I’m a designer & developer who loves working on innovative projects.

I’m a motivated, flexible and enthausiastic interaction & user-experience designer and full-stack developer with a wide range of interests in the IT-world, especially voice technology. Currently, I’m freelancing for various companies, providing them with deeply integrated systems and great online appearances.

Ever since I can remember, I have been interested in design and technology. As I entered high school, about 12 years old, I was opening up my Asus EEE Laptop and installing a custom touchscreen panel over the display, so I could use a new way to interact with my laptop. It was also at this time I first started programming in HTML, CSS and Javascript, and before I knew I was building the first website for the non-profit organisation of my grandfather.

Nearing the end of my high school graduation, I had to decide on the continuation of my studies. I found the ‘Information and Communication Technologies’ (ICT) bachelor in Eindhoven, a flexible program in which I could explore all aspects of ICT (IT) and decide the directions in which I would like to specialise. After half a year, I decided on following ‘Media Design’ as the main subject of my studies. ICT & Media Design focusses on creative thinkers and creators, challenging them to be inventive, experiment and apply different methods of research. Students are constantly looking to create new and valuable applications for projects, based on IT. It taught me critical thinking about the role of all types of media in our society, and how to apply my talents in the current landscape. During the 4-year studies, I learned a ton about software development, all kinds of user experience design & testing, creative thinking, design skills (including photography, videography etcetera), concepting, and project based working.

After the first year of the bachelor, I was admitted to the Delta Excellence Program, which allowed me to apply all my knowledge in real-life projects in collaboration with businesses in the Netherlands, instead of just fulfilling the regular program exercises.

For my graduation internship I did a project at Greenhouse Group LABS, the innovation department of a 500-employee online advertising agency in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. I researched how users could have optimal interaction with branded content on voice assistants, such as the Google Assistant, through smart speakers. This new interface allows users to interact with systems using their voice, one of the most natural forms of human interaction. Roles are now switched as computers will have to learn how to converse with humans, instead of humans learning how to interact with a computer interface. This required thorough research on both human-computer interaction and new ways of programming using machine learning and Google’s Artificial Intelligence.

After graduating, I started working as a Conversational Designer and Developer at the same company. I’m creating innovative conversational agents on the Google Assistant for large clients such as ING, Volvo, Auping and IKEA, focussing on creating optimal UX centered processes, using experience tests and other tools such as A/B testing. At the same time, I’m developing a framework/ architecture for the constantly expanding ‘chatbots’, preparing the company its conversational startup for the Smart Speaker and Virtual Personal Assistant boom.

Even though I was happy working at Greenhouse Group, I felt the urge to start studying again and do a masters program, to expand my knowledge and specialisation. As I loved my Erasmus exchange to Sweden, I looked in the nordics for a program that sparked my interest. I applied to various programs, but chose to go to Tampere, Finland to study Human-Technology Interaction with a specialisation in Speech Interfaces. My studies focussed on the human & psychological side of Human-Computer Interaction, which opened my eyes to the value of good interface design and an optimised user experience. For my thesis, I reasearched non-verbal communication in instant messaging, and how voice interfaces such as the Google Assistant or Siri influence the manner we experience emotion in messages. If you're interested, you can read it here.

Now that I've graduated, I'm open to work oppertunities and traineeships! If you're interested, let's connect on LinkedIn and meet up for a (virtual) cup of coffee!