Designing with Empathy
- Module: Creativity and Innovation
- Programme: Open to students on year 4 in multiple business degrees
- School: Marketing and Entrepreneurship
- Number of students: 40
- TLA Category: Design-based assignment
- Find out more: Hilda Burton
Developed for final year students, the initiative encourages students to set aside their judgements and consider what it means to act as global citizens. Rather than working through abstract theory, students apply creative problem-solving techniques to real world sustainability challenges, bringing fresh ideas to issues that impact communities locally and globally.
Their task was to observe the daily life of a family member to identify a real-life challenge that they face and design a solution to this challenge. Observing their chosen individual and how they interact with their environment day to day allowed the students to interpret meaning from their observations and uncover insights and in this way develop empathy for others.
Students were encouraged to approach the task through a beginner's mindset without judgement or pre-conceived ideas. Students were presented with two brief personas, but they could also develop their own one depending on their family situation. The suggested personas were: Either an elderly person, retired and living alone or a young parent with multiple children under the age of 6.
Using the Design Thinking Framework introduced in class, students were encouraged to empathise deeply with the chosen persona and apply creativity techniques such as reframing, ideation sprints, and prototyping to propose meaningful, human centred solutions. The activity was not an academic exercise; it was an exercise in connection.
Learning Outcomes
Apply creativity techniques and problem-solving techniques to real world situations
Assignment Structure
Each phase in the process was awarded 6% of the overall grade and this was allocated according to the depth of investigation, clarity and detail of description given. A further 6% was allocated to the uniqueness and workability of the idea. Students were given four weeks to complete the project. 30% of their overall module grade was allocated to this task. A key aspect of the task was to design a solution that would have commercial potential. The task required students to link their academic learning to a real-world problem and expose their ideas to an external audience. Their work was further assessed by the Growth Hub team in terms of meeting the standard for a Digital Badge in Design Thinking.
At the end of the semester students presented their ideas to their peers. This built confidence in ideation abilities, and an opportunity for self-evaluation and self-directed learning.
Closing Note
A key aspect of becoming a global citizen is the ability to empathise. This project allowed students to develop their ability to consider the life experience of others. They got to link their college experiences to their family life while also providing their families with a snapshot of what their student experience was like. Bringing a college project into the family setting in this way motivates students as they want to in a way show off their college work and what they are capable of to their family members. Often there can be limited opportunity for students to connect home and family life. It is inspired by the idea of The connected Curriculum, (Fung, 2017) and the Design Thinking framework for ideation. The opportunity to receive a digital badge in design thinking was a further motivator for the project as this helped students to stand out from other graduates.
Impact for the SDGs
- SDG 4: Quality Education
- SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
GreenComp competences framework
| Competence Area | Competence | Descriptor |
|---|---|---|
| Embodying sustainability values | Valuing sustainability | Reflect on personal values; identify and explain how values vary among people and over time, while critically evaluating how they align with sustainability values. |
| Embracing complexity in sustainability | Problem framing | Formulate current or potential challenges as a sustainability problem in terms of difficulty, people involved, time, and geographical scope, to identify suitable approaches to anticipating and preventing problems, and to mitigating and adapting to already existing problems. |
| Envisioning sustainable futures | Adaptability | Manage transitions and challenges in complex sustainability situations and make decisions related to the future in the face of uncertainty, ambiguity, and risk. |
| Exploratory thinking | Adopt a relational way of thinking by exploring and linking different disciplines, using creativity and experimentation with novel ideas or methods. |