Buitenhof is a diverse and vibrant neighbourhood in Delft, yet it is widely perceived by many residents of the city as dangerous and uninviting. Through NOBIS, a collaborative mural art initiative, local inhabitants have been actively trying to reclaim their neighbourhood’s identity. Building on this effort, I designed a playful experience that reframed how the NOBIS murals are encountered, using them as an entry point to challenge stigma, improve social perception, and extend the social impact of the NOBIS initiative beyond community events.

Problem 1: Stigma and avoidance

Field research and interviews revealed that many Delft residents actively avoid Buitenhof because of its negative reputation. This avoidance reinforces stigma, as outsiders rarely experience the neighbourhood firsthand or engage with its community.

A blue-and-white line drawing of a person in a patterned sweater pointing upward, with a speech bubble stating, "It is just where people live, so it is not as interesting to walk through."

Quote from an interview with a Delft resident.

A blue-and-white line drawing of a person with glasses and crossed arms, looking concerned, with a speech bubble stating, "It is a district that feels dangerous. Nobody is ever there and it is not very well lit."

Quote from an interview with a Delft resident.

Problem 2: Murals as a missed opportunity

While the NOBIS murals attract visitors visually, engagement with them remains largely superficial. Visitors appreciate the art miss the rich and meaningful stories behind them, stories that are usually shared only during organised community events. As a result, the murals’ potential to challenge stereotypes about Buitenhof residents remains largely untapped.

A candid, warm-toned photograph of a diverse group of people gathered around a wooden picnic table at an outdoor event. A young woman and an older couple are smiling and talking while a woman standing next to them shares a plate of food.

Residents sharing stories at a community event

A group of people viewing large, classical oil portraits in an art gallery. A museum guide with long hair and a light cardigan stands in the center, gesturing toward one of the paintings while holding a guidebook.

Learning personal stories through art workshops

Four children wearing protective white aprons work together to paint a large mural of pink and blue hearts on a brick wall.

Community painting activity

The challenge

How can I transform superficial mural visits into meaningful interactions that help visitors understand the real Buitenhof and challenge negative perceptions?

Key insights from iterative testing

Physical–digital balance matters
‍A fully digital experience is cheaper and more scalable, but only effective when anchored to the murals on site. Tying interactions to the physical space ensures that the attention stays on the neighbourhood, while providing a more interactive fruition of the art.

Audio creates connection where text doesn't
Dense text is efficient but emotionally flat. On the contrary, short voice recordings from residents create stronger engagement. The trade-off: audio depth has to be limited to avoid overly long experiences and protect residents’ privacy.

Gamification sustains engagement
Non-gamified prototypes lose users early in the experience. Introducing simple game mechanics significantly increases motivation and completion rates.

An overhead view of a user test participant at a desk reviewing project materials, including mural photographs, and mobile app interface mockups.

Finding physical–digital balance

Testing audio vs text

A person in a white t-shirt stands in an hallway using a smartphone with an app prototype to interact with a QR code on a pink floor decal and a mural print on a nearby glass partition.

Testing different gamification strategies

Concept: Voices of Buitenhof

The activity begins at the mural with a QR scan, meeting users in the moment they’re already engaged.

A split-screen image showing a person standing in front of an informational mural on a brick wall, paired with a mobile app interface titled "Welcome in front of Cherished."

The experience is a treasure hunt with nine stars hidden in the area. Each star is marked with a physical code that unlocks an audio story. The first star is easy to spot, lowering the threshold for starting.

A split-screen image showing a person in a maroon vest using a smartphone to find a star-shaped hidden code on a brick wall next to a colorful mural, paired with a mobile app interface for entering a discovery code.

Every story features a resident or artist involved in the mural, sharing personal interpretations and experiences. These authentic voices humanize the neighborhood and challenge stereotypes.

A split-screen image showing a person in a green jacket listening to an audio guide on their phone while looking at a large-scale mural of hands on a building, paired with a mobile app interface displaying a personal story about the artwork titled "Family."

