Mina
My role
AllRound Designer
As the Allround Designer it is my responsibility to do the concepting, usertesting, design and communication around Mina.
The Concept
"It feels like you no longer matter in society"
I set up a test group which I provided with various assignments, including exercises involving mirrors. Almost all participants found that they were more positive about themselves after a week of performing exercises with their reflection. The only exception was an individual who already used a similar technique, who still felt they benefited from the experience.
The future of Mina
Mina has come a long way as a project since those first conversations with our initial target audience. Mina won the Hanneke Schreurs Graduation Award out of a competitive pool of young innovative designers and researchers with an interest in public health. In addition to this, Mina was shown at the Interaction 20 Redux – IxDA Nederland and the WHO congress (WHO European Healthy Cities Network Congres – Arts & Health 8-10 december 2020) conferences.
The aim of Mina at the original point of development was to design a tool to overcome the challenges faced by those over the age of 50 struggling to find work. During the coronavirus pandemic, we realised that this isn’t the only group facing barriers when trying to join the job market. We have therefore expanded our target audience to include young adults at the start of their careers.
To begin the process of bringing Mina to life, I have brought Stephan Spies onto the project as the ‘King of Technology’. We are also proud to announce that we have entered a collaboration with the municipality of Utrecht and the Institute for Positive Health to start to enact real change within these marginalized groups of society.
We are always looking for new collaborators interested in the further development of Mina. Please do get in touch via the ‘Contact’ section of the website for more information.
Publications
IxDA Nederland – Interaction 20 Redux
WHO European Healthy Cities Network Congress “Place, Health and COVID-19” – Arts & Health (private event)
Article about the Hanneke Schreurs Graduation Award 2020 by the Healthmonitor Utrecht
Article about the Hanneke Schreurs Graduation Award 2020 by the HKU