What knowledge and skills should you have as a MakerLab teammember?

Last year, four junior experiment designers began their journey at MakerLab. Emerging innovators follow an in-house program devised by Hunter van Keulen and Evelien Veldhuijzen: a 1 to 2-year trajectory that, after completing several practice assignments and receiving mentoring, allows them to quickly work with our clients. This enables them to gain the necessary knowledge and experience to manage their own projects.

‍

The knowledge and skills you develop and acquire as an experiment designer are key to a successful innovation process. Now, a year and a half later, with a new batch of juniors, it is a good time to ask Hunter about her experience in transferring and retaining innovation knowledge within MakerLab.

‍

So, how are the juniors doing now?

‍

Hunter: "They're all still there. No, without kidding, I think they're enjoying it. It has truly become a team. You can see that everyone is developing their own specialization, and that's also good..'

‍

What does the trajectory actually entail?

‍

Hunter: "We hebben een intern begeleidingsprogramma ontwikkeld voor starters in de innovatiemarkt die al een traineeship hebben gedaan of vers uit de schoolbanken komen. Je moet als experiment designer flink wat kennis in huis hebben – voorheen namen we alleen mensen aan die links en rechts al veel ervaring hadden opgedaan.'

‍

How did you guys come up with this idea?

‍

Hunter: "Since the beginning of last year, we have been examining our field of expertise as a team. Several experienced team members had left, and, moreover, everyone was on their own island at home during the pandemic. We wanted to ensure continuity. Guiding a group of juniors is one part of that.'

‍

What do they need to do?

‍

Hunter: 'We have developed a curriculum of competencies that you must possess as an experiment designer, and we work on them for two years. Competencies such as ideation, building prototypes, conducting qualitative and quantitative research, defining success criteria for a project, and a very important one: thinking in assumptions.'

‍

Do you throw them in the deep end right away?

‍

Hunter: "No. In the first five weeks, they start with a practice case, a research question they need to answer. Sometimes, it's an assignment from our network, such as the project that originated from an initiative by me in collaboration with The (real) gender critics. Junior experiment designer Melissa, along with experiment designer Ruben, has developed the publicly accessible AI-driven inclusive language tool Equalwrites.

‍

"Sometimes we simulate a case. One of my colleagues pretends to be a "customer" and the whole team watches the presentation. That immediately creates a bond.'

‍

What makes a good experiment designer?

‍

Hunter: "Do you have a minute? It's quite broad and partly about mindset: a good experiment designer not only knows a lot and is analytically strong but can also turn ideas into something tangible. So, not just talking but actually creating something. Additionally, you are naturally a bridge between the different disciplines in a team.

‍

You must be able to handle uncertain situations, stand firm, and turn even an adverse outcome into a valuable learning experience. Always remain critical of your own toolset; don't hesitate to try, research, or, in true MakerLabs fashion, create a new tool yourself.

‍

And just what makes MakerLab MakerLab?

‍

Hunter: "We didn't invent this work. We employ existing techniques, such as the Lean Start-up Method, Value Proposition Design, and Design Thinking, along with a touch of Agile and Scrum methodologies. We've crafted our unique variation known as the MakerLab formula. It encapsulates a wealth of knowledge. Moreover, we can create things, not just imagine them.'

‍

How do you ensure that this knowledge remains in-house?

‍

Hunter: "Almost daily, we share interesting articles with each other about innovation within our work; we all enjoy our field. In addition to our weekly meet-ups – where everyone is up to, does anyone need help? – we also conduct internal reviews of cases, tools, and methodologies. And we acquire new skills and competencies during MakerClasses.'

‍

A MakerClass? Tell us more.

‍

Hunter: "MakerClasses are internal workshops. We have an average of two a month. They are organized by my colleague Liline (read an interview with Liline about the MakerClasses here ), and taught by MakerLabbers, but we also ask colleagues within our holding company MakerStreet to share their expertise.'

‍

'Sometimes, the learning journeys are longer and more intense because certain areas of study are very extensive. Take AI, for example; it has become indispensable in our field. However, AI-driven innovation requires learning many new skills. Using an internally developed curriculum, both juniors and other MakerLab members will work at their own pace on tasks such as building custom GPTs, prompting and generative AI, automation, and smart tools like Flowise and Formless.

‍

In the MakerLab way, ofcourse: lean and mean, learning exactly what we need to come up with creative out-of-the-box solutions and quickly build good prototypes.

‍

What subjects do these MakerClasses cover?

‍

Hunter: 'We all bring unique skills; I've shared some about technology, such as coding in JavaScript and the use of APIs. And someone from the online marketing agency Elevator recently came to talk about growth hacking.'

‍

You just mentioned internal reviews. What does that entail?

‍

Hunter: "Then we take it a step further. For instance, there were experiments where the Fake Door Test didn't yield good results. The question then is: does this still work? As a team, we will examine cases, and those learnings will be shared with the rest.'

‍

Is there a database of all your knowledge?

‍

Hunter: "Certainly. Several of them, in fact. In these, we gather all the knowledge and tools related to the innovation process and what it entails. Currently, we are working diligently on knowledge bank 2.0, and a portion of it is already being used by clients. Hopefully, I can share more about this soon.'

‍

What is the benefit to the customer?

‍

Hunter: "We recently had a client who asked about the difference between MakerLab and a full-service design agency. In a full-service agency, they typically have one experimental designer - if they have one at all - a marketer, a visual designer, and a web developer. It's a kind of funnel you go through, and at the end, a product is delivered. However, the drawback is that all these employees have their own specialized fields and often speak in different languages.'

‍

What do you mean exactly?

‍

Hunter: "All my colleagues share my view. So you may be working with one person, but behind that is a huge source of knowledge; people looking over my shoulder.'

‍

Do you involve each other in projects?

‍

Hunter: "Always. In the background or actively. You'll say, "I'll bring my colleague next week because they have a bit more knowledge about this." You don't say, "No, I can't do it." Instead, you say, "We have even more expertise available that you can tap into."

‍

Where will you be a year from now?

‍

Hunter: "We aim for sustained growth at all levels, from junior to senior experiment designer. It starts with providing our juniors with proper guidance towards a mid-level role. In a year's time, the first batch of juniors will be working as fully-fledged, independent experiment designers. And hopefully, we'll have a new batch starting after the summer. That's what I'm working towards."

‍