Introduction — Servitization in B2B
This doctoral study investigated servitization in the B2B manufacturing industry, focusing on the shift from product sales to integrated product–service value propositions. Servitization was defined as the transformation from product-centric to service-oriented business models that deliver value throughout a product’s lifecycle. We used this definition to study a manufacturer's downstream value creation, emphasising the end-user as the ultimate recipient of value rather than limiting focus to direct B2B customers.
Servitization has become a key strategy for incumbent manufacturers seeking to differentiate themselves from digital disruptors, who challenge traditional models by leveraging data and service platforms. As a result, manufacturers must rethink their value propositions and adopt relational business models centred on recurring revenue and long-term customer relationships.
The scoping review in Chapter 2 identified a major gap in the literature: most B2B servitization research focuses on direct customer relationships, neglecting the end-user—the ‘customer-of-the-customer’. This narrow view limits insight into downstream value creation, particularly relevant in capital goods sectors. To address this, we introduced ‘Overarching Servitization’: a strategic perspective that includes end-users and ecosystem partners as value co-creators, extending beyond traditional B2B relationships.
To investigate how manufacturers might adopt this approach, we, grounded my research in strategic design theory. Using methods such as service design and design roadmapping, we explored how end-user and future-oriented servitization strategies could be developed. Through a series of Action Research Cycles (ARCs), we examined how design-driven methods support the reconfiguration of end-user focused value propositions and foster engagement across the entire value chain.
Research Design
This doctoral research explored how B2B manufacturers can design overarching servitization strategies that go beyond direct customer relationships to also address end-users across the value chain. Existing practices in B2B industry typically focus on services for immediate customers, overlooking opportunities to create value for end-users.
To address this gap, the main research question was:
‘How can B2B manufacturers design overarching servitization strategies?’
Supported by three sub-questions:
‘What are the enablers and barriers of servitization within a B2B manufacturer?’
‘How can a B2B manufacturer explore end-users’ values?’
‘How can a B2B manufacturer organise a servitization transition?’
This research aimed to uncover design principles and strategic mechanisms that enable B2B manufacturers to co-create advanced service systems with multiple stakeholders. Realising this potential requires a transition beyond operational optimisation towards rethinking service innovation processes and business models to create sustainable value for all actors in the value chain, including end-users.
To operationalise overarching servitization and unlock new value across B2B networks, we adopted a strategic design lens—drawing on service design and design roadmapping—to explore how manufacturers can identify latent end-user needs, co-develop services, and build long-term collaborative relationships.
Guided by a pragmatic stance, we chose a qualitative Action Research approach, well suited to the iterative and participatory nature of design methods. Over a five-year longitudinal study (2018–2023), we worked closely with a Dutch B2B manufacturer of intelligent logistics systems for the aviation sector. Across four ARCs, we followed Coghlan’s (2019) framework of Constructing, Planning, Taking, and Evaluating Action, integrating reflective practice to guide decisions and adaptations.
Process theory informed my analysis of how strategic change unfolded over time, while practical knowledge was developed through action. we used Atlas.ti™ for coding and thematic analysis of qualitative data—including interviews, discussions, visual artefacts, and Miro™ boards—following Saldaña’s strategies. Though the findings are context-specific, they offer deep insight into how B2B manufacturers can design and implement end-user-focused servitization strategies.
Insights Derived from ARC 1
During the first Action Research Cycle (ARC), we gained valuable insights into how a B2B manufacturer can initiate the design of overarching servitization strategies. we reflected on 29 insights derived from sub-ARCs 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3, which we initially clustered using five servitization lenses. As the research progressed, we introduced two additional lenses—Overarching Servitization and Future Strategy—which enabled us to formulate design criteria for subsequent design interventions as part of follow-up ARCs.
Overarching Servitization – End-User Value as a Strategic Driver
The company’s innovation practices remained largely technology-driven, limiting its ability to fully embrace overarching servitization. To address this, we identified two critical shifts required for transformation. The first was the need for deeper engagement with end-users. Methods such as user trend research, context scenario development, and group discussions helped uncover latent needs and reframe the innovation process from the end-user’s perspective. This user-centred shift empowered the in-house design team to act as a catalyst for more meaningful, servitized offerings.
Building on these insights, we identified nine enabling factors that support this transformation—among them, the integration of strategic designers into innovation teams, a conscious shift from technological feasibility to end-user desirability, and the application of design-led interventions throughout the development process.
The second shift concerned the evolution of organisational capabilities. Engineers began acquiring foundational service design skills and, in mixed teams with designers, contributed to more relevant and user-centred solutions. Interdisciplinary collaboration, alongside the shift in focus from technical feasibility to user desirability, proved essential for identifying and exploring new service directions.
Future Strategy – Long-Term, Ecosystem-Driven Transformation
A key strategic shift was the move beyond short-term innovation. The innovation department had primarily focused on isolated, short-term projects, limiting its ability to pursue long-term, value-driven transformation. To address this, we introduced Strategic Design Roadmapping as a means to embed long-term thinking into the organisation. Collaborating with novice designers—less constrained by the company’s technical conventions—helped reframe the service innovation strategy from a fresh, forward-looking perspective.
Despite these efforts, four major barriers became apparent: persistent short-term thinking, a lack of strategic design capabilities, limited market foresight, and siloed innovation processes. These challenges underscored the need for a more integrated, future-oriented approach to innovation.
In parallel, we identified digital platforms and ecosystem thinking as essential enablers of future servitization strategies. Digital capabilities opened up new business models, while stakeholder analysis beyond the traditional value chain revealed opportunities for collaboration with non-traditional partners.
Through ARC 1, we concluded that designing overarching servitization strategies requires a deliberate shift:
• from internal, technological expertise to end-user empathy,
• from engineering silos to multidisciplinary teams,
• and from merely reactive product innovation projects to proactive, long-term product-service innovation strategies.
By embedding these transformation principles into the organisation, we established a foundation for subsequent ARCs to investigate how servitization could evolve into a future-oriented practice that creates value not only for customers, but also for end-users and partners across the value chain.
Insights Derived from ARC 2
