IDE alumnus Britt Müller wins the Klokhuis Science Prize 2024

What lurks behind the doors of a children's hospital? It's pretty scary if you don't know. But what if you can peek inside anyway? Britt Müller devoted her graduation project at Industrial Design Engineering to this. With her 'Even Spieken' game which she designed for the Hospital Hero app, she has won the Klokhuis Science Award 2024.

Britt Müller: "Many children experience feelings of anxiety and tension before their hospital visit. This is mainly because they don't know what to expect. What lurks behind all those closed doors? Will something hurt? Will my parents be allowed in with me? These are all questions they ask themselves."

During her graduation project, supervised by Richard Goossens and Maaike Kleinsmann, she completely immersed herself in children's experiences. "It does something to you when you see anxiously crying children in hospitals. You want to act."

It does something to you when you see anxiously crying children in hospitals. You want to act.
― Britt Müller, UX/UI Designer at Hospital Hero & IDE Alumnus

Based on her research and many conversations with healthcare providers, parents and children, Britt developed a game, which is embedded in the app of Hospital Hero Foundation, a non-profit organisation that aims to make a visit to the hospital less stressful for children between 4 and 10 years old. The Willem-Alexander Kinderziekenhuis, the children's hospital of Leiden University Medical Centre, was also involved in the study. The project was made possible by Agis Innovatiefonds.

"With the ‘Even Spieken’ game, you can already take a peek into hospital rooms," Britt explains. "What lurks behind each door? What do the rooms look like? What sounds and medical instruments are there? Together with the animals from the Naturalis museum, the children make a journey of discovery through the hospital."

And the winner is...

With this game Britt hopes that children will go to their hospital appointments with more confidence. And that appealed to the makers of Klokhuis, who are now rewarding Britt with a nomination for the Klokhuis Wetenschapsprijs 2024. The winner will get a full Klokhuis episode about their winning research.

Meanwhile, the results have been announced and out of 60 entries, Britt got the most votes. That means Britt will get her own Klokhuis episode to talk about her graduation work!

About the Klokhuis Science Prize

The aim of the prize is to make a wide and young audience familiar with scientific research in the Netherlands. The prize was awarded for the first time in 2016. The Klokhuis Science Prize awards interesting and relevant scientific research for children aged 9 to 12. A science episode of Het Klokhuis is dedicated to the field of research of the winning project.