Projects

Below are some examples of my facilitation and research projects. Of course good results are always a team effort, so a big thanks to all my clients. Contact me if you want to know more or have a project you would like to discuss.

Maaike’s dual expertise as a qualitative researcher and facilitator is a powerful combination and her professional agility is impressive. Under her guidance, every voice is heard, each decision is customer-centric, and every team member plays a vital role in crafting a strategy that resonates with both a business and its customers.
Jenny Millar – Founder of Untapped Pricing

KLM – Workplace Hackathon

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines were looking to stimulate an innovation mindset by making changes to their physical workplace. They wanted to involve office employees in coming up with ideas through a hackathon. I was engaged to design and facilitate the 2-day event.

Approach – Working with a small project team we planned and organised the hackathon. We defined 6 opportunity statements, based on previous research, to use as a springboard for ideation. Over the 2 days, I guided 6 teams through various brainstorming and prototyping activities. At the end every team presented a detailed concept to a jury of senior leaders.

Outcome – The hackathon brought together colleagues from different departments who experienced a way of working that encourages innovation. This resulted in 6 new concepts. One of these concepts was subsequently implemented by the project team.

Zoom Academy – Product Innovation

Zoom Academy provides online photography courses. The management team sought to better understand what makes their customers tick and identify new product opportunities. Additionally, the marketing manager wanted to gain interviewing experience.

Approach – We started with exploratory research. I interviewed 10 customers together with the marketing manager. We identified different learning needs, and a customer segment whose needs were not being met. Now that we had defined the opportunity, I facilitated a brainstorm session with the wider team. We combined various ideas into a concept for a different course offering. This concept was subsequently successfully piloted.

Outcome – The project gave the management team a better understanding of their target audience. It further identified product and service gaps and led to a new proposition for Zoom Academy. Through on-the-job coaching the marketing manager gained skills in conducting and analysing customer interviews.

Eindhoven MedTech Innovation Centre – Strategy and Roadmap

The Cardiovascular branch of the Eindhoven MedTech Innovation Centre (e/MTIC) is led by a small core team of hospital, academic and business representatives. The team was looking for focus and more effective collaboration. The goal was to create a shared research roadmap to drive innovation in cardiovascular disease treatment. As a Co-cocreate lead at Philips I was asked to facilitate the process.

Approach – The team came together about once a month for in-person or online co-creation sessions. We spent the first sessions on defining the strategy, bringing focus and team alignment. In subsequent sessions we formulated short and longterm patient-centred goals for each cardiovascular disease type. Once these goals were clear, the sessions focussed on brainstorming initiatives and plotting these on a roadmap.

Outcome – By formulating patient-centred goals, it became clear which role each party could play in achieving these goals and how this could be done together. The team was now aligned and had a clear patient-centred research roadmap that they could work with.

Santeon – Concept Testing with Patients

Santeon is an association of teaching hospitals. They were developing a dashboard for breast cancer patients to help patients make an informed choice when it comes to their treatment. They required patient feedback on the concept dashboard and approached the Patient Journey Lab, who engaged me.

Approach – We ran 2 concept testing sessions online, each time with a group of 8 breast cancer patients. I led one of the sessions and coached a Santeon staff member on how to run the other group. This was followed by thematic analysis of the output of both sessions.

Outcome – The sessions gave Santeon insight into the patient journey and painpoints. It also highlighted some important preconditions for the concept to work. The feedback on the concept resulted in clear recommendations on improving the dashboard to better meet patient information needs.

Nationale Nederlanden – Sustainability Communication Guidelines

Banking and insurance company Nationale Nederlanden (NN) was getting queries from business customers on its sustainability commitments. NN wanted to make information about its sustainability initiatives more prominent. They asked me to help them understand what initiatives might resonate with business customers and how to best communicate these.

Approach – Working with an internal researcher we did extensive desk research into sustainability communication strategies and customer expectations. This was followed up with depth interviews with business customers. These gave insight into what they expected from NN when it came to supporting them in their own sustainability efforts.

Outcome – The combined insights from the desk research and interviews led to clear guidelines on how to communicate about sustainability, as well as which topics resonated. Sustainability topics are now prominently featured on the business section of the NN website.

Sprint Valley (UK) – Innovation Consulting

Sprint Valley is a change consultancy based in the UK. As a freelance Innovation Consultant I have worked with Sprint Valley on a number of employee engagement and innovation projects for its clients. Through a mix of research, consulting, training and coaching we have helped organisations tackle some of their toughest challenges.

Untapped Pricing (UK) – Pricing Strategy Research and Facilitation

Untapped helps business leaders to get clarity on their pricing strategy. Untapped provides businesses with an holistic approach to pricing, taking into consideration their brand, proposition, strategy, sales process and customers’ decisions. As one of Untapped’s consultants, I provide both facilitation and qualitative research.

Or ask me about…

Coaching – I love coaching and have coached teams and individuals at ParnasSys, KPN, Nationale Nederlanden and Waternet as well as students at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (Hogeschool van Amsterdam)

Training – I can create tailored training or perhaps you want to join a training at the Design Thinkers Academy where I am a regular freelance trainer

Teaching – I enjoy teaching and am a freelance teacher at the department of Communications and Multimedia Design at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences

Speaking – I have been a conference host at UXinsight (2024 & 2023), a speaker at LXDCON (2023) and workshop facilitator at the Design Thinkers Conference (2021 & 2024).