In ARC 2, we addressed a key gap identified in ARC 2.1: the lack of a structured Explore phase to initiate product-service system innovations. Through ARCs 2.2 and 2.3, we developed and refined strategic design interventions to integrate future-oriented, end-user-driven innovation into the company’s servitization strategy. Three overarching themes appeared:
1. Strengthening Organisational Capabilities for Service Design
Embedding service and UX Design, along with cross-disciplinary collaboration, proved vital. Concept models supported communication of value propositions, while mixed teams encouraged knowledge sharing and a more open innovation culture.
2. Embedding a Future-Oriented Perspective in Innovation
To compensate for the absence of long-term exploration mechanisms, we introduced design interventions focused on future contexts and latent user needs. Adopting future visioning and cyclical trend research to uncover new opportunities are recommended.
3. Enhancing Organisational Agility and Resilience
Overarching Servitization required time and employee adjustment, particularly within R&D. Reframing disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic as strategic opportunities helped improve adaptability.
Insights Derived from ARC 3
In ARC 3, we sought to embed an overarching servitization strategy process—referred to as The Long Now (TLN)—within the company’s existing innovation framework. This involved designing and facilitating exploratory, future-focused, and end-user-centric interventions, while also navigating the practical constraints of a large corporate environment, such as limited participant availability. The process provided key insights into how to structure and operationalise overarching servitization, which in turn informed the development of my research sub-questions.
TLN began with a kick-off intervention to establish its purpose and create a shared foundation. In the following Creative Trend Research intervention, participants identified 107 relevant trends in European travel and clustered them into 37 categories, which informed the next steps.
During interventions Empathising with End-Users and Envisioning the Future Context, participants developed four future scenarios and formulated a vision statement for the Airports business unit. These scenarios framed the subsequent intervention, Ideating End-User Value Propositions, in which participants designed new product–service offerings tailored to a future end-user lifeworld.
In the final intervention, Roadmapping & Connecting Dots, participants selected three promising propositions and mapped out the activities, resources, and partnerships required for implementation. This output shaped a preliminary Strategic Design Roadmap aligned with the company’s overarching servitization strategy.
ARC 3 thus introduced TLN, a six-part design process that deepened our understanding of how B2B manufacturers can create end-user value in a future-oriented context. Three interventions—Empathising with End-Users, Envisioning Future Contexts, and Ideating End-User Value Propositions—were particularly novel in the B2B setting.
Building on these insights, we contributed to the theory of Strategic Design Roadmapping by refining existing roadmap frameworks. By introducing three distinct value perspectives—Value Context, Value Exchange, and Value Creation—we advanced overarching servitization in the B2B industry and provided a new lens for designing end-user-focused, future-oriented product–service innovations.
Insights derived from ARC 4
ARC 4 demonstrated the full potential of the TLN strategy design process as both a strategic framework and catalyst for product–service innovation across three business units. TLN marked a shift from fragmented, short-term initiatives toward a cohesive, end-user-focused, future-oriented strategy.
Interviews with 14 TLN participants and a survey among 50 participants indicated that TLN supported cross-departmental alignment and prompted management to reconsider the company’s evolving role within Product–Service Systems (PSSs) and Product–Service Ecosystems (PSEs)—for example, as orchestrator, integrator, supplier, or partner. However, its long-term impact depends on successful organisational embedding.
To support continuity, we identified key measures:
• establishing a digital documentation system,
• embedding TLN as a recurring process,
• forming a cross-functional governance team, and
• securing consistent leadership support.
TLN contributed to a meaningful mindset shift: it encouraged participants to look beyond immediate challenges, adopt end-user perspectives, and embrace long-term, scenario-driven thinking. Its iterative, design-driven nature fostered learning through exploration, synthesis, and implementation.
The process also strengthened internal cohesion, fostering shared ownership of strategic goals across departments. Although only two TLN cycles (ARCs 3 and 4) were completed, momentum was building to institutionalise TLN in the company’s strategic planning.
To ensure continuity, we recommended TLN be governed by the Strategic Design Department, under the Strategic Design Manager. ARC 4 showed that TLN enables B2B manufacturers to structure service innovation around future user needs, laying the groundwork for sustainable, end-user-driven servitization.
Conclusion
In this doctoral research, we examined how a technology-driven B2B manufacturer of capital goods can strategically design and implement a servitization transition, with a focus on end-user value in future scenarios. Action research was conducted within the organisation, collaborating closely with designers and engineers to develop and evaluate strategic design interventions for enabling overarching servitization.
The thesis presents five main findings. First, we introduced the concept of ‘Overarching Servitization’, which extends beyond traditional B2B models by positioning end-users as central stakeholders in value creation. This approach encourages manufacturers to co-create value downstream through direct engagement with end-users and ecosystem partners.
Second, we identified nine enabling factors—including the integration of strategic designers, a shift towards end-user desirability, and design-led interventions—and four key barriers: short-term thinking, lack of strategic design capabilities, limited foresight, and siloed processes.
Third, we developed and validated the TLN process (The Long Now), a structured framework of six design interventions supporting the exploration of future user scenarios and alignment of innovation with long-term servitization goals. Evidence from ARCs 3 and 4 confirmed its value across three principles: Exploring End-user Perspectives, Envisioning Future Contexts, and Organisational Embedding of TLN.
Fourth, the Roles & Relationships framework helped redefine the manufacturer's position within PSSs and PSEs, enabling value co-creation as an orchestrator in multi-actor constellations.
Fifth, the Value-Driven Strategic Design Roadmap supports cross-departmental alignment through three value lenses—Value Context, Value Exchange, and Value Creation—across three-time horizons, enabling future-oriented, user-centred innovation.
Together, these frameworks offer a coherent methodology for designing and implementing servitization strategies in B2B settings, directly addressing the thesis’s main research question and sub-questions.
The research is grounded in four ARCs, embedded and implemented within a single company. This provided deep empirical insights but limits generalisability. My dual role as researcher-practitioner and contextual disruptions (e.g. COVID-19) may have introduced bias and complexity.
These frameworks hold relevance for design and engineering practice. They encourage engineers to incorporate end-user value and offer strategic designers practical tools for aligning innovation efforts. The TLN process also supports managers in embedding servitization into strategic planning and ecosystem positioning.
Finally, this research contributes to education by offering frameworks for teaching design strategy and service innovation. Further testing is recommended across other sectors—such as healthcare or government—to assess the broader applicability of overarching servitization.

