When the founders of i-refact, Rene Haasdijk and Erik Jansen, approached me, I immediately recognised it as the kind of challenge I am drawn to: complex, ambitious, and in a sector new to me.

The initial proposition was not straightforward. Based on their experience, they had identified challenges in data exchange and developed early ideas for possible solutions. My role was to help shape these ideas into a concrete product vision and validate them through structured research and design.

The collaboration was unlike any I had experienced before. I pushed myself to explore uncharted territory, often reframing the problem definition to uncover more fundamental opportunities. This ultimately led to a transformative solution.

It remains one of the most rewarding projects I have had the privilege to contribute to. I learned immensely through design sessions, experimentation, iteration, and occasional failure, and engaged in some of the most rigorous product design thinking alongside the founders, subject matter experts, architects, and clients.

At the outset, the founders posed a fundamental question: Are we approaching the problem in the right way? Is this a real problem? Before investing in development, they wanted to ensure that their assumptions about data exchange challenges were valid and that the proposed direction addressed real user needs.

We began by identifying and articulating the core hypotheses behind the concept. From there, we designed a structured validation process that included stakeholder interviews, expert consultations, and exploratory research with potential users. The goal was to test assumptions early, uncover blind spots, and refine the problem statement before moving into solution design.