Abstract

Design is becoming less about products and more about generating positive experiences for users. We need to understand needs beyond the functional in order to develop more appropriate design outcomes. What is emerging is the importance of shared understanding, empathy and emotion within the designing process. Designers are benefiting from the co-creation of knowledge with users as collaborators in the research process, whilst expanding their own empathic horizon. This paper will explore the experience of Industrial Design students who were engaged with a design research project that focused on students with physical disabilities. If we agree that empathy is a good thing, the realisation for the student designer can often lead to them feeling extremely uncomfortable, vulnerable and outside their own familiar comfort zone. The design research journey, student feedback and the challenges of the project will be discussed.