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This project explores innovative solutions for elderly care, focusing initially on the needs of single Chinese women in the Netherlands. It evolved to address broader issues, aiming to create a more humane and effective elderly care system applicable to diverse populations.
Objective and Approach
The project aimed to improve elderly care by integrating social support and advanced technology. It utilized a range of research methods, including literature reviews, interviews, trend analysis, and design roadmapping. The goal was to develop strategies that are technically feasible, desirable, and viable, providing a framework for future improvements in elderly care.
Key Findings
1. Feasibility: The project identified technologies with promising applications over the next 20-40 years. While these technologies are established in other fields, their use in healthcare is still emerging, indicating a need for further development and integration.
2. Desirability: The research highlighted the importance of addressing anxiety in elderly care. Feedback from participants showed high acceptance and expectations for the proposed solutions, though a larger sample size could provide more robust validation.
3. Viability: The strategies developed align with three time horizons—20, 40, and 60 years—and support the project's long-term vision. However, achieving full feasibility requires substantial resource allocation, continuous integration, and iterative development. Ongoing research and evaluation will be necessary to ensure the solutions' effectiveness and sustainability. ... Read more

Digitalisation is something most people have encountered in the last 20 years. People have gotten used to most of their life being digital, using phones every day, and working on computers. However, the healthcare system is falling behind in the field of digitalisation. The system does not work efficiently enough to facilitate the provision of care, hindering it instead. Patient - care provider interaction during transmural healthcare journeys can be improved to place the person once more at the centre of their own health care journey.

This project aims to create a strategy for the digital transition of patient – health care provider interaction during transmural health journeys. This is done by first completing a literature review and context analysis of the current system, followed by observations and interviews. The insights from this research were then summarised in a synthesis map, which highlights the interconnecting relations within the complex socio-technical system. Three system levels were analysed, splitting the system into macro, meso and micro influences. Macro influences come from legislation, meso influences from organisational strategy, and micro influences come from person-specific interactions.

The synthesis map identified six leverage points that can be used to improve the barriers for digitalisation at the Reinier de Graaf hospital:

1. Improve system interoperability
2. Improve system connections
3. Streamline the number of systems used in healthcare
4. Take ownership/ responsibility surrounding digitalisation at the RdGG
5. Make more space in the budget to spend time facilitating the digital interaction transition
6. Improve digital literacy

Using these points the following future vision was set up:

In the future, the RdGG simplifies patient - care provider interaction by using a shared data space for care plans, allowing patients to play an equitable part in their health journey.

Finally, a strategy was made for the digital transition of patient – care provider interaction at the hospital, visualised in a strategic roadmap and a tactical roadmap. The three main pillars of the future vision – patient clarity, time for care, and shared administrative burden – form the basis for the envisioned future of healthcare in the Netherlands.

To finalise the applicability of the digital transition strategy, it was tested with various involved stakeholders, including a director of the hospital, ICT staff, and care professionals. The thesis concludes with implementation recommendations, limitations and possibilities for future research. ... Read more

In a rapidly changing business landscape, innovation has become a critical priority for companies, with start-ups outpacing traditional corporations in speed and agility to innovate. Despite their potential, these start-ups often face high failure rates and struggle to cross the “valley of death” due to gaps in resources and commercialization expertise. To address these challenges, new venture building models such as the venture studio and venture clienting model have emerged, aiming to systematically de-risk new ventures and support them in successfully commercializing their innovations. This thesis explored these models, seeking to bridge the gap between practical applications and academic research, with the goal of developing a new model that enhances start-up success by reducing failure risks, improving time-to-value, and optimizing cost and performance. This graduation project for Business Models Inc. explored different venture building models to identify and design the most optimal model for BMI to introduce into their portfolio of service offerings. Utilizing the Double Diamond methodology (Design Council, 2005), the project began with a research phase involving a literature review and expert interviews, focusing on venture building, corporate venturing, and factors influencing start-up success and failure. This phase led to the identification of the start-up studio model as highly beneficial for BMI, due to its potential for high financial value and control over start-ups’ strategic direction. Insights from the research highlighted three critical pillars for building strong ventures: the Human factor, the Resource factor, and the Opportunity factor. Interviews revealed three key stakeholder archetypes that are relevant for designing a new venture building model for BMI: the Driving Force, the Investor, and the Supporter. The second phase of the project, the design phase, transformed these insights into a tangible value proposition named “the Studio”. This startup studio model for BMI is designed to scout technologies, ideate and validate radical venture ideas, assemble the ideal founding teams, and provide ongoing support to ensure growth. It aims to mitigate risks associated with the three identified pillars by involving a diverse mix of individuals in the founding teams, offering initial investment, and support with studio services. The outcome includes a pitch deck to communicate the studio model’s benefits to stakeholders, a minimum viable organization structure with necessary roles and capabilities, financial forecasts, and a roadmap for implementing the studio model at BMI. ... Read more

This thesis describes the development of a bedside system concept for monitoring the microcirculation of intensive care patients.

Microcirculation refers to the smallest blood vessels in the body, including capillaries, arterioles, and venules. These tiny blood vessels facilitate the exchange of oxygen, nutrients, and waste products between the blood and the surrounding tissues. Microcirculation is critical for maintaining the health of tissues and organs, and any disruption in this process can lead to a variety of health problems.

