The manifestation of empathy within design: findings from a service-learning course

Abstract

The emergence of human-centred design strategies has directed attention to the role of empathy within design. While research on co-design acknowledges the potentially improved outcomes of using an empathic design approach, a comprehensive analysis on how empathy functions throughout the design process has been minimally explored in this literature. In this study, we analysed a series of design review videos depicting students’ design procedures within a service-learning course. These student designers were tasked to design a universally accessible zip-line and access ramp along with associated features. Our objective was to explore how empathy functioned throughout the development of the students’ final design solutions, which included a zip-line access point, ramp and cheering platform. To guide our depiction of these empathic design pathways, we relied on a set of pre-established empathic design techniques utilised by student designers. We provide a visual summary of student designers’ empathic design techniques, the interrelation of these techniques, along with implications for how design educators might effectively embed empathy throughout design curricula.