We chose the international expat WDKA student as our focus on the user group.

By choosing the specific user group we discovered positive and negative meanings of synonyms of words about international students. A foreign student sounds excluded. An immigrant student is more likely to be perceived as poor. Even though this is of course not the case. An exchange student is an exchange between human beings for a short period of time and does not cover the international student in its full being.

We could link ourselves more to the international student because of our fellow friends from our school and thus decided to make the focus of our user group not just any international student, but the WDKA international student.

This is why we chose the international expat WDKA student as our user group.

We researched the international WDKA student by looking at our friends from the school and seeing their perspective on being an international student. Some things we discovered were:

- How hard it is to find a job when you are not a native Dutch speaker and don't know the language yet. Only Uber-Eats and other delivery jobs are applicable for the international WDKA student, as well as a small percentage of café and retail shop jobs. This is unfair to the international student and creates a difference between the international student and the non international student.

- Not every international student attends an international school because of them wanting to go to that certain country. A lot of international students just chose the school and not the country itself. They are not tourists, but like non-international students. Just students that attend a certain school, because of the education given at that certain school. The stereotypical view of international students is that they are school attending tourists.

- Some WDKA international students come to the Netherlands because of the freedom the country has. Freedom to be who you want to be. Freedom of sexuality and a government that is better than the country they come from. Some international students almost describe it as an escape from their country. Meaning they really don't like their country.

We could only find a handful of job applications in the Netherlands, for students, that did not require to speak the Dutch language.

Referring this research back to Nature Routes. Questions if The Netherlands is actually enhancing the international WDKA student and making it easier and more accessible for them to go around, find a job, search for a route, a guidance.

We think there is a lot more work to do by the Dutch government and other organisations to guide these international students. An interface could help this guidance and make it easier for the international student to go around, for example a park or a forest in the Netherlands.

The Miro Board about the 150 signs and the organising through knolling we made, answers and explains these questions further.

Research into the semiotic signs

Mindmap overview research

Outcomes Poll Research

Poll International WDKA Student Research:

We decided to make a poll to research the user group by letting them answer questions about what it is like to be an international student in the Netherlands and or at the WDKA. We decided to do this because we did not want to look at internet facts and make assumptions from there, but let the actual user group provide us with this information.

The outcome of our poll research is:

- Most WDKA international students are from Europe.

- Most international students chose that both the country and the school are the reason for their stay.

- Arguments about their stay are:

1: The Netherlands is an important place for
design / being a designer.

2: The country is free and open.

3: The country lies close to other European countries.

4: The Netherlands is completely different.

- There are different assumptions about stereotypes and one person mentioned the assumption that is made more generally about international students being rich.

- The difficulties that international students face are: No free public transport, communication (Dutch only) and the behaviour of Dutch citizens.
Three people did not experience difficulties.

We made a mind map bout the user to get an overview and a conclusion about our research and the poll. The mind map is a starting point for the mapping the user presentation.

Stereotypes and the connection between them

Conclusions about the starter packs stereotypes.

- Most commonly made stereotype.

- Predominately based on generalised assumptions and opinions.

- Predominately Asian persons in the images, because of American origin of these images.

- The stereotype about the international student being rich. This stereotype is also predominately American.

- Discriminatory or racist nature of assumptions.

The connection between our found stereotypes.

Conclusions about expat international students having a lot of money stereotypes.

- A lot of people think international students are rich.

- International students are not all rich, and if they are the money usually comes from their parents.

- International students can not easily become rich in a country that is not their homecountry, because the job offers are very limited. This is because of company's don't want English (or other language) speaking persons as their employees.

- The perception of wealth may originate from the fact that an expat needs the starting funds to come to a country that is not their home country. This perception can be false, because some students are forced to leave their country because of poverty, bad education and political issues.

Poll about the research of the international WDKA student.