In the past decades, new techniques have been developed to visualise and study the microcirculation. One of these techniques is the hand-held vital microscope. It is a portable video microscope that can visualise superficial microcirculation, such as in the mouth. These hand-held vital microscopes have been used for research purposes, but due to limitations, these devices are not suitable yet for routine clinical applications.

Braedius Medical, a manufacturer of hand-held vital microscopes has commissioned this project to use their technology to develop a new device implementation. The goal is to solve the limitations of these hand-held microscopes with the intent of creating a sustainable competitive edge and long-term profitability.

The research consisted of a discovery phase to get a better understanding of the project context such as the physiology of microcirculation and the technology landscape.

This was followed by an analysis phase to get in-depth insights such as user pains and needs and the strengths and weaknesses of the company.

These insights were used to develop the concept vision: a hands-free automated monitoring system for the ICU that uses camera probes placed on the patient’s skin for video acquisition. Finally, a roadmap was made to visualise the strategic planning of all the key steps that need to be made in order to achieve this concept vision.
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In this graduation thesis, the evolution of Adidas's product development process is explored, focusing on the introduction of a Adizero footwear Fuzzy Front-End aimed at enhancing brand credibility and user experience through agile, user-centric design methods. This stage, a crucial part of the development of Adidas Adizero Footwear, prioritizes functional prototypes and utilizes athletes’ performance data to inform design before products enter the marketing phase.

An in-depth context analysis illuminates Adidas’ intricate organizational structure, brand categorization, and the history and innovative essence of the Adizero franchise. This analysis lays the groundwork for exploring the fuzzy front-end (FFE) stage, where challenges such as neglect of individual consumer needs and complexities in the initial development stages are underscored, and opportunities like well-balanced stakeholder engagement, participatory design methods, and data-enabled engagement approaches are identified.

In seeking to resolve identified challenges, novel stakeholder engagement strategies are devised, promoting dynamic understanding and interaction amongst stakeholders beyond traditional managerial definitions. Innovative tools and methods, such as the ‘Superpower Element Sticker,’ are developed to encourage co-creation and facilitate the formulation of new engagement strategies. At the same time, analyses and pilot testing sessions ensure the practical applicability of proposed solutions.

This research highlights the delineation of a novel conceptual design framework, aimed at enabling effective multi-stakeholder co-creation in the Fuzzy Front-end of Adizero Footwear. Then a new process design, based on the conceptual design framework in a co-creation workshop, integrates innovative data tunnels allowing varied stakeholders, including consumers, marketers, and developers, to actively contribute insights and refine the design throughout different seasons and stages of footwear creation. Emphasizing clarity and data visualization, this proposed framework, while innovative, necessitates strategic navigation through technological constraints and alignment with Adidas's methodologies to ensure feasibility and optimal contribution to the enhancement of the footwear design process. ... Read more

This thesis investigates how strategic design contributes to the venturing architecture of New Business Development at Philips Domestic Appliances (DA). Based on eight in-depth interviews and a six-month embedding, a new co-designed venturing architecture is introduced (Figure 1). The proposed architecture guides innovation teams and executives at Philips DA to build the capabilities and processes for venturing into new territories of consumer value. Additionally, the new architecture reflects the newly established vision of the New Business Creation & Scaling (NBX) team and integrates a new ‘value shaping’ perspective, based on original research findings.

As Philips Domestic Appliances was disconnected from Royal Philips in 2021, the need for new ‘ventures’ emerged in order to remain a leading innovator in the domestic appliances industry. The key questions are what new business opportunities to pursue and how to increase success in bringing meaningful innovation, fostering a forward-looking culture, and facilitating the development of new skills & capabilities. Eight in-depth interviews shed light on the current new business development practice at Philips DA. Four baseline results that highlight areas for further analysis were identified: ‘daring culture’, ‘consumer value’, ‘future visioning’, and ‘design strategy.’

Based on these baseline results, an inductive analysis yielded three themes: ‘Using design to unlock new value spaces’ (I), ‘Insight-driven value shaping’ (II), and ‘Visions that embrace risk’ (III). These themes orient venturing as a design-driven endeavor, in which consumer value is not only anticipated but actively shaped. Through co-design, the concept of insight-driven value shaping was developed into a new framework. The framework visualizes how the interface between an insight-driven perspective (e.g. trends, consumer needs), and a value shaping perspective (e.g. visions, value spaces) supports the client to identify new ‘seed’ opportunities.

This thesis adopts a design-driven venturing perspective and positions design-driven venturing as a subdomain of new business development. In discussing how NBX can pursue its vision of becoming an industry-leading venturing arm, the distinction between inbound change (how the environment changes Philips DA) and outbound change (how Philips DA can change its environment) clarifies how change affects NBX. The new architecture allows NBX to continuously adapt its practice and re-align capabilities and processes to cater to changing contexts of new business development, both inbound and outbound. ... Read more

The client of the project is Quincy Dalh, who works in organizations supporting job seekers with their job searching journey. He organized the project brief that aims to develop ideas for an online job-matching platform that brings healthy changes to the hiring process. He gave a working title for the platform called HelloCareer. Quincy’s focus was on addressing the issues around bias and communication gaps in hiring and giving autonomy over self-representation to job seekers - their ability to choose and control how they communicate their skills, motivation, personality, and experience.

Diving into the scene, the problems that Quincy mentioned related more to CV than to other hiring tools. Companies have to process the biggest number of applicants in the application stage since it is open to everyone. Therefore, applicants can only deliver written forms that recruiters screen in a few seconds without any communication. Because what they can tell is limited, and they never get feedback, applicants feel that they are not respected. The problem for companies is that they may miss the talents that are hard to identify in the application. Based on the given situation, the project’s goal was determined: how to allow job seekers to self-represent in their CV.

The project followed the double diamond design process. The first step was conducting desk research to explore the context, and the key takeaway from the desk research on the hiring process was seeing how different steps and recruitment tools are intertwined. The materials and tools are often used over multiple steps. Thus, the design direction for Hello Career was determined: a platform that covers the entire job searching journey supporting a seamless experience. Employees nowadays keep changing jobs which means the job searching journey keeps ongoing. The platform will help the users document their work-life regularly so that they can whenever start the job search in a prepared and constructive manner.

