Vera van Beek
Vision
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses”, is what Henry Ford said after he reshaped the car industry. As Ford indicated in his quote, people often don’t know what they want until they have it, being able to show little desire for the, to them, unimaginable. Although innovation can be found in the extension of reality, I believe true impactful and disruptive innovation is often only found in the unfamiliar and potentially, at the moment, absurd. Spacecraft, for example, didn’t even exist until one madman decided mankind was going to set foot on the moon, and now we invest billions of dollars in the aerospace industry. Likewise, electric cars seemed unrealistic until Elon Musk made his vision of the Tesla become reality. This illustrates how transformational technologies often result from unfamiliar, ambitious and sometimes unconventional visions.
Likewise, living in a society that’s in high need of solutions to wicked problems, I believe these solutions, won’t be found in the familiar, it's instead the foreign and unlikely that will unlock novel perspectives and produce transformative solutions. Therefore, I aspire to help designers, engineers, and innovators look beyond the projected future to more alternative futures driven by alternative value sets and ways of thinking and doing. Here, I wish to use design to make the future more tangible, the absurd more realistic, and the unfamiliar more familiar. Consequently, by making the future more visible, audible, and experienceable, I aspire to elevate the design and engineering practice to a new level of open-mindedness, promoting transformation, and disruption.
Creative, System, and Future Thinking
Professional Identity
As a designer, I aspire to operate in the early stages of innovation, creating new technologies and products, and facilitating the integration of technology into our daily lives. I have always had a clear vision regarding projects, societal problems, and life. It's this vision that allows me to spot the trends in our society, easily identify future steps, and anticipate opportunities. Consequently, together with my creative skills and open-minded mindset, I'm able to take original train thoughts, explore new territory and create innovative concepts and products.
In my design processes, I centralize system and future thinking. My design process starts with the development of a deep understanding of the case context and stakeholder network. I prioritize stakeholder involvement allowing me to tailor my solutions to their needs and visions. I’m convinced that especially my active role in society, international experience and open attitude help me to start a conversation with users and stakeholders easily. As a person, I tend to focus on the further future. While deciding on a course of action I’m able to include future developments and project stages in my decision-making process. Here, I don't only limit myself to imagining projected futures, resulting from various media forms, but am able to include the consideration of alternative futures and value sets in my brainstorming sessions, allowing me to generate open-minded, transformational and innovative solutions.
In a team, I tend to take the role of implementer. I’m not afraid to take initiative in order to guide my team towards desiring results. In the design process, I value structure and clear planning. You can rely on me to deliver on time and make sure my team stays on schedule.
