STBY » Bas Raijmakers

Video installations on socio-techno styles

Geke — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 16:34:44 +0000

Chelsea College of Art & Design, University of the Arts London, is hosting an exhibition of video installations on Belonging & Belongings. In December Bas and Geke coached an intensive programme with 25 students MA Graphic Design Communications exploring how people express their identities through their physical and virtual possessions. The exhibition opens on 8 February 2011 and runs until the end of this week.

The student project was part of the ongoing Belonging & Belongings collaboration between STBY and the Critical Design Lab in Kyoto, Japan. Belonging & Belongings is an international and interdisciplinary design research programme, exploring the interrelationship between technology, society and sartorial appearances.

For the exhibition 25 MA Graphic Design Communication students of Chelsea College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London, worked on a two week project in December 2010. Five groups of students made a video installation to express the insights they created from their own fieldwork on the Belonging & Belongings topic. In particular they were interested to find out how people enjoy and struggle with the differences they can create between their online and offline identities.

The results are exciting, not only because great insights were created, but also because the stories of these insights are told in new and inspiring ways. This was possible because the students realised they were not mere data-collectors. In stead, they took up the challenge to tell stories. This is important, because even if design research results in great insights, its value will still be low unless these insights are communicated in a compelling way.

Doing design research includes collecting data, and analysing and reflecting on what you have collected. It then results in insights and ultimately knowledge. This however does not mean that the data and the analysis and reflections should remain separate. What the most projects presented here have succeeded in, is using the data to tell engaging stories about the insights and knowledge they have created.

This is the second Belonging and Belongings project of STBY with Chelsea College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London. The first project in 2009 focused on the magazine as a medium to communicate design research, resulting in 250 printed magazines. The current project explores video installations as a way to communicate design research. With special thanks to Tracey Waller, Course Director MA Graphic Design Communication.

The design research programme of Belonging & Belongings was conceived by three scholars from different backgrounds:

Dr. Geke van Dijk – Strategy Director at STBY London/Amsterdam – specialised in cultural studies and multi-channel social research.

Dr. Daijiro Mizuno – Lecturer and Researcher at Critical Design Lab in Kyoto – specialised in fashion design as a social object and investigates how designers/wearers dress, behave and create their own multiple identities.

Dr. Bas Raijmakers – Creative Director at STBY London/Amsterdam and research fellow at Design Academy Eindhoven – specialised in using documentary film as an analytical and practical means to conduct ethnographic research.

The inclusion of such mixed disciplines in a design research project provokes new approaches to the ways we can understand the complexity of people’s identity in contemporary culture.

For more information on Belonging & Belongings see the project blog.

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Working with Reach to bring cross-cultural research to Cisco

Luke — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 13:59:15 +0000

STBY’s latest project involved working with partners from the Reach Network to compile a report detailing the benefits a cross-cultural research programme could bring to Cisco. Though aware of cross-cultural research in a general sense, Cisco wanted to know the specific business advantages designing for cultural differences could potentially bring. They asked STBY therefore to work with the Reach reports in compiling a report that would detail exactly what they stood to gain, as well as serving as a general introduction to how cultural differences can influence seemingly ‘universal’ products.

This report consisted of a number of compelling case studies that detailed the problems and opportunities encountered by companies already conducting cross-cultural research. Each of these were in turn related to a specific area of Cisco’s business operations. It drew on the personal experience of several Reach partners, providing in-depth analysis of programs undertaken by HP, Philips, General Electric, and Nokia, in territories from North America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

By liaising with members of Cisco’s User Experience Team in San Francisco, STBY were able to tailor the report around their needs. This meant that their final submission was not just a compelling presentation, but also a standalone document that could be circulated internally, allowing the case for cross-cultural research to be made to almost anyone working at Cisco.

If you’d like to hear more about this report, or even learn about how STBY could produce something similar for your own company, then drop Bas a line at bas@stby.eu.