Interviews and a creative session were conducted to discover the job seeker’s needs for the main research focus, self-representation on CV, and each step of the journey. Converging techniques were used to bring the gathered ideas and insights into concrete ideas.

The solution to the primary research goal was derived: an interactive online CV. A job seeker can form a bigger picture of who one is by connecting the experiences. Interactive elements and media content support delivering the story clearly. The CV would stay as an online page while being processed and screened. It would make the process transparent for applicants. The result highlights the job seeker’s need for a platform that takes care of the entire job search journey and provides transparency in screening. By showing the potential of going online, the final design also suggests a new role for a CV.

Due to the capacity, the project only focused on job seekers’ perspectives and needs on the issue. Thus, further research and product iteration should take place to utilize the product.
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Vanderlande Industries is global market leader in logistic process automation at airports, the parcel industry and warehousing market. However in order for them to stay a global leader Vanderlande and keep the innovation standard high, they started developing a set of design roadmapping workshops called The Long Now (TLN) project The TLN is a project that developed a set of design roadmapping workshops, which resulted in a future vision together with a set of new product service concepts for the airports platform. Having the results, the team working on TLN was looking for a way to present them to the board of Vanderlande. But therefore the results of these roadmapping workshops had to be made more tangible. And this graduation project aims to develop a smart design strategy roadmap, which has the ability to internally align Vanderlande Industries with the long now (TLN) project.

In order to come to the right design strategy method I first performed research in three directions: Research on Vanderlande and the way operating within the company, research on design roadmapping and finally research on smart roadmapping.

Having performed this research I came to the conclusion that there had to be made an interactive platform which displays the results and needs to be adjustable, accessible and connectable. Knowing this I developed a design strategy method based on website design and user experience containing six steps.

The six steps went as followed: first user classification in which you determine the end-user. Second, user class description in which you find the user needs. Thirdly comes the object modelling of the scope, looking at the content and functional requirements of the smart design roadmap. The fourth step includes the object modelling of the structure. Fifth is navigational design, aiming at the way you can walkthrough the roadmap and finally was implementation design. This is where you created the actual look and feel of the smart design roadmap.

After performing these 5 steps it was still an iterative proces in which I co-designed the smart design roadmap with multiple people before I came to my final design.

But when I came to my final design, I was able to conclude that when performing the six steps of the design strategy I was able to develop a smart design roadmap that internally aligned Vanderlande with TLN and it became a lot more tangible due to supportive technologies, new partnerships and well visualised solution development.

I do still recommend however to validate both the results from the TLN workshops as well as the smart design roadmap with more people within Vanderlande as this currently only has been done by the team working on TLN. ... Read more

For innovation to happen, organisations must design environments - internal and externally. This demands identification, analysis and reflection of external developments in relation to the creation of appropriate processes, structures, culture and vision within the organisation. Within this context, Board of Innovation, an independent business design and innovation firm, is willing to undertake a transformation that prepares them for the present and future challenges of the world; aspiring to become a thriving Strategy and Innovation firm.

This Master Thesis presents a journey of exploration through the internal and external environments in which the organisation operates and provides with new organisational processes that will reshape the present and the future of Board of Innovation; strategically creating new structures that focus on the learning experience of current and new employees of the organisation.
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) has permeated every part of our world. It discovers new molecules, recommends what to watch and informs many business decisions everyday. There it has also become part of hiring, where recruiters are in need of more efficiency. The digital age has caused the amount of applications per position to skyrocket, while organisations have noticed that in the last decades an increasing amount of their value generation is directly connected to their people. Vendors market AI systems as intelligent workers that can help human resources (HR) departments find the best people efficiently. Different systems help with analytics, writing, assessments or video interviews, where participants answers questions from an AI system on their computer.

With the implementation of AI systems, there are often ethical problems involved. Biases are often hidden in the data or algorithm, that may cause people to be unfairly treated by an AI system. But AI interviews have another ethical problem that has gotten relatively little attention: autonomy over self-representation.

During an interview, you always want to show your best side and focus on your strengths and best experiences. You know better than anyone else what you can do and therefore it is important that you are able to represent yourself. But AI interviews interfere with that self-representation because they make assumptions on what you mean before they present that information to a recruiter. Also, by nature AI systems can only work directly with quantitive data, so how are you sure that your meaning of ‘teamwork’ was properly processed?

This project uses a novel approach of Value Sensitive Design in combination with
a different framework for generative prototypes to find a solution to this problem. Generative prototypes focus on generating hypotheses to further understanding. Here they were used with provocation in multiple iterations to elicit the values that people have about self-representation in hiring.

Those findings were synthesised into a new process that helps applicants maintain autonomy over self-representation through conveying feedback so they understand how well they are doing, through steering the interpretation of their answers and by keeping regular interviews to ensure the right nuance still arrives at the recruiter. This process was evaluated with another generative prototype, which informed the final three design requirements for AI interview systems in hiring: integrating feedback into the interview, managing expectations and assumptions and building in options for escalation.

In this way, the first steps are made for designing better AI systems that respect the autonomy over self-representation of applicants. ... Read more

Vanderlande Industries B.V. is the global market leader for future-proof logistics process automation at airports and in the parcel market and the leading supplier of process automation solutions for warehouses. Vanderlande gained its number one market position from constant innovation and making great quality products, meeting the question of the customer and coming from a technology-driven perspective. However, to stimulate their innovation, bridge existing knowledge silos, and be ready for VUCA Worlds, Vanderlande wants to have the right creative response. Through a series of collaborative workshops, a group of Vanderlande employees from different departments is guided through the process of Design Roadmapping called The Long Now. The scope of this project is Traveling in Europe process will focus on centralizing the passenger, instead of the airport as a driver for innovation and value. Furthermore, there is a plan to use the workshops also for other domains, e.g. parcels and warehousing. This led to the initial research question: “How to create a digital process of Design Roadmapping in which the passenger is central for Vanderlande and that could be transmitted to different domains?”

