Why Timon chose our Digital Innovator program as a Designer

Timon has a background in Communication & Multimedia design. He’s a designer with experience in User Interfaces and User Experience and worked as a product designer at companies such as Onlineslagen and citizenM.

Timon, why did you choose for the Digital Innovator Program?

The extensive training and coaching options. I wanted to delve more deeply into my professional and personal development and when I was applying I figured out you’ll get to do this at TTI, unlike ​‘regular jobs’ or other programs. So far this has proven to be true! I also wanted to build a portfolio quickly by doing projects for large companies.

What characterizes you as a person / Digital Innovator?

I’m always trying to find out why we do something and I often ask myself this in daily life. I think that, as a Digital Innovator, this is very beneficial to me. Don’t always think something is just ​‘logical’. This can lead to new insights which might lead to improvements.

There’s a good example of an architect who had to build a path at a school campus. Instead of immediately building the path, he let the students walk on the lawn for a while. Wherever the grass wore away, he later built a path. Those were apparently the most logical shortcuts to take. That’s how I try to look at user experiences, what does the user really want? And why do they want it that way? In practice, these questions aren’t really easy to answer, but I enjoy trying to solve this puzzle.

Timon, you started the Digital Innovator program as a Designer, how did your first 2 weeks go?

I see the program as a safe place to rehearse for future assignments. I’ve noticed that I forgot about some tools and canvases and by doing this program you get to put them back into practice.

It feels like a very well thought of program and I feel that once I’ve completed it I’m ready to begin with my first assignments. You also get the chance to ask a lot of questions so that you can learn how to improve things.