How Design Works | Designing for Impact

Connection is never a one-way street. Yet museum visitors often move through exhibitions with an audio guide, immersed in their own bubble. For the National Holocaust Museum and the Portuguese Synagogue, Greenberry set out to create a different experience, specifically for young people and school groups. A central question guided the project:

How do you introduce young people to Jewish culture in a society where debates around antisemitism are becoming increasingly polarised?

In response, Greenberry developed the Mirror Tour. This concept turns the traditional museum experience on its head. Instead of passively listening to historical facts, students engage in conversations with one another in pairs or small groups. A tablet-based application acts as a facilitator, using digital technology to encourage meaningful social interaction.

The app poses questions that connect historical themes to the lived experiences of young people. When an exhibition addresses betrayal, for example, the app asks: “Have you ever been betrayed?” In doing so, it creates a safe environment in which complex societal issues can be discussed openly, allowing students to reflect on history as well as on each other’s perspectives.

Purpose-driven entrepreneurship

The impact of the Mirror Tour did not go unnoticed. More than 1,500 students across 55 school classes participated in the pilot programme, which proved highly successful. The project even sparked parliamentary questions, after which the State Secretary for Health, Welfare and Sport formally acknowledged its educational value and societal impact in a letter to Parliament.

Recognising the broader potential of the concept, Greenberry saw that the methodology behind the Mirror Tour could be applied far beyond a single museum. The mechanism of using digital interventions to facilitate conversations between young people about challenging topics is not tied to one context. Driven by a proactive and entrepreneurial mindset, the agency began seeking partners to scale the concept and extend its impact.

Impact through collaboration

This led to a collaboration with three museums, including Museum De Proefkolonie. There, the same methodology is now being used to explore the theme of poverty, sparking conversations about what poverty really means in today’s society. To make this scale-up possible, Greenberry successfully secured funding through the Cultuurloket DigitALL grant programme as part of a consortium with JCK, the participating museums and the Toekomstfabriek. Rather than reinventing the wheel for each institution, the team further developed a proven concept into a platform that can be used across multiple museums. This not only creates economic efficiency but also increases societal impact.

Committing to Continued Development

This kind of inclusive and purpose-driven entrepreneurship requires perseverance, Dujardin acknowledges. Designing the solution is only the first step. The real value is created afterwards: by continuing to invest in development and by building the coalitions needed to bring ideas to scale.

By using digital design as a catalyst for social interaction, Greenberry aims to demonstrate that technology, when thoughtfully designed, can genuinely bring people closer together. Their approach is a call for designers to be more than makers alone. It encourages them to become entrepreneurs who take responsibility for the long-term success and impact of the designs and innovations they create.