this process of refurbishment. Interviews and observations where done with repairers and refurbishers. Based on the results of the consumer research three different target groups were identified; the ecological buyer, the economical buyer and the secure buyer. Consumer research shows that the three aspects reparability, cleanability and timelessness cause a more efficient refurbishment process and a greater customer acceptance of the refurbished products. These aspects are turned into a set of guidelines that will serve as proposed requirements to design for refurbishment. They must be taken into account when designing the product, choosing materials and maintaining the product. However, only incorporating these guidelines would not be sufficient to enhance the consumer acceptance of refurbished products. Research showed that not only performance of the product plays a large role in the acceptance of the product. Awareness and trust should also be created. In addition, the experience of buying a refurbished product should be as fun and exciting as buying a new product. It was found, that when the product still looks like new, the customer is more likely to trust the product. The concept ‘looking good, feeling good’ is created on this insight. The core of the concept is that part of the cover can be replaced or refinished. Therefor the machine looks new while preserving the internal components and 80% of materials used in the cover. The customers can compose their own refurbished product by starting out with a refurbished base and then choose their own new or refurbished cover to create a stronger product attachment. All findings where combined and translated to a redesign of a fully automatic coffee machine. This was done by improving the accessibility of internal components and to create a modular structure on the inside of the coffee machine in order to make the process of repairing and cleaning more efficient. Moreover, three different front designs were created that meet the requirements of the aesthetics that are preferred for refurbishment. Combinations of colors and materials were tested with the target groups and the result were evaluated. ... Read more

The goal of this project is to find a way to get people to consume less, by changing what they do to improve their subjective well-being. It was found that the main issue that needed tackling is the fact that, currently, people are addicted to consumption - they depend on consumption for their happiness. The best way to remedy this would be to teach them how to make themselves happy; this can be done by getting them to derive their happiness from Eudaimonia. Eudaimonia can be defined as happiness or contentment derived from your life and the things that you do having meaning, and from good relationships with people you care about. Design intervention testing was used to explore how people would best be taught how to make themselves happy. After some initial explorations of the subject matter, three more effective designs were developed to be tested more thoroughly. Fifteen people tested the designs; they were interviewed before and after using the design to see if any changes occurred. The interviews tried to establish if the designs had any influence on what people’s life goals were, on whether the actions they took were in line with eudaimonia, and on if they would buy items that they did not need for these eudaimonic actions. This testing process yielded three main design principles. In order to help people get better at making themselves happy, a design should:
● Help you reflect on which eudaimonic activities they already partake in
● Get you to connect these actions to the items necessary for them
● Urge you to avoid non-eudaimonic actions and items
Aside from these three principles, some insights on how to best implement each of the principles were found as well. To illustrate how these principles and insights are best put to use, some design examples were developed. Firstly, a time capsule was designed which people can put items they are not sure they need into; during the month that the items are locked away in the capsule, it gets people to reflect upon whether they need the items. Afterwards, people are urged to give away any of the unneeded items. This helps people gain an understanding of what they do and do not need. Aside from this, redesigns to eBay, Bol.com and Climate Activist websites were developed to give some examples of how the findings could be used by other designers. ... Read more