Through a theoretical background, the design of The Long Now can be separated into three different levels: Firstly, The Long Now Process design, on this level all design choices regarding the process and outline of the workshops are defined, including the involvement of senior management. Secondly, the strategic workshop design, on this level is the design of the strategic workshops necessary to build the design roadmap. And lastly, the knowledge design. The workshops are for non-designers, so the needed design research was done beforehand and served as input for the different strategic workshops. On all three levels, guidelines were created as a foundation to design for these layers.
Secondly, because of the existing knowledge silos within Vanderlande and the externally created design knowledge that needs to be adopted by the participants, knowledge barriers within the group can occur. Knowledge boundaries happen when ideas are so novel that a new language, interpretation, or interest is needed. Therefore, the right design frames and tools for knowledge crossing are necessary. All these different insights are transformed in a design goal:
“Design the process, strategic workshops, and content for “The Long Now” that is transmittable to different domains following the created guidelines and that helps in crossing any existing knowledge boundaries by designing the tools/ frames/ methods for this.”

Through continuous iteration loops, the workshops and the necessary design frames were first tested and redesigned, to make sure that the flow of the workshop and the knowledge crossing elements were optimal. The final design of the Long Now is a set of Design Roadmapping workshops that is ready to be transmitted to the next domain of airports. Based on this first version of the workshop, a set of recommendations is written for the next Long Now, which will take place in other domains.

In addition to this research, the strategic workshops also produced outcomes regarding the scope of Traveling in Europe, which resulted in a future vision statement for Vanderlande: In 2050, Vanderlande orchestrates seamless, sustainable connections for every journey.
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The current pandemic has drastically changed the primary care field. Suddenly, GP practices had to implement more digital or ‘care at a distance’ methods to keep interacting with patients. This was reflected by the strong increase in telephone consults and practices that used video calling for the first time. However, the sudden digital experience is not welcomed with open arms by patients and caregivers. 47% of the patient express that they are not positive about ‘care at a distance’ modalities (Meurs, 2020b), and approximately only a quarter of caregivers want to intensify e-consultation methods after the pandemic (Keuper, 2020). It is quite likely that after this pandemic, both groups return to the previous status quo, regardless of the benefits that eHealth and e-consultation can provide. The goal of this graduation project was to increase the adoption of e-consultation in primary care together with IZER. The graduation project followed the roadmapping process, starting with an analysis consisting of a literature study, qualitative interviews, and observations. During the research, caregivers and patients were thoroughly analysed to search for trends and wishes about (digital) primary care. The major discovered trends were the need for higher efficiency in the process due to the high effort of digitalisation, the demanded shift in control to the patient, the need for accessibility for the patient, the wish for digital to support the process, and the need for good communication. The result is DagKo: the Data-driven complaint support for patients in primary care (Data-gedreven Klacht Ondersteuning). DagKo is a software service that supports patients to do their triage independently and guides them towards the best next step concerning their complaint and medical history. The service uses data from previous patients with similar situations to analyse the most efficient and effective methods in a specific situation. Additionally, new consultation options are added to enhance the right care in the right situation. These additions consist of a data-driven virtual doctor, a monitoring program and a quickly accessible doctor service. The needs and wishes of the patients and caregivers were translated into DagKo. The software provides increased accessibility and control for the patients. It is an app that listens carefully to the user and gives options for the best suitable care. Because of the smart use of data, caregivers will be supported with suitable advice during their triage. Caregivers just have to confirm the suggested modality. This will result in an increase in efficiency for the caregivers, letting them give more attention to patients that need it by spending less time on simple situations. During the user-testing, patients experienced the two characteristics of the concept, the option to choose and data-driven advice based on effectiveness and efficiency, as positive. The additional modalities were ranked relatively positively, but due to the futuristic aspects were also harder to grasp. Caregivers also expressed support for the concept of DagKo. The caregiver acknowledged the potential of the gain in efficiency and it was recognized that the service is especially useful for filtering easier complaints. ... Read more

Pyropower is a startup active in the field of biochar systems. Pyropower is active in the country of Malawi (Africa) and Indonesia where Pyropower is proposing new technology to farmers to solve their problems. In June 2020, Pyropower launched Europe project, and in European context as well, Pyropower wants to implement the biochar system. This thesis focusses on introduction of Pyropower in the European market. This project develops a near future plan as well as far future plan for Pyropower to establish the business in European context. Accordingly, a near future business plan, a far future business plan, service design, future user interaction and roadmap is provided which covers the assignment questions.

The method of vision in product design is used along with blue ocean strategy to make sure the position of Pyropower is distinctive, futuristic, connected to Pyropower's mission as well as socially responsible. The value modelling blueprint, business model canvas, strategic roadmapping tools are used to generate revenue models, business models and roadmap for Pyropower. The future context created using ViP method can be used for other designing projects as well, with suitable domain definition.

The deconstruction phase identifies problems associated with introduction of biochar systems and looks at Pyropower and context. The insights are used to identify capabilities of Pyropower as well as competitors. The ERRC(Eliminate- Raise-Reduce-Create) framework from blue ocean strategy is used to identify the blue ocean. Accordingly, Community Supported Agricultures (CSAs) are identified as the possible blue ocean. Later on, through ViP construction phase, A future practice is identified and a service is designed (digital platform) which connects to the future practice. With the use of value modelling blueprint and business model canvas, related revenue model and business models are designed. A feasibility study shows reasons for Pyropower to enter the market of CSAs. The feasibility study involves reasoning based on economical, organisational, operational as well as technical criteria. A connection between CSA and Pyropower is explained, to provide sufficient reasoning for entering a new domain.

