Reflection on creating a podcast and the design sprint in the course: Design thinking and Maker culture

The course Design Thinking and Maker Culture has introduced a lot of new concept to me. Firstly, the course introduced me to new theories such as design ethnography and digital making. Digital making is something I am very interested in, as it has been one of the main reasons to enrol in the studies in the first place. Aside from introducing me to new theories, the course also introduced me to new practical instalments. For the first time, I experienced a small course on 3D printing, hosted by the library of the UM. This was very interesting to see, since I have learned a lot of theories about 3D printing and I see it used all the time in museums and at my job. In the news, I also hear a lot about the possible uses of 3D printing. However, I had yet to see 3D printing happening with my own eyes. I am very happy that this course has given me the possibility to learn more about 3D printing. The same goes for the creation of the Podcast for the course. Prior to this course, I had listened to podcasts, but never attempted to make one of my own. I found it very interesting to learn about basic audio editing and mixing sounds. Aside from learning new theories in this course, I really feel like I have learned something practical thanks to the skills lessons. The making of the podcast was also very much fun to do for me and my group.
Prior to recording and editing the podcast, my group and I engaged in a mini-design sprint to come up with an idea to talk about during the podcast. I had also never engaged in a design sprint before. I found the structure of the design sprint very nice, and it worked really well for our group. We thought of an entire app (and created a mockup) to help with the housing crisis in Maastricht, especially focusing on international students. In the podcast, we talk more about the project behind this app. Stay tuned for the podcast, I will be uploading it as soon as we are done mixing and editing it.