DESIGN FOR PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND AWARENESS: EQUIPPING DESIGN STUDENTS WITH EMPATHY AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY SKILLS

Abstract

Public engagement has become a crucial process of democratic societies. It broadens knowledge, brings a diversity of views and voices, and widens participation in decision-making activities. Design as a discipline has been shifting from making finite goods to collaborating with different disciplines, generating dialogue, highlighting ethical questions, and engaging different users and/or communities to understand complex issues. The primary aim of this project was to develop learning and teaching content with real world impact that prepares design students to address societal challenges, including an array of global citizenship competencies that equips students with empathy and social responsibility. ‘Vaccination: increasing trust and awareness’ project targeted second year product design students, and initially originated from the UK’s loss of 'measles-free' status since August 2019 with the World Health Organization. Over the past decade, an increasing number of studies have documented a rising number of people who seem to be losing confidence in vaccines. Within this context, students were asked to develop a service design intervention to inform, raise awareness and ultimately increase public trust in vaccines. Students were also encouraged to take a holistic and inclusive approach to the design of the intervention. The project was supported by a lecturer from applied sciences which helped to understand the challenge from a scientific perspective. The paper includes examples of these design proposals, student feedback and results that illustrates the importance of design for public engagement that addresses societal challenges with real world impact, promotes the understanding of complex issues and fosters collaborations with other disciplines.