“ Internship at a user-centered design agency ”
Muzus is a user-centered design agency based in The Hague. The company focuses on developing innovations based on end-user needs. By making use of creative techniques, research is done into user experience and context. On this basis Muzus develops products, services or strategies. During a four month internship I have partaken in various activities and projects at Muzus. In this period I have worked on two tasks independently. First one, being involved with the organization of a workshop for master student of the Design Academy.
In order to give Design Academy students experience in user-centered design techniques, Muzus invited them to co-work on a project of the council The Hague. During a two-day workshop we worked on a social related topic: homeless men in the district Transvaal, some of which addicted to alcohol. The first day the students were introduced to quality and creative research methods, which were put in practice by gathering information about the life and context of the homeless men. The second days the insights were translated into concepts. At the end of the day the results were presented to both the council and the homeless men, who responded very enthusiastic to the new ideas!
The second main task I have been involved with is designing an online tool for Muzus. The tool helps Muzus to gather information about the users and their context. It will be used by participants as a sort of scrapbook to share thoughts and ideas. I have worked on the graphical appearance of the tool and the functionality of the interface.