A dynamic tracker shows how many stars have been found, keeping visitors motivated to continue exploring. Moving through the area independently, prompts firsthand experiences in the neighborhood.

split-screen image showing a park with colorful, graffiti-style benches in a wooded area, paired with a mobile app interface titled "What hides behind ‘Cherished’?" featuring a series of circular content categories like "Family" and "Solidarity."

Collecting all stars unlocks a personalized page and access to other murals across Delft, laying the foundation for a scalable, city-wide experience.

A split-screen image showing a person in a dark hooded jacket walking toward a colorful mural partially obscured by trees, paired with a mobile app interface showing a map and navigation instructions to the "La Perla" artwork.

Core experience flow

‍Entry point & onboarding
The experience is designed to start immediately, with a clear call to action and no mandatory sign-up. Additional context is available, but doesn't block the entry, keeping attention high.

Playing the game
A tracker page provides constant feedback on progress and motivates continued exploration. Story pages minimise visual elements to avoid distraction, allowing the audio to remain the primary focus.

Progress & continuation
Accessible after sign-up, the map page encourages users to return and explore additional murals across Delft over time. Given the project scope, this part of the experience was intentionally not fully developed.

A user flow diagram showing the onboarding process for a mobile app, featuring wireframes for scanning a QR code, logging in, verifying email, and viewing a "How to play" guide.

A user flow diagram mapping the second part of the mobile app game, showing wireframe screens for finding hidden codes, entering discovery numbers, viewing community stories, and a "game completed" summary.

User interface

The UI was intentionally kept simple to avoid competing with the murals and the audio stories, keeping attention on the physical environment. A vibrant colour palette derived from the murals creates a clear visual connection with the artwork, while bold shapes support a playful, accessible tone. The interface is built on a consistent system that can be easily extended to future murals, supporting scalability.

Five smartphone screens showing different stages of the app: welcome screen, star discovery menu, code entry for a new star, voice story page, and a map view with art locations.

Key results

The final prototype was tested with five Delft residents in the real context to evaluate usability and potential social impact. While the sample size was small, the test provided signals about engagement and emotional response:
‍
Increased emotional connection and positive perception
Pre- and post-experience interviews revealed a noticeable shift in participants’ perceptions: they reported stronger empathy toward residents, felt more connected to the mural, and expressed a more positive view of the neighbourhood.
‍
Engaging game mechanics
The star-finding mechanic and progress tracker successfully sustained attention and motivated participants to complete the experience, confirming the effectiveness of the game structure in an outdoor setting.

A colorful quadrant chart titled "Emotional change toward the neighborhood," showing data points shifting from a neutral/negative lower-left area toward the positive right side across "High energy" and "Low energy" axes.

A colorful quadrant chart titled "Emotional change toward the mural," showing several data points with arrows indicating a strong shift from a neutral baseline toward a more positive, higher-energy emotional state.

What I'd iterate next

Test long-term engagement
The current evaluation focused on first-time use. A next step would be to test whether users return to explore additional murals, and which cues (notifications, rewards...) support repeat engagement. While developing detailed screens for the last part of the app flow.

‍Refine content type and pace
Different audio stories proved to be more or less effective for emotional connection, further testing could help calibrate optimal length and topics of interest.

‍Expand inclusivity
Future iterations would explore alternative interaction modes for users who don't have access to the required technology and for people with hearing or mobility impairments.

‍Scale across neighbourhoods
The concept could be tested in other neighbourhoods or with different artworks to understand how to adapt the experience to different contexts without resulting monotone.

In the press

A news article titled "TU Delft student writes master's thesis about new mural in Buitenhof," featuring a photo of a young boy using spray paint on a concrete block while an mural artist supervises him in an outdoor park setting.

The project gained traction within the Delft community and received local recognition, with features in two community newspapers (Verrassend Voorhof 7 and TeGek Tanthof 7) and on the TU Delft website.

Read the article on the TU Delft website

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Reframing neighborhood perception through play