Product Design

• ▪ Industry / Branch
• Science & Investment
• ▪ Role
• Senior Product Designer
• ▪ Services
• Lean Development · Consulting · Analysis · UX UI Engineering · Prototyping · Web Development · Usability · Optimization · Project Management

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• ▪ Client
• TNO Companies from Delft, a subsidiary of TNO, the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research. As a bridge between cutting-edge research and commercial application, TNO Companies required a digital presence that reflected both scientific rigor and investment opportunity.
• ▪ Challenge
• An external design agency had developed an initial concept. The challenge was twofold: translate that concept into a fully functional, bilingual website while engineering a custom CMS that would make ongoing maintenance effortless for the client. The administration interface needed to surface only relevant data, shielding non-technical staff from complexity without limiting their control.

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• ▪ Role summary
• I collaborated directly with the design agency as the Senior Product Designer responsible for execution. My role bridged the gap between static concept and live product.
  I was accountable for evaluating the UX Design and execution, engineering the front-end, building the custom CMS, and ensuring the final bilingual experience met TNO's standards for usability and scientific authority.
• ▪ Collaboration
• This project was part of an established collaboration pattern:
  agencies provide the high-level creative vision; I translate that vision into robust, maintainable, and scalable digital products. This model has been successfully applied across multiple agency partnerships and projects.

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• ▪ Concept
• • The agency concept was audited for UI Design and presentation, while I created feasibility, structured key considerations being bilingual content and investor navigation.
  • The creative direction was strong but needed technical adaptation to meet performance and usability benchmarks.
• ▪ Users
• • Two primary user groups were identified: scientific and industry partners seeking research collaboration, and potential investors evaluating commercial viability. Both required clear, credible information with minimal friction.
  • Equally important was the internal user, the TNO staff member who would manage the site day-to-day.
• ▪ The goal
• 1. - Transform the agency concept into a fully functional, responsive bilingual website
  2. - Develop a custom CMS that simplifies maintenance by exposing only necessary data fields
  3. - Ensure the site communicates scientific credibility and investment potential with equal clarity

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• ▪ The external audience
• Scientists, industry executives, and investors visiting the site needed to quickly validate TNO Companies' authority and relevance. Pain points typical of research-heavy sites include dense jargon, slow performance, and poor mobile experiences, all of which erode trust.
• ▪ The internal user
• For the TNO team managing the site, the pain point was complexity. A standard CMS often presents an overwhelming array of options. Their need was simple: update bilingual content, add news items, and manage partner information without technical training or risk of breaking the design.

Persona

• ▪ The Research Partner
• • Role: R&D Director, University Researcher, Innovation Lead
  • Goal: Find credible applied research partners and understand technical capabilities quickly.
  • Pain Point: Vague, marketing-heavy sites that lack scientific substance.
• ▪ The Site Administrator
• • Role: Communications Officer at TNO Companies
  • Goal: Keep content fresh and bilingual without relying on developers.
  • Pain Point: Overly complex CMS interfaces that are intimidating and time-consuming.

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• ▪ From concept to reality
• The agency's visual direction was preserved and enhanced through precise front-end engineering. The design language balanced scientific authority with investment appeal clean typography,structured data presentation, and a professional color palette.
• ▪ Bilingual architecture
• A seamless Dutch/English toggle was implemented,ensuring that all content from research descriptions to investor updates, could be managed and displayed in both languages without duplication of effort.
• ▪ Tailored CMS experience
• A custom content management system was built with a singular focus: simplicity for the administrator. Only relevant fields were exposed. The interface was designed to be intuitive, allowing the TNO team to update bilingual content, publish news, and manage partner listings with minimal training.

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• ▪ Iterative build & review
• Development proceeded in lean, iterative cycles. Functional prototypes of key templates and the CMS interface were shared with the agency and TNO stakeholders. This allowed for real-time validation of the bilingual content flow and the administrative user experience.
• ▪ CMS user testing
• The custom CMS was tested directly with the intended TNO administrators. Feedback confirmed that the simplified interface significantly reduced the learning curve and empowered the team to manage the site confidently without ongoing developer support.

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• ▪ The platform
• The final bilingual website successfully translated the agency's concept into a robust, user-friendly platform. It presents TNO Companies as a credible bridge between scientific research and market application. The interface is clean, responsive, and accessible across all devices.

• ▪ Custom CMS
• Purpose-built to expose only relevant data fields, making ongoing maintenance straightforward and eliminating the risk of unintended design breakage by non-technical users.
• ▪ Performance & SEO
• Optimized for speed and search visibility, ensuring that TNO Companies' research and investment opportunities are discoverable by the right audiences in both Dutch and English.

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• ▪ Impact
• TNO Companies launched a professional, bilingual web presence that accurately reflects its dual scientific and commercial identity. The custom CMS empowered the internal team to maintain the site independently, reducing long-term operational costs and reliance on external developers.
• ▪ Key takeaways
• • - Collaboration scales: A well-defined partnership model between agency creative and technical execution yields consistent, high-quality results across multiple projects.
  • - Admin UX is product UX: Designing for the internal user is just as critical as designing for the external audience. A simple CMS is a force multiplier for client autonomy.
  • - Bilingual by design: In the Netherlands, seamless language switching is not a feature - it's an expectation. Building it into the architecture from day one avoids costly retrofitting.

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