In the end, the concepts are presented to Pyropower and documented in the report. A discussion, reflection and conclusion part discusses the overall process, results, recommendations. Overall, the idea is accepted by Pyropower and are willing to kickstart the project. ... Read more

Derako is a company specialized in designing and manufacturing wooden suspended ceilings, wall panels and façade panels. Derako faces the challenge of high production of waste, over 50% of their bought wood ends up as waste, additionally over 6500 kilograms of plastic waste is being produced. In their industry, Derako is not alone. The construction industry is considered a highly polluting industry, responsible for 50% of all raw material usage and 35% of the CO2 generated in the Netherlands. The industry is reacting by slowly adopting ways to improve their sustainable performace. One of the main topics is the Circular Economy. This thesis will provide an answer to the research question at hand, namely, how can Derako become a more sustainable business in the future? It will aim to do so by closely collaborating with Derako employees, to ensure a good fit. In order to fully understand the industry Derako is operating in, a thorough analysis has been conducted. Several stakeholders in their process, such as architects, contractors and installers have been interviewed, alongside several employees of Derako. The sales process of Derako proves to be complex, several of the aforementioned stakeholders influence the decision making, while their interests vary greatly. As the construction industry is developing, several trends are showing. An analysis of these trends has uncovered potentially interesting directions for Derako to pursue. The Circular Economy would be the foundation of this development, as it shows to be a highly relevant and promising topic in the industry, providing many options for product development. Together with Derako, through the means of co-creations session, the trend directions were discussed. The direction of flexible and modular buildings was deemed most relevant to develop into a vision. During this co-creation, participants set out to develop a vision which would be guiding for the strategy and roadmap. During the development of the strategy, the vision would be split in two parts. One part focussing on waste reduction, the other focussing on a circular product line. The waste reduction plan has been developed as a method to provide tangible handles for waste reduction. The current waste streams, mainly wood and plastic waste have been mapped roughly. Tests have been designed to collect more detailed information on those waste streams. The waste reduction plan sets specific goals in three horizons with the final horizon ending in 2030. For the non-renewable waste, a reduction of 50% has been set, as for wood waste a reduction of 90% has been set. In these goals, finding high value applications for the wood waste is also considered a reduction. The circular product roadmap describes the development of a circular product line, in which a standardized product is central. This product minimizes variation on materials, sizes and finished, therefore creating a product that facilitates easy reuse. Alongside the circular product line, a return shipping method has been developed. This has been treated facilitate wasteless shipping of Derako product, drastically reducing the amount of plastic and wood waste. Combined, the waste reduction plan and circular product roadmap provide Derako with practical handles to drastically increase sustainable performance. ... Read more

Scania is a Swedish manufacturer of trucks, busses and marine engines. With more than a hundred years of manufacturing experience Scania has built a track record of highly reliable and energy efficient trucks. Over the years Scania has been expanding its offering with maintenance services and later with data driven services to assist their clients in their daily operations. This thesis proposes an innovation strategy and service proposition for building on these data driven services.

The transport system is currently undergoing a transformation, led by trends like electrification, digitalization and connectivity. These trends have effects on how the value network of transport and logistics is organised and offer space for new business models. For Scania this means that there are opportunities to rethink favourable positioning in the value chain and develop business models, related to data driven services. To explore these potential new business models and positioning, this thesis aims to create a strategy, captured in a roadmap, supported by a new service proposition captured in a use case.

To create an according strategy and service proposition the internal environment and customers, value network, consumer context, market trends, technologies were analysed. These aspects formed the foundation for defining a strategic direction and future vision on data driven services. With this project the decision was made to narrow down to one specific application of transport to be able to provide more focus and in depth contextualisation. The chosen application was cooled transport for grocers, due to the perishable nature goods and transformation towards e-commerce. The future vision that was developed based on the insight gathered is: “Providing carefree cooled logistics.”

With this future vision a new service concept was developed that supports grocers in operating their logistics operations carefree by enhancing trust, increasing transparency and operational efficiency. This is accomplished by a combination of load sharing and secured data sharing, in which blockchain technology plays a key role. The concept was captured in a service blueprint and further illustrated in a use case.

Finally the concept has been captured in a roadmap, to build a pathway towards reaching the designated vision of providing carefree cooled logistics. Although the service concept and roadmap are targeted at cooled transport for grocers, some needs and principles are transferable to other applications of transport, creating potential opportunities for service development in other applications of transport.

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A vision that aims to inspire a change in mindset for Experience Consulting This project presents a foresight exercise performed to uncover the future of Experience Consulting for the PwC Experience Center. The outcomes of the foresight exercise ask for a future that emphasizes our sense of humanity when designing experiences for humans. This future aims to reach collective wellbeing for people and the planet. The future was turned into the vision ‘’There is no experience without humanity’’ through a cross-country, co-creation effort. In order to inspire action, a value proposition was built on a systemic change of mindset from human-centered design to humanity-centered design. To integrate the change towards humanity-centered design, three things were designed: a service offering, a strategy playbook, and a design guide/toolkit were designed. This project gives a glimpse at how the future of Experience Consulting could look like and how it would be used in practice. My contribution to the Experience Consulting practice Through this project, I made three contributions: First, by developing a foresight exercise to understand the impacts of the future of human experience on individuals, society, and client industries. Second, by proposing a value proposition with a vision on the future of Experience Consulting to pivot towards a mindset shift from human-centered to humanity-centered design through systemic change. Third, by designing a strategy playbook/toolkit that brings humanity-centered design to practice activated through a systemic change strategy. These contributions have the aim to extend the position of the PwC Experience Consulting team, in the Netherlands and across the globe. ... Read more

