Bringing human diversity into design processes through empathic modelling
Lorentzen, Lena and Hedvall, Per Olof LU
(2018)
2018 Universal Design and Higher Education in Transformation Congress, UDHEIT 2018
In Studies in Health Technology and Informatics
256.
p.128-136
- Abstract
Most products are developed while adapting to requirements from industrial production and logistics. To break that trend and design for people, we suggest focusing on those who put the strongest demands on the final solution. They cannot compensate for bad design solutions and are thereby, like sniffing dogs, guiding designers to meet peoples’ needs. We always use a combination of empathic modelling and involvement of people with reduced functions to find new solutions to the problems a product is supposed to solve. We have used this method in the teaching of Universal design at different universities for more than ten years. The students find the exercises to be a very entertaining eye-opener leading to development of empathy for human... (More)
Most products are developed while adapting to requirements from industrial production and logistics. To break that trend and design for people, we suggest focusing on those who put the strongest demands on the final solution. They cannot compensate for bad design solutions and are thereby, like sniffing dogs, guiding designers to meet peoples’ needs. We always use a combination of empathic modelling and involvement of people with reduced functions to find new solutions to the problems a product is supposed to solve. We have used this method in the teaching of Universal design at different universities for more than ten years. The students find the exercises to be a very entertaining eye-opener leading to development of empathy for human diversity all while the level of innovation in their design work increase. To constantly make design students understand barriers that can occur due to bad design solutions we utilize a toolbox simulating different kinds of functional ability. It also includes a handbook that describes workshops, evaluation methods and design processes that can be performed using the tools. The goal is to guide efficient, innovative and inclusive design processes. By simulating diversity among people, the designer can interpret the needs of different users and use that as a starting point and for evaluating design solutions during the creative process.
(Less)
- author
- Lorentzen, Lena
and Hedvall, Per Olof
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2018
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Accessibility, Co-creation, Design education, Design for All, Design thinking, Easy to use, Empathic modelling, Inclusive design, Packaging design, Product design, Universal design, User evaluation, User experience, User friendly
- host publication
- Transforming our World Through Design, Diversity and Education - Proceedings of Universal Design and Higher Education in Transformation Congress 2018
- series title
- Studies in Health Technology and Informatics
- editor
- Craddock, Gerald ; Doran, Cormac ; McNutt, Larry and Rice, Donal
- volume
- 256
- pages
- 9 pages
- publisher
- IOS Press
- conference name
- 2018 Universal Design and Higher Education in Transformation Congress, UDHEIT 2018
- conference location
- Dublin, Ireland
- conference dates
- 2018-10-30 - 2018-11-02
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85055612435
- pmid:30371467
- ISSN
- 0926-9630
- 1879-8365
- ISBN
- 9781614999225
- DOI
- 10.3233/978-1-61499-923-2-128
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- c84c95a0-3d90-48b8-96c4-8b756d9374f9
- date added to LUP
- 2018-12-10 14:58:06
- date last changed
- 2024-04-01 17:31:31
@inproceedings{c84c95a0-3d90-48b8-96c4-8b756d9374f9,
abstract = {{<p>Most products are developed while adapting to requirements from industrial production and logistics. To break that trend and design for people, we suggest focusing on those who put the strongest demands on the final solution. They cannot compensate for bad design solutions and are thereby, like sniffing dogs, guiding designers to meet peoples’ needs. We always use a combination of empathic modelling and involvement of people with reduced functions to find new solutions to the problems a product is supposed to solve. We have used this method in the teaching of Universal design at different universities for more than ten years. The students find the exercises to be a very entertaining eye-opener leading to development of empathy for human diversity all while the level of innovation in their design work increase. To constantly make design students understand barriers that can occur due to bad design solutions we utilize a toolbox simulating different kinds of functional ability. It also includes a handbook that describes workshops, evaluation methods and design processes that can be performed using the tools. The goal is to guide efficient, innovative and inclusive design processes. By simulating diversity among people, the designer can interpret the needs of different users and use that as a starting point and for evaluating design solutions during the creative process.</p>}},
author = {{Lorentzen, Lena and Hedvall, Per Olof}},
booktitle = {{Transforming our World Through Design, Diversity and Education - Proceedings of Universal Design and Higher Education in Transformation Congress 2018}},
editor = {{Craddock, Gerald and Doran, Cormac and McNutt, Larry and Rice, Donal}},
isbn = {{9781614999225}},
issn = {{0926-9630}},
keywords = {{Accessibility; Co-creation; Design education; Design for All; Design thinking; Easy to use; Empathic modelling; Inclusive design; Packaging design; Product design; Universal design; User evaluation; User experience; User friendly}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{128--136}},
publisher = {{IOS Press}},
series = {{Studies in Health Technology and Informatics}},
title = {{Bringing human diversity into design processes through empathic modelling}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/978-1-61499-923-2-128}},
doi = {{10.3233/978-1-61499-923-2-128}},
volume = {{256}},
year = {{2018}},
}