With this project I graduated from the MSc Industrial Design at Eindhoven University of Technology

In design processes, we often start by distinguishing people as users, concisely defining their differences in terms of clear-cut goals or needs, so we can cater to them. But in reality, people can be peculiar, juxtapositions and the world is increasingly complex.

This is challenging, but also magical: the nearly unfathomable human experience is something you and I both share, but cannot really explain in bullet points. Going beyond specific, stand-alone needs, we could dive deeper into the human motivational landscape by exploring fundamental needs.

The thirteen fundamental human needs as defined by Desmet & Fokkinga (2020), are universal, but individually uniquely experienced. They tie us together as a species, yet our individual fulfilment of them sets us apart on a personal level.

In this project conducted at Emotion Studio, I experimented with using fundamental needs to explore the design context from different perspectives.

Desmet, P., & Fokkinga, S. (2020). Beyond Maslow’s pyramid: introducing a typology of thirteen fundamental needs for human-centered design. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 4(3), 38.