This thesis explores the potential for elho Group to innovate in the indoor gardening industry by developing a Product-Service System (PSS). As a leader in sustainable synthetic plant pots, elho is eager to explore offerings beyond products that embrace a more service-oriented business. This thesis explores the intersection of consumer behaviour and strategic business model innovation, identifying key challenges, opportunities, and drivers that influence the adoption of new PSSs. Furthermore, it discusses how an understanding of these factors can inform strategic decision-making and future growth strategies.

The research and design process was structured using a systemic design approach, by using the Double Diamond model. Key activities included extensive literature reviews, empirical research on consumer behaviour, product testing, industry and competitor analysis, and several co-creation sessions. These activities helped identify the drivers and barriers influencing the adoption of PSS in the Indoor Smart Garden (ISG) market, offering valuable insights into consumer perceptions of current market offerings. The findings guided the development of a solution tailored to meet consumer needs while addressing existing gaps in the market.

Qualitative interviews with "zillennials" revealed key factors influencing PSS adoption. These included concerns around cost sensitivity, lack of flexibility, and lack of trust, as well as the importance of emotional benefits and service attributes. For ISG products, factors like aesthetics, customizability, and ease of use were critical for adoption. Participants favoured natural designs and products that seamlessly fit into their living spaces and reflect their personal values. The external analysis revealed a competitive landscape dominated by small, similar brands. Consumer dissatisfaction arises from poor product performance, high prices, and bad customer service.

The results indicate that launching an elho ISG PSS is a high-risk, all-in venture that demands full commitment and strong service differentiation. To stand out in the market, elho must provide a modular and customisable design that enhances interior compatibility while maintaining an affordable price point. Success also hinges on creating a PSS by focusing on lifestyle integration and high consumer interaction. Elho's future vision centres on becoming a trusted partner in plant care by integrating supporting services next to its products and evolving into a trusted partner in plant care through innovative, supporting consumers in their journey to a ‘green’ lifestyle with innovative, sustainable products and services that nurture both the user and their plants."

The proposed solution, Tuyn, empowers consumers to maintain and grow a range of home-delivered herbs effortlessly. With an automated watering system, AI-driven guidance, and a flexible offerings, Tuyn adapts to individual preferences, making indoor gardening both convenient and personal. The system is enhanced by a mobile application that provides customized plant care instructions, helping users seamlessly integrate their herbs into daily routines. With a customizable design, Tuyn fits perfectly into urban living spaces, offering both functionality and aesthetic appeal.

The expected impact of Tuyn is significant, improving consumer engagement and product differentiation. Tuyn addresses key consumer challenges identified in the research, including bad germination, long growth times, low yields, and complexity. The concept aligns with elho’s purpose of "giving room to nature" and shifts towards a service-oriented model that enhances the consumer experience while allowing elho to explore a more direct Business-to-Consumer (B2C) approach.

The evaluation of Tuyn highlights its strong desirability for eco-conscious urban consumers seeking a unique and valuable experience, but challenges in supply chain management persist, particularly with elho’s reluctance to deliver fresh herbs. The concept's feasibility is hindered by logistical complexities, while its viability depends on refining the business model and reducing operational costs. Recommendations include developing a robust supply chain, conducting pilot tests, adapting the business model with flexible pricing, creating strong branding, and launching an effective marketing campaign. Scalability through market expansion and potential vertical farming partnerships will also be crucial for long-term success.

Pregnancy loss, a prevalent yet often hidden phenomenon, affects one in five pregnancies, triggering emotional challenges like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in women. This research seeks to shed light on the unaddressed experiences of couples dealing with pregnancy loss and proposes a design solution to foster positive coping mechanisms. The overarching goal is to create tools that enhance the pregnancy loss journey for affected couples.

The research journey commences with an exploration of how partners navigate pregnancy loss individually and collectively. A comprehensive investigation incorporating literature study, expert consultations, and context-mapping sessions with five couples was conducted. The grief experienced both, as a couple and individually, was analysed, revealing the absence of established grieving patterns and rituals specific to pregnancy loss. Additionally, the dynamics and communication within romantic partnerships were impacted, highlighting the need for tailored coping strategies. Lastly, there seemed to be a difference between the perceived experience of loss between the pregnant and the non-pregnant partner, related to the physical act of being pregnant.

The absence of the physical component of pregnancy emerged as a distinct factor influencing the difference in the perceived experience of loss between partners. For the pregnant partner, the mind-body connection becomes disrupted, as a result of the emotional distress such as guilt, blame, and detachment. This disconnection also hindered effective communication between partners and their surroundings, necessitating the creation a design facilitating support through providing the space and the tools to reconnect to the physical body.

