Dutch Design Week 2025
_still work in progress_
_about Dutch Design Week 2025
Dutch Design Week celebrates a quarter century of shaping the future. Under the theme ‘Past. Present. Possible.’, DDW reflects on its legacy, showcases today’s creative energy, and explores what design can become. A platform where ideas connect, possibilities open, and the future is designed together.
_about Our Future Is Somewhere Here
What a great coincidence to have a project researching the connection between past, present, and future at DDW's 25th edition, dedicated to the topics of "Past. Present. Possible"!
What a privilege to be part of 2025's event and to present my project at the Eindhoven Library. Here come my process notes and reflections from the DDW.
_installation setup
📍 Location: Eindhoven Library
The space was perfect for this project. The library team was welcoming and the person who was in charge of organising the DDW setup for the three participants took care of everything in advance.
+ The library was busy with visitors during the whole time, but many of them were there for the library and not for DDW. However, some of them engaged with the projects presented and discovered them by chance.
+ For the DDW visitors, it turned to be slightly challenging to find the entrance and exact location of DDW presenters (for people who were never been at the library before, which was the majority. There were many visitors from out of town and the country). During the week, together with the other participants (Chau and Luang), we tried to improve our visibility (Chau made instagram reels; Luang helped us fix the outdoor DDW sign etc).
▲ Game setup
Thanks to Eindhoven Library, I had a perfect setup for the game:
+ A table for 6 players;
+ A smaller table for display of materials and designs;
+ A TV screen to present the video.
The installation was interactive - the guests were invited to touch and explore everything, and they could sit down and play the game at any time.
_game-playing sessions
Before the DDW's beginning, there were four game-playing sessions scheduled. The dates and times were published at the Eindhoven Library's website and visitors could book their free slots via their system.
▲ Facilitated sessions
There were sessions on the 18th, 21st, 23rd, and 25th of October. Each session invited 5 players, and almost all of the sessions were fully booked (an exception was the first session with four players).
The participants were mainly strangers who didn't know each other. Exceptions were a few pairs of players who came together, but the rest of the people in the groups were strangers.
During the facilitated game-playing sessions, I was the game master and did not take part in the game, but supported their process and prompted them whenever it was needed.
▲ Walk-in sessions
I did not expect to have so many walk-in sessions - 15 in total. Many of them were visitors who discovered the project on DDW's website and came to check the game, play it, and meet me. I took part in a few of those sessions; facilitated several on the spot, but there were also some sessions that I simply observed. It was useful to see that the setup and the game worked well in all of those situations.
_highlights
_numbers
9 days 19 game-playing sessions 56 players 17 countries/lands: Belgium, Bulgaria, the Caribbean, Colombia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Palestine, the Philippines, Portugal, Thailand, Taiwan, and Ukraine 4 facilitated sessions (mostly people who did not know each other) 15 walk-in sessions (families, friends, colleagues, classmates, etc.)
2 new categories suggested by players (love, health) ∞ endless positive feedback 3 follow-ups (invitation to facilitate workshop with the game in Eindhoven; invitation to take part in a project funding application in Brussels; interview for research by a student in Eindhoven)
_about the game
_overall // DDW was a great proof of concept; the game is ready to be published or developed as a facilitation tool
_setup // really good location (quiet, people have time to explore, we could engage in meaningful conversations); the game setup worked really well (people could play on their own; the prompts written on the table worked well; the game-rules booklet needs to be improved)
_elements // each element of the game was attractive to various people: pawns to kids and ppl who know about 3D printing etc - were curious about materials and shape; game board for ppl who love board games; cards - as a medium, people were always checking them out
_game-play // generally, worked really well, no big changes needed at all. Some feedback and suggestions from players:
+ info cards - doesn't work well to enforce the break when players pass by it; so I've changed it to a voluntary choice while exploring the categories (players can stay there instead of taking a statement card)
+ game rules - need better explanation. Divide into steps, give active, short prompts in the rules, take inspiration from the prompts written on the table + dead minutes game rules.
+ assessment round - can feel easy if most of the cards are positive; in order to change something for good, how to make a sacrifice? Or to make it harder to eliminate, swap cards > to let go of something you love to get a better future.
_about DDW
+ it's a great playground to test your project with people who are there to try out things - very engaged audience, great crowd;
+ people who came at the library during the DDW:
_who came to see the project because they read about it on the ddw website/app (apparently, it was easy for people to find it);
_who were interested in game design and wanted to learn/research the project;
_library visitors (many weren't attracted, but some were - and we managed to talk about it; Patrick for instance was a contact like that);
_students - media, design-connected disciplines, creative field, some engineers.
_quotes
Selected quotes by visitors and participants in the game-playing sessions during the exhibition.
These kinds of things will change the world. (19-10-2025)
I love the setup and your design decisions. (18-10-2025)