The Dutch healthcare system is currently under a lot of stress. Contemporary social, technological, economic and political trends demonstrate an emerging pressure on both primary and secondary care. The trend with the most profound impact, is the growing amount of chronically ill patients, causing a high pressure on the workforce and on limited resources. Additionally, during the past number of years, healthcare costs have been growing substantially. Simultaneously, people expect more services and more involvement in their health. Partly caused by those trends, Heart for Health seeks for a solution to work towards a "future where remote healthcare prevents unnecessary CVRM patient visits at general practices". But, it has been found that there are currently many obstacles to be overcome for the implementation of such solutions. This thesis aims to create a complete overview of the complex environment where Heart for Health is currently working in. Even though all stakeholders strive to work towards a healthier population, many conflicts of interests were found. Besides, the concerned stakeholders have complex expectations and desires, that are not easily satisfied. Like others, Heart for Health has experienced that overcoming those obstacles is challenging. The aim of this thesis is to research and propose how Heart for Health can create new business within the general practitioner sector. Therefore, an extensive research has been done into the current care pathway of CVRM patients and the desires of the stakeholders. In order to create a comprehensive overview, many stakeholders were involved throughout this project. A product vision has been created to formulate what a product for monitoring CVRM patients at general practitioners should contain. Besides, multiple requirements were found to develop such products. This thesis discusses why Heart for Health is currently struggling with the development and implementation of their pilot. And explores how this struggle could be overcome by taking a more customer centered approach. To do so, an explorative session has been executed to find opportunities for creating new values. This exploration has led to a proposal for a more comprehensive product than Heart for Health is currently making. To realise the development of this product, a step-by-step approach has been proposed. It is argued that Heart for Health should first focus on creating a product for patients before including general practitioners. The proposed approach is translated into a roadmap, describing the different steps that Heart for Health can use to work towards the future that they envision. This thesis strives to give a realistic and strategic perspective on the proposed solution by repeatedly testing on desirability, feasibility and viability. ... Read more

Scania is one of the world-leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transport, combined with an extensive product-related service offering. This thesis proposes a data-driven service innovation strategy to leverage the potential of data and data intelligence for Scania's future business in the truck segment. The freight transport industry is significantly disrupted by trends such as digitalization, automation, connectivity and electrification. These trends will restructure the value network of the freight transport industry by creating new ways of doing business. Enabled by connectivity and data intelligence, vehicle data can be aggregated and processed to provide data insights that benefit the logistics chain. It unlocks new opportunities for Scania to deliver new digital services driven by data, extending beyond their traditional business model. Therefore, to fully exploit the possibilities of the value pools created by data, the thesis aims to create an innovation strategy to define Scania's new market positions and customers and create a coordinated roadmap for Scania's future data-driven services.This strategy has been developed by analyzing the internal environment, the value network of the freight transport industry, the logistics chain, market trends and technologies. Insights from research have been synthesized to envision the future scenarios of the value network and define Scania's strategic direction. In the short term, Scania delivers digital logistics services to shippers and carriers, enabling them to achieve efficient and sustainable transport operations collaboratively by data sharing. In the long term, Scania aims to offer Logistics as a service with autonomous vehicles directly to shippers by partnering with a digital logistics broker. A future vision has been created for Scania's service development by 2030: "Scania as a sustainable transport ecosystem enabler, providing customers collaborative and optimized logistics solutions powered by open innovation to drive their business forward." To reach the future vision, four main service systems were designed incrementally and related to other technologies:1. Connecting & Sharing: Enable visible and controllable transport operation for both carriers and shippers through seamless data orchestration and sharing.2. Optimizing transport operations: Delivering sustainable and efficient logistics and transport management services to customers via data-driven decision making and integration of digital logistics brokerage platforms.3. EV transition Acceleration: Accelerating the transition to electrified vehicles by providing customers effortless transport experience with smart routing and power charging services.4. Logistics as a Service with autonomous vehicles: Transforming towards the transport ecosystem enabler by providing Logistics as a Service with autonomous vehicles.The strategy is presented in the format of a roadmap with all the elements such as trends, user values, service systems, technologies and business. By following this path and delivering these data-driven services to the market, Scania can create multi-dimensional business models and shift from a truck OEM (original equipment manufacturer) to a service provider with production. ... Read more

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is the main international airport in the Netherlands, being the third busiest airport in Europe in terms of passenger volumes (Insideflyer, 2020). All these passengers spent most of their time behind the security check in the terminal, waiting for their aircraft to depart. In this area, passengers are encouraged to spend their money (Kaplan, 2018). Schiphol offers many different retail, and food and beverages stores where the passengers’ needs can be met. The sale of goods in the terminal is Schiphol’s largest source of income (Schiphol, 2020). The passenger volumes at Schiphol have been growing in the last few years and are expected to keep growing in the coming years (CBS, 2018 and Schiphol, 2020). Growth in the passenger volumes causes both the passenger and goods flows to increase. In addition, there are many other streams in the terminal. In order to ensure that passengers are not hindered by these flows and all logistics processes take place in a safe manner, the logistics process will need to be set up differently. Schiphol is dealing with a complex environment, where there is no greenfield and solutions will have to be found within the current infrastructure. Therefore, the goal of my graduation project was to develop a new logistics concept for Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in 2030 with a focus on the passenger experience and safety norms. Various design methods and tools have been used to research the current logistics process, the values of stakeholders and trends that may play a role in the future of the logistics process. Based on these results, a future vision for the logistics process has been designed for 2030. The future vision contains that Schiphol will have to facilitate and control the logistics process in 2030, using a connected chain and autonomous processes. In order to meet the passenger experience and safety norms, it is mainly important that Schiphol gets control over the logistics flows to Schiphol, control in the logistics streets and control over the logistics flows to the terminal. In order to achieve the future vision, idea mapping sessions have been organised, from which the new logistics concept has been created. Both a strategic and tactical roadmap have been designed, in which service propositions work towards the new logistics concept in three horizons. These propositions take into account the various suppliers involved in the logistics concept and offer a new logistics concept for each of them. The new logistics process centralises the logistics processes to a Logistics Centre in the Schiphol area, from where Schiphol takes full control with the Schiphol Logistics Service and delivers all goods to the terminal. By centralising the logistics processes and making one logistics party responsible for the logistics process, the number of logistics flows in the logistics streets and the terminal will be reduced, thereby benefiting the passenger experience and safety norms. ... Read more