The subsequent design phase explored various mediums for achieving the design goal, ultimately culminating in the conception of Eclipse, a transformative theatrical ritual. This ritual consists of three sessions, each centred around a distinct theme, employing elements like warm water, hot stones, cocoons, experience stories, and humming singing to facilitate the reconnection process.

Throughout the design process, numerous evaluation activities were undertaken, including ideation sessions, prototyping, and expert consultations. Eclipse was evaluated through a trial with three experience experts, confirming its alignment with the established interaction qualities and design goal.

In reflection, this thesis not only challenges the conventional Western medical approach but also advocates for a more holistic consideration of mind-body connections. By incorporating non-traditional elements into the coping process, this research counters assumptions regarding the topic of spirituality in research. The envisioned future involves a society that actively listens to the narratives of pregnancy loss survivors, granting them the space and time to grieve without judgment. The now silenced experience stories will be heard.

In conclusion, this research journey navigates the uncharted territory of pregnancy loss experiences, unveiling the complexities faced by couples. The design solution, Eclipse, stands as a testament to the power of transformational rituals in facilitating the healing process. This work contributes to destigmatising pregnancy loss grief, fostering a compassionate and empathetic environment for individuals and couples on this challenging journey.

The project as described in this report led to the development of a seating system for a compact campervan based on the Volkswagen ID Buzz, an electric vehicle recently released by Volkswagen. It erupted from a challenge occurring at Ventje, a company manufacturing compact campervans in Culemborg. The introduction of a the new campervan, based on the ID Buzz, brought with it many challenges, one being its’ higher price and smaller formfactor. These two combined brought the concern whether this vehicle kept the same desirability as the original model, based on the VW Transporter. The opportunity that was explored for this project was whether the ID Buzz based Ventje could offer a more multifunctional character in order to utilize it’s potential as a decent family car. The analysis for the project was split up in two sections, product analysis and user analysis, which concluded that Ventje offers better camping functionality and aesthetics as opposed to the competition, who offered more comfortable back seats for use during driving and so-called versatility, meaning the van can adapt to other use cases by adding or removing components. Based on the results from the product and user analysis, the choice was made to develop a solution to add two comfortable back seats that can be integrated in the new campervan based on the ID Buzz with the aim to make it directly implementable in the interior that was designed thus far for the ID Buzz campervan, called eVentje. This led to the development of the seating system, which arguably improves the Ventje interior concept overall and improves multifunctionality of the van. The seating concept has been evaluated in a study using a 1:5 scale model, which showed that functionality of the system is not compromised, however components of the system should be designed for lightweight and ergonomically as this was still a concern among respondents.

This thesis is conducted with the interior development department of Mercedes- Benz. Two activities form the core of this thesis: interior design for the 2030 EQS, and implementation of Fundamental Needs in the process. The final desgin is the Daedalus: design for the sweet spot between focussing on your tasks and on the surroundings.The first approach is to understand the context in 2040, to iterate back towards a 2030 intermediate design.

Seven ways are found to work with these 13 Fundamental Needs, the approach changing every time. The tool used for external research with Fundamental Needs is tested and led to a quantification of the time between today and the intended future, leading to a focus on Autonomy and Security. Simultaneously, a Vision in Product design research is conducted, revealing that in this future, people expect things to be explained to them. This led to interaction qualities of ‘Quiet’ and ‘Synergy’.This 2040 concept is designed for an intuitive interaction between person and algorithm in the vehicle with these four concepts.

This 2040 concept is validated in a user test with sensitizing in the Mercedes-Benz interior labs. The usertest showed interest in communicating with the car, and confirmed the importance of control and understanding in this 2040 future vision. Participants asked the AI many questions with varying intentions.

These results provided focus for the last iterative step towards a 2030 design: the Daedalus. It revolves around finding a sweet spot between focussing on your task and enjoying your surroundings. The Daedalus can share Mercedes Messages, letting the user choose between the Fundamental Needs of Security, Comfort and Stimulation, the choice itself providing Autonomy. Mercedes Messages are not limited to the vehicle: they can be taken into shared mobility or the train. This design captures a moment of synergy, control and understanding that was experienced by participants during the user test, to recreate a valuable Mercedes Moment.

This graduation project consists of six sprints and the assignment was to develop a concept for a modular runner/work-out stroller.

Within Sprint 1 the competitors, the old Bugaboo Runner and market were researched. Thule, Cybex and UPPABaby are the direct competitors for Bugaboo on the runner market. The Bugaboo Runner, a three-wheel runner stroller, was a good product and people who bought it were satisfied. However, the Runner was a relative expensive accessory, given the fact that a ‘regular’ Bugaboo stroller already costs around €1000.

