Tim van der Heide
Hi,
I’m a product designer with a background in interactive design and engineering. I specialize in creating fun, highly usable, and intuitive products through an iterative design approach that emphasizes early testing and experimentation.
Imagine, make, test
I have a diverse set of skills in software, electronics, and mechanical design, which I use to understand the technological possibilities of a project. To quickly move concepts from the drawing board to the real world, I create prototypes that allow me to test and refine my designs.
My iterative design approach involves continuous testing and experimentation, allowing me to identify both challenges and opportunities early in the process and to continually improve the usability and functionality of my designs.
Global experience
I’ve had the opportunity to gain valuable experience working and living in Shanghai, a fast-moving economy with many opportunities. My time in this diverse city has allowed me to expand my understanding of different perspectives on life and technology.
Through my interactions with people from a variety of cultures, I’ve been able to bring new ideas and approaches to my work as a product designer.
Resume
Key competencies
Concept development
Tech research & exploration
Design engineering
Design testing & validation
Experience
frog Design Shanghai Design Technologist
2019 - 2020
Frog is an international design consultancy with a special focus on the human experience. Projects at frog combine traditional product design, digital design and service design.
In the Shanghai studio I worked on projects with international and national brands, all catered to the fast moving Chinese market including automotive, F&B industry, online & offline retail and smart home products.
In my role as Design Technologist, I brought technological insights into the design process. I helped to set the project’s design space and explore new technological possibilities in a given field. Inspiring the team, but also setting limitations to ensure the feasibility of the proposed design.
— During my time at frog, I published an article on how IoT technologies can be transformed into a tool for design research. By tracking multiple real-world statistics over time, we are able to detect patterns that otherwise stay unidentified to the user and researcher.
Beach Creative Product Design Engineer
2016 - 2019
At Beach Creative I helped develop product ideas into functional concepts for a variety of clients. From the heart of Shanghai we worked on projects in the of fields of consumer electronics, medical equipment and robotics.
One of the most notable projects is the development of the smart educational telescope Hiuni. We created the concept of a ‘father & son’ telescope as an accessible gateway to exploring the universe together. I developed the various prototypes which created the technological foundation of the concept and helped to make the Kickstarter campaign a success.
During my time at Beach my role progressed from Prototype Engineer towards Product Design Engineer where I developed the concepts in functional prototypes and helped to shape our concepts based on new technological opportunities.
Education
Development toolkit
| Physical |
SolidWorks & Fusion 360 CNC, 3D Printing & laser cutting |
| Electrical |
Microcontrollers (Arduino, ESP8266/32) Raspberry Pi Robotics, Sensors & Actuators Custom PCB design |
| Digital |
ProtoPie, Figma JavaScript, Node.js & Node-RED HTML & CSS Adobe Creative Suite |
Hobbies & interests
Home automation
FPV quadcopters
3D printing
Woodworking
Hiking
Spending time with my dog
Get in touch
If you want to chat or connect, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn. I’m always happy to meet new people and discuss new ideas.