Fostering design literacy, empathy and awareness in codesign

Using low fidelity simulations, the authors have previously introduced elements to an undergraduate product design module, to improve empathic forethought among student designers, designing with and for elders. Student feedback suggested a willingness and enthusiasm to adopt more empathic approaches to design problems and an understanding of the responsibility that resides in their hands. They also suggested that training could be enriched by engaging with elders during concept development and prototyping. In codesign, citizens may be asked to inform, constrain and evaluate product development to meet ‘their’ needs or those of their peers. It is often these insights which provide a basis for innovation around which designers can instil value, desire, benefit and affect perceptions of stigmatizing issues. Using a real-world scenario, students followed empathic, auto-ethnographic experiential learning exercises before engaging with elders. Mindful of the need for such interactions to be enjoyable, fruitful, reliable and valid for both students and participants, this study focused on the interaction between students and elders during concept development and final presentation. Six groups (32 students in total) were observed interacting with 12 elder citizens. Data was gathered from students’ reflections, observations of tutors, and focus groups with elder citizens. From this, we have developed guidelines to ensure that both citizens and students derive maximum benefit and enjoyment from these activities.