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STBY at the 2010 Service Design Conference, Berlin

Luke — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:34:24 +0000

STBY are heading to Germany this October for the annual conference of the Service Design Network. The conference brings together service companies, public services, universities and Service Design agencies from right across the world. This year’s festival will be held in Berlin on the 13th and 14th of October.

Aimed at people both applying service design principles in the innovation of services, as well as those wanting to learn more about the field, the conference will involve presentations by a number of international experts. One of these will be STBY’s own Geke van Dijk. In collaboration with Marianne Guldbrandsen from the UK Design Council, as well as long-term STBY associates Radarstation and IDEO, Geke will be delivering a keynote speech at the event: “No interdisciplinarity without disciplines”.

Fellow STBY co-founder Bas Raijmakers will also be at the conference, running a workshop on the ‘design documentaries’ format he developed. This will be run in conjunction with a partner from the Reach network, Brazil’s Feel the Future.

The conference is a great way to learn more about how service design is being used ‘out in the wild’. If you happen to see Geke or Bas during the course of the 2 days, make sure you stop them to say hi!

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Visualisation Workshop at the Creative Company Conference

Luke — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 14:35:03 +0000

STBY’s Bas Raijmakers and Froukje Sleeswijk Visser both attended the Creativity Company Conference in Haarlem, The Netherlands, this month. They were there to hold a workshop on the use of visualisation techniques during design research projects aimed at service innovation.

The workshop demonstrated how visualisation of design research – from the earliest possible stages – is essential in ensuring it plays a strategic role in a company. Bas and Froukje outlined eight rules that need to be followed for this to implemented effectively.

One of these rules was “exhibit visualisations in a workshop”; this allows all people involved in the innovation of services from within a company to be part of the conversation about customers. Those participating at the Haarlem workshop got to experience this first-hand, learning how visual tools (which can be as simple as post-its and stickers) can be used to record interviews about personal routines and motives. The participants all in fact interviewed each other, using a set of stickers to document their findings.

STBY’s recent study on attitudes towards water use conducted with Southern Water was then used to demonstrate the service design outcomes visualisation facilitates. If you’d like to know more about this project, or indeed about how to use visualisation more generally, then drop Bas a line at bas@stby.eu.

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Service Design En Espanol

Luke — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:31:40 +0000

Members of STBY’s core team have already had an extensive array of articles relating to service design published in both English and Dutch. This week saw a first however, with the publication of a Spanish language book featuring a chapter from STBY’s Creative Director, Bas Raijmakers.

Bas’ chapter is based on a recent project conducted by STBY which looked at the provision of care services for elderly people. Specifically, Bas addresses the question of how service design can help care organisations adapt their approaches to cope with an ageing population; STBY recently worked with Zuidzorg in the Netherlands to explore the barriers that currently prevent people from accessing care services remotely, as this is one way in which high quality care and support can be provided for large numbers of people.

Publishing articles such as this are one way in which STBY are contributing to the ongoing development of service design theory. Reflecting on what makes each project the company conduct’s a success opens up the nuances of service design methodology to peer review. As the body of literature accompanying the field continues to grow, so does practice in the field become increasingly refined.

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How sticky research drives Service Design

Bas Raijmakers — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:03:24 +0000

At the 2009 Service Design Network conference in Madeira, Bas presented a paper with Andreas Sommerwerk of Deutsche Telekom AG. The title is “How sticky research drives service design,” and the paper was also written by Indri Tulusan of Spur and Julia Leihener, co-director with Andreas of the Creation Center in Berlin. The paper tells the story of how we used little movies throughout a design process for new concepts that enhance community interaction on mobile phones. (PDF, 3.6 Mb)

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Poster Design Documentaries

Bas Raijmakers — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 13:08:16 +0000

by Bas Raijmakers. He summarised and visualised his PhD thesis in this poster that was printed at the occasion of the graduation Show at the Royal College of Art in 2007. The image was modeled after a drawing in his sketchbook that he made when he was exploring different structures for the thesis during writing. RCA Communication students (at the time) Francesco Lanranjo and Catherine Guiral created the eventual graphic design through a series of iterations with Bas. 1000 Copies were printed of which about 700 were handed out in 2007 during the Show. (PDF, 0.5Mb)

