Project O challenged us to design a shared team learning experience for students that allowed every member to reflect on what they had learned. The focus is on helping individuals make sense of their insights throughout the projects and connect these to their personal growth and life after the semester. At the same time, the experience should aim to strengthen the team by improving communication, collaboration and understanding of each other during the project.
Client:
Project O Academy
Project O Academy
Year:
2026
2026
Interviews
Gathering insights
Reflection Design
Designing the reflection journey
Creative Writing
Formulating reflection prompts
User Testing
Validating reflection tools
Digital Design
Making a digital game
Documentation
Showcasing the process
Solution
Our concept, the Time Capsule, supports students in reflecting on their learning journey throughout the semester. During Onboarding Week, every student creates a personal Time Capsule. Having students make their own Time Capsule creates ownership and allows them to make it in any form they would like, a jar, an envelope, a sculpture, everything is possible.
Throughout the semester the capsule stays with the student, accompanying them through every project. After each project, students engage in project reflection (also provided digitally here). To help guide the conversation and encourage deeper discussions, reflection cards are provided. Sparking meaningful conversations and helping students gain insights not only about the past, but also about their takeaways for the future.
After the reflection moments, students capture this moment by creating something tangible. This can be letters, drawings, or small prototypes, all stored in the Time Capsule.
This cycle repeats with each project, letting students track their growth over time. At the end of the semester, students take their Time Capsule home, now a tangible record of their personal and academic development.
Learned & Achieved
Although this was our final project, getting started was a bit messy. After reading the initial client briefing, project teams were formed and I joined a team with Olivia and Chaeyoung. Our first meeting with the client quickly revealed that the assignment we had read was different from what they actually wanted us to work on. Our task now was to create a learning tool that we, as Co-Design students, would actually want to use at the start of a semester. Essentially making us our own target audience. This opened a lot of possibilities but also made the assignment feel quite vague.
Together our team began exploring what was missing. We spoke with students from other teams and conducted interviews at the Grafisch Lyceum. From these conversations, we learned that reflection after projects and thinking about the future were areas we wanted to focus on. This helped us narrow our scope and guided our design decisions.
Despite some challenges, like a changing challenge, a week of working from home because of the weather, and limited client involvement, I’m really proud of how our product came to life. Our concept lets students reflect on their projects throughout the semester and see how they grow over time. Actually printing our question cards and seeing them become a tool that can really support students in their learning was exciting. Especially after we heard they might actually be used during the next Co-Design semester.
My role & impact
During this project, my main focus was on shaping how students could reflect on their learning journey through the Time Capsule. I worked on formulating the questions for the reflection cards. Making sure they sparked deeper conversations and encouraged meaningful discussions.
I also facilitated the process of preparing the cards for production. I made sure they were printed correctly and in the right format. To make the experience more flexible for students, I created a digital version of the cards (you can find it here). This way they could continue reflecting even when they weren’t in the studio or after the course ended.
Another part of my contribution was designing the layers and structure of our project box, keeping it consistent with the cards style and showcasing our work clearly.
Solution
Our concept, the Time Capsule, supports students in reflecting on their learning journey throughout the semester. During Onboarding Week, every student creates a personal Time Capsule. Having students make their own Time Capsule creates ownership and allows them to make it in any form they would like, a jar, an envelope, a sculpture, everything is possible.
Throughout the semester the capsule stays with the student, accompanying them through every project. After each project, students engage in project reflection (also provided digitally here). To help guide the conversation and encourage deeper discussions, reflection cards are provided. Sparking meaningful conversations and helping students gain insights not only about the past, but also about their takeaways for the future.
After the reflection moments, students capture this moment by creating something tangible. This can be letters, drawings, or small prototypes, all stored in the Time Capsule.
This cycle repeats with each project, letting students track their growth over time. At the end of the semester, students take their Time Capsule home, now a tangible record of their personal and academic development.
Learned & Achieved
Although this was our final project, getting started was a bit messy. After reading the initial client briefing, project teams were formed and I joined a team with Olivia and Chaeyoung. Our first meeting with the client quickly revealed that the assignment we had read was different from what they actually wanted us to work on. Our task now was to create a learning tool that we, as Co-Design students, would actually want to use at the start of a semester. Essentially making us our own target audience. This opened a lot of possibilities but also made the assignment feel quite vague.
Together our team began exploring what was missing. We spoke with students from other teams and conducted interviews at the Grafisch Lyceum. From these conversations, we learned that reflection after projects and thinking about the future were areas we wanted to focus on. This helped us narrow our scope and guided our design decisions.
Despite some challenges, like a changing challenge, a week of working from home because of the weather, and limited client involvement, I’m really proud of how our product came to life. Our concept lets students reflect on their projects throughout the semester and see how they grow over time. Actually printing our question cards and seeing them become a tool that can really support students in their learning was exciting. Especially after we heard they might actually be used during the next Co-Design semester.
My role & impact
During this project, my main focus was on shaping how students could reflect on their learning journey through the Time Capsule. I worked on formulating the questions for the reflection cards. Making sure they sparked deeper conversations and encouraged meaningful discussions.
I also facilitated the process of preparing the cards for production. I made sure they were printed correctly and in the right format. To make the experience more flexible for students, I created a digital version of the cards (you can find it here). This way they could continue reflecting even when they weren’t in the studio or after the course ended.
Another part of my contribution was designing the layers and structure of our project box, keeping it consistent with the cards style and showcasing our work clearly.
