Lotte Bruinink

Product Design

Bachelor

Lotte Bruinink - photographers Aglaya Drobysheva & Tabitha Andert

HEET ONDER JE VOETEN

Feeling the heat
Making climate change tangible through everyday interaction.

When we talk about climate change, it is often in abstract numbers, future scenarios, or distant consequences. We know it is urgent - but it remains difficult to truly feel it.
Why is that?
In my project Feeling the Heat, I explored why climate change is so hard to grasp in daily life. Through design research, I examined the social structures and cognitive patterns that make our relationship with large-scale phenomena – so -called hyperobjects like climate change - complex.
This research revealed various social and psychological barriers. Instead of avoiding these barriers, I reframed them into design strategies that invite a more intuitive, emotional, or reflective form of engagement.
The outcome is a series of redesigned thermostats. Each prototype challenges how we perceive energy consumption and climate impact in a different way:

What if the thermostat physically showed how much CO₂ we actually emit?

By connecting a balloon to the thermostat, the emitted CO₂ is captured in real time, giving physical space to an otherwise abstract concept.

What if the thermostat allowed us to make choices based on our values rather than immediate needs?

While current thermostats offer one central knob focusing solely on temperature, leaving little room to reflect on the consequences of our choices, this design invites users to consider the impact of their decisions beyond immediate comfort.

What if we stopped hiding and started showing what keeps us warm?

By no longer hiding the central heating installation in a cabinet, but instead placing it openly in the room, the system’s activity becomes visible and tangible - making it easier to understand and relate to.
These prototypes prompt users to reflect not only on their personal energy use, but also on the role of design in shaping how we perceive - and respond to - the climate problem.
Lotte Bruinink graduated in 2025 from the Product Design program at ArtEZ University of the Arts in Arnhem. She specializes in design research, unraveling complex challenges and translating them into new insights. She enjoys applying system- and concept-based thinking in a poetic way to create meaningful and thoughtful design concepts that inspire societal engagement.