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Trackrecord 1993-2003

STBY — Fri, 01 Aug 2003 11:44:35 +0000

The founders of STBY, Geke van Dijk and Bas Raijmakers, have been active in the field of interactive media and technology from the early days of public internet access in Europe. Since 1993 we have been involved in the emerging internet industry and have conducted many research and consultancy projects. As managing directors of ACS-i media research & projects (1993-2000) and of Lost Boys content and usability (2000-2003) we were responsible for the development and execution of all consumer research and copy consultancy.

Clients 2000-2003
Consumer research for: ING bank, Volkswagen, Corus, PCM publishers, Wolters Kluwer publishers, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, National Tax Office, VPRO television, STER, Chello, XS4all, Wanadoo, Boodschappenlijn, Recipeweb, Mentos, Sterpolis.
Copy consultancy for: Unilever, Volkwagen, BBC, Heineken, Dommelsch, CMG, Technical University Delft, University of Amsterdam, Nationale Nederlanden, Wolters Kluwer publishers, Planet Internet, Stageholding, KNMI, DSM.

Clients 1993 – 2000
Consumer research for: Philips, KLM, KPN, Ericsson, Oce, Grolsch, FBTO, Sociale Verzekeringsbank, VSNU, Nuffic, Vitae, Aids Fonds, Scripta Nova.
Copy consultancy for: Postbank, ING Bank, Intel, Libertel, MSD, Unisource, @Home, Foxy Fashion, Autolease Holland, Edon, GAK, Rijkswaterstaat.

Some examples of pionering and ground-breaking projects we co-developed:

Kids Planet: The first large-scale kids-only website in The Netherlands offering news and background stories. We were responsible for both the consumer research and the copy concept. Developed for Planet Internet, in collaboration with Ozlo. (2001)

Towards a user-friendly web: The first conference on usability research in The Netherlands, featuring Jakob Nielsen, Donald Norman, Ben Schneidermann, Brenda Laurel and Bruce ‘Tog’ Tognazzini. Initiated by us and organised in collaboration with Van Dusseldorp ## partners and the magazine EMERCE. (2000)

Netpanel: Development of the first online user panel in the Netherlands, initiated and developed in collaboration with Ruigrok MC. (1997)

Co-NEXUS: EU-funded 2-year R##D project to develop a digital classroom assistant, part of the I3 (Intelligent Information Interfaces) network. Developed in collaboration with public library of Turnhout (Belgium).(1996)

Doors of Perception: Co-ordination of the fourth international conference on design, technology and society for the Netherlands Design Institute. (1996)

Postbank Online: The first Dutch bank with a website for extensive product information and online banking facilities. We were responsible for the content structure and copy concept. Developed in close collaboration with Netcast and EuroRSCG. (1996)

Philips Vision of the Future: Global online research combining focus groups in chat rooms, surveys and sorting methods on electronic devices people might use in their daily life in 2005. (1995)

TADDIV (Trial And Discuss with Digital Interactive Video): Coordination of experimental media education with teenagers editing digital video images of prime time TV to tell about their own lives. (1995)

World Series on Culture and Technology: Co-ordination of international series of lectures on how technology influences our culture. In co-operation with McLuhan Institute (Toronto), Technical University of Delft and Design Institute (Amsterdam). Speakers and audience were located at the participating institutes and discussed the themes via videoconferencing. (1995)

De Digitale Stad (Digital City Amsterdam): Member of founding committee for the first public online platform in the Netherlands. (1994)

Next Five Minutes: Member of organising committee of the first International conference on tactical media (Internet, TV, radio, print). (1993)

ENMCS (European Network for Media and Cultural Studies): Coordination of two readers with proceedings of the annual seminars and initiative to set up the first online environment for support of this academic community. (1992)

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