Featured Empathic User Experience Research Method: Bridging the Gap Between Users and Makers' Perspectives View Digital Media

Workshop Presentation
Eunmi Moon,  Angelica Sibrian  

The Role-playing Living Lab (RpLL) method in this research merges experiential role-playing with empathy and communal coping principles and involves user-expert in the user experience research process. The term 'user-expert' refers to those who have acquired expertise through lived experiences and education to deal with challenges in the built situation and environment. The significance of this method is that the designated user-expert creates the experiential content based on their lived experiences and facilitates makers to play the roles of users in the workshop. Makers immerse themselves in users' perspectives, environments, and experiences to enhance empathic connections and gain firsthand insights into users' challenges, bridging the gap between themselves and users to resonate with user needs. The RpLL method promotes ethical user-centric design practices by incorporating collaborative problem-solving. This approach benefits individuals and society by promoting sustainable design practices and enhancing overall well-being. This workshop is based on the RpLL method: 1) the facilitator (user-expert) presents scenarios, 2) participants (makers) will play designated roles, and 3) will reflect on the role-playing workshop. This workshop intends to give participants (makers) a chance to experience the perspective of others (users).