Branches of Play

During this project, I worked on my predefined goals as well as unexpected learning opportunities.

Despite my goals, I realized that open-ended co-creation was not the best fit for this project, which already had a defined direction from the proposal. It stimulated me to adjust and combine co-creation methods to be more directed. Working with children posed an additional challenge, as they are less forgiving when a session is ill-structured; they will truly only return what you bring in. Altogether, I built a solid foundation for co-creation, which I would be keen to explore further, perhaps earlier in the process and with new knowledge better suited to children.

Although I intended to use the RTD process to make my process more academic, I found it more useful as a way to make sense of the design process and decide on future steps. Throughout the process, I would reflect on past design activities and what was lacking to guide next steps. Towards the end, when the design activities were more clearly laid out, I used it less. This project has given me the foundation to guide my activities similarly without actively reminding myself to use the RTD framework. A skill that I could keep using throughout my future career.

An unexpected outcome is how this project has supported me in changing how I work with stakeholders. In the past, I often took the role of pleasing stakeholders, but as I kept up relations with varying stakeholders throughout the project, I learned to communicate my own position and ideas more confidently. It made the conversations more inspiring for both the stakeholder and me. This shift has changed how I view my role as a designer in a collaborative context and will help me, in my future work, to engage stakeholders without compromising my values.

Finally, I would like to reflect on my personal growth throughout the complete master's and how this manifested in this project. Towards the end of a project, I would always be dissatisfied with my work, resulting in poor collaboration (see project 1) or simply a negative association with the project. Due to a stressful FMP proposal, this project had already started with a negative association. However, unlike previous projects, it improved as the project aligned more closely with who I am as a designer. Despite the many ways in which the project could be improved, I respect it as a manifestation of my current skills and interests. I still have considerable room to grow. For instance, what should I do when a project does not closely align with my interests? However, the past two years have shown me that sustained effort results in growth, so I trust that I will continue to grow.