Palliative care is becoming increasingly important at Erasmus Medical Center (Erasmus MC) as the hospital sees around a thousand annual deaths due to various conditions. However, the hospital environment has not adequately addressed the psychological, spiritual, and social needs of patients and their loved ones during the end-of-life phase. This TU Delft graduation project, in collaboration with Erasmus MC, aims to explore the unique needs of patients, their families, medical staff and the patient environment in the final days of life. The goal is to develop a sustainable, design-driven concept that illustrates enhanced end-of-life care across different hospital departments.
This research employed a multi-phase design approach using the Double Diamond framework. The Discover phase involved extensive research, including literature reviews, visits to care facilities, patient room analyses and interviews with healthcare professionals. The Define phase synthesized these insights into a framework for the End of Life journey, analyzing the needs and responsibilities of key stakeholders. This analysis led to a future vision, outlining three design directions for improved palliative care. In the Develop phase, a concept was teratively created and evaluated to align with this vision. The design process focused on the design goal: “To create a patient room that supports stakeholders in the End of Life process in facilitating a dignified end of life experience for all involved.” Finally, the Deliver phase presented a proof of concept to illustrate the possibilities of this research, with recommendations for future implementations at Erasmus MC.
The research identified several key findings, categorized into three main design opportunities: improving communication and expectations, enhancing the autonomy of actors involved and balancing the wishes of patients with the resources of the medical team. “De Verhalenhoek" emerged from this process: a cabinet where patients can store meaningful items, facilitating conversations about values and interests between patients, loved ones and medical staff. The concept invites users to personalize the room and serves as a starting point for conversations about the End of Life process. De Verhalenhoek aligns with the goals by creating a welcoming space that encourages discussions about patients' values and the meaning of death, enhancing communication and quality of care. This helps to reveal individual, cultural and religious preferences, allowing medical staff to tailor treatments to patients' whishes and ensuring patients and loved ones feel seen and heard.
The research concludes that integrating thoughtful design into patient rooms can improve communication in end-of-life phases and enhance the sense of autonomy for stakeholders involved. Key recommendations include evaluating the interactions through a pilot study to
assess the impact in the intended setting. This pilot aims to help patients feel more in control and supported in their final days and to better prepare the loved ones for the grieving process. Future research should focus on implementing these design solutions across various hospital departments to broadly enhance the quality of palliative care at Erasmus MC.
This project demonstrates the potential of design to improve End of Life care in patient rooms, making a contribution to the field of palliative care.

This thesis explores the design of a funeral enclosure for resomation, utilizing PISOX - a biobased and biodegradable polymer - and soap. The research follows a three-phase framework of analysis, design and evaluation. In the analysis phase, the resomation process and its context are examined, followed by analysis of the suitability of soap and PISOX for the application of resomation and their manufacturing possibilities. The analysis concludes with a list of requirements and wishes for the design. In the subsequent design phase, various design activities are conducted to define the design of a funeral enclosure of for resomation. Various ideas are explored and a design is created that is designed to fit within the Resomator S750. The design is created to accommodate the dimensions of a P95 human body.

The design’s strength is evaluated through a combination of tensile testing and Finite Element Analysis to determine the thickness needed for the PISOX parts. A 1:4 prototype was created to assess the manufacturability and to gather insight into users’ opinions of the design through interviews. Finally, a sustainability evaluation demonstrates the environmental advantages of introducing De Zeepkist.

This report contains a future vision for sailing yachts. It differs from many other visions as technology is not used as the basis for development, but behavioural change. The starting point is chosen as the upcoming Digital Nomad culture: Working from anywhere in the world. The thesis is done in cooperation with Contest Yachts, a sailing yacht builder from the Netherlands.

The analysis is done in two parts, which meet at the conclusion of the chapter. It consists of a brand analysis and a future use study.

Contest as a brand has three important values to cherish in the future to remain true to their current brand identity. These values are safety, quality and comfort and innovation. There is also a foreseen change, to make their current semi-custom approach more manageable in the future.

With the use of the ViP-method, future behaviour is predicted and separated in four different quadrants, each characterised by multiple habits. From these four, one is chosen to design for: The Trusting Tribe. With a strong focus on community and an inherent drive to be in nature, these people are interesting for Contest to build a new model around. The following vision is formulated: “We want people to uninterruptedly explore themselves and the planet through an open and flexible yacht.”

The starting point for the ideation is shared ownership in combination with the tribe analogy. As the model of sharing is getting increased attention in the yachting business, also noticed by Contest. Within this system, it is important that the sailor still has a feeling of responsibility. The result is the Florence CS. She is a combination of a lease service in combination with ownership. The yacht exists of a fully functional interior and two empty private modules with their own heads. The shared space holds a galley, lounge area and workstation.

Future Tribe members can lease a yacht on one of the seven Contest harbours (Seen in step 1.) with friends, family or strangers. The local Contest crew fits the interior and prepares the yacht for departure (step 2). Contest provides a full and careless sailing experience to their future members (step 3). After the trip, the Contest crew removes the interiors and store them in local warehouses (step 4). The ship is checked, serviced and prepared for the next group of nomads to use.

The final proposal disrupts the current yachting market. It introduces a new business model for Contest in the shape of a lease service. Also, it includes shared ownership.

For future developments and innovations, it is up to Contest to make further work of this. Possible next steps are: redoing this project with another graduate student; developing it into a case study and share it with more experts and enthusiasts; organising a creative day for employees and let them share their thoughts and expertise.

As innovation is embedded in Contest, the above-named options should be within reach. Outcomes of these options can help to make Contest future-proof as well as to make the brand the booster the yachting world.