Within Sprint 2 the consumer and their lifestyle were researched and afterwards a design vision and focus were created. Consumers in the USA like three-wheel strollers, while consumers in Europe prefer four-wheel, more compact, multi-stage (suitable for different ages) strollers. Based on fifteen interviews with parents, the target group of this project can be identified as the Young Urban Fit Parents.
The design vision of this project is: ‘I want to design a regular stroller that activates and creates the possibility to work out with your child as a busy young fit parent who lives a healthy, active & sporty life in an urban area.’ with the design focus: ‘How can you run/sport with a regular stroller?’.

Within Sprint 3 and 4 ideas were generated, by organising creative sessions. Four concepts were selected from these ideas. The final concept that was chosen is the stroller with an expandable frame since this concept scores best on all requirements. This concept is called the Fox Active.

Within Sprint 5 the Fox Active is validated by a test with the prototype and parent validation sessions.
The tests proved that the configuration of the final concept with 16” rear wheels and the elongated frame is close to the ideal running situation and performs better than running with a regular stroller. The second test also proved that walking with 16” rear wheels and the normal frame is sufficient and preferred over walking with the elongated frame. All participants of the validation session would consider the regular stroller with sport function if it does not cost too much extra and if it is clear what the benefits over the regular version are.

Within Sprint 6 the implementation of the Fox Active is discussed, which consists of the styling, fit in the Bugaboo Portfolio and costs. The base colour of the styling is black, with bright orange accents.
The ‘sport buttons’ will be coloured bright orange as well, to make clear that these buttons have a special function. The estimated retail price for the Fox Active is €1299-€1499, based on the comparison of the prices of the Bugaboo Fox 3, the price of a Bugaboo Fox 3 and a runner stroller together and the price of the Bugaboo Donkey 5.
Finally, some recommendations were made by the Bugaboo designers. They recommend that the joint of the stroller needs to be tested to be strong enough to run with and that it needs to be tested if the stroller is not too heavy.

This report contains a design proposal for a 2035 Porsche sports car vision. The vision is a reaction on a future mobility paradigm shift towards fully automated transportation (Autonomous level 5). The majority of today’s car owners are convenience driven. These type of drivers have what is referred to as a ‘rational’ way of thinking about mobility. Subsequently, their vehicle is perceived as a tool, offering flexibility and freedom. Full automation of vehicles is leading to the ultimate convenience of being transported from door to door, while maintaining time to focus on other things than driving. Therefore it can be expected to be a warm welcome to the average car user. This shift in they way people think about mobility as the result of an increase in convenience due to automation runs contrary to the way Porsche approaches this matter. Being a brand that mainly focusses on offering the most sportive option in every car segment, it creates questions about how they should answer to a situation like this without neglecting their brand identity. Approaching the mobility paradigm shift from a generational standpoint the conducted research shows that the end of a timeframe where the vast majority of sports car buyers are from a category called ‘The babyboomers’ is coming to an end. By setting the timeframe for this project to 2035, the targeted group of potential future buyers are nowadays referred to as millennials. In this project, the substantial differences between these two groups, together with the knowledge gained about important brand values and design principles are used as a base for a future concept. Consulted by Porsche’s design studio in Weissach (Germany), the design proposal in this thesis shows a vision on how Porsche as a brand can position themselves in an automated and convenience-driven future. The concept focusses on offering future sports car drivers a unique, emotional and foremost, a Porsche typical driving experience, allowing the user to focus on the road and forget about the interior as an object. Instead, the vehicle is approached from a holistic point of view. By integrating as many functions as possible into a steering module, a highly simplified new interpretation of sportive driving was design.

Inner cities increasingly suffer from congestion and pollution. Besides being a nuisance, these traffic jams cost society an enormous sum of money annually (est. €3 billion in 2015). Still many businesses use unwieldy commercial vans in tiny, crowded city streets.

Urban Arrow (UA) offers slender alternatives in the form of high quality, modular, electric cargo bikes. Whereas their Family bike is a holistic product, the Cargo lacks refinement and character. Particularly in the rapidly growing market, a new level cargo case with a clear identity is imperative.

User research shows that mainly a combination of improvements in function and workflow is desired. Research on aesthetics presented implementing automotive styling is applicable, for taking its design to the next step.

Extensive sketching and CAD with an automotive styling mindset, led to a multifunctional, holistic case. A sound and secure container with 430L of room (versus the former 300L), that doubles as a flatbed carrier for unwieldy cargo. The panels allow to be flat packed when pre-assembled, the basalt composite material allows easy modifications and additions. Workflow is improved by employing a two-part lid and adding a more adaptable lock mechanism. The use of basalt fibre composite makes for a strong yet thin body, and that modifications be possible.