Design research has become a discipline of its own in many organizations. At the same time it remains a key skill for any good service designer, a skill that cuts through all the different design specializations and disciplines. To celebrate the diversity of contexts, methods and challenges in this field we invited the community to this event on design research with two great speakers sharing examples of how design research is being applied in two Dutch settings - a national e-commerce giant, and the municipality of Amsterdam.

Continuous interviewing at bol

Elisa Maira talked about setting up a continuous interviewing process for product discovery at bol. In her presentation, she shared het learnings, tips, ingredients for success, and lessons learned.

Elisa is UX Research Lead at bol. She has a PhD in Consumer Research and 14 years of work experience spanning academia and industry.

Greener and healthier city life

STBY has worked on a series of projects to support the transformation to more sustainable public space in Amsterdam since 2016. It has organized and facilitated a lot of Streetlabs in various parts of the city. Every project generates a clear step towards positive change, though the wider impact is best visible after looking back across projects and time. Who would have thought that underground bicycle parking could be a possibility in a city built on mud? And that limiting the number of spaces for car parking throughout the city could be acceptable?

Geke van Dijk is co-founder and Strategy Director of STBY. Her experience working in Service Design and Design Research spans more than 15 years. She has a background in ethnographic research, user-centered design and service strategy. Her passion is to bring people into the heart and soul of innovation processes, and her strong drive to contribute to positive change in society, have shaped the direction of STBY's portfolio of working on topics such as community participation and inclusivity, as well as sustainability and circular economy.

Discussion and networking

The two talks triggered a lively discussion amongst the attendees, followed up by an informal moment to meet each other, chat and network. 

A word of thanks for Het Rotterdam Collective for hosting us.