Design for All Needs Design Empathy

Abstract

With the movement toward human-centered design (Fletcher et al., 2015), interior designers strive to create space for all, yet sometimes we do not understand how our designs are truly impacting others (Ulrich, 1991). Judgment is inherently intertwined with the design process (Lera, 1981). The designer’s judgment is used at every step along the practice of creation. Does this look right? Is this the correct solution? Does this combination work? But what happens when that same judgment is extended to people? What we think they will do, how they should act, what they will experience?