Deep Empathic Design

Empathic design is often described as a creative process that translates observations - typically of people and their behaviours into design ideas. Another similar and closely related expression is user centred design, which attempts to turn the attention away from an object or product towards its usefulness and useabilty. The central premise of empathic design is that the best-designed products and services result from understanding the needs of the people who will use them. User-centred designers engage actively with end-users to gather insights that drive design from the earliest stages of product and service development, right through the design process. Our standard definitions and understanding of empathic design or user centred design are well recognised and widely practiced, particularly taught in design schools and in professional creative business. This paper extends and explores a deeper understanding of empathy within a systems thinking framework where the observer and subject are both components of empathic design. It proposes that empathy can be described as the bonds of connection with others (in its traditional interpretation), but also with an ecological, social and economic context

Morphology and design: reconciling intellect, intuition, and ethics in the reflective practice of architecture

This paper starts by exploring models of knowledge in order to place architectural knowledgein relation to the forms of knowledge that have been developed by other academic disciplineswithin the universities. In the light of suggestions that the low esteem in which architectureis held within the universities may be due to its basis in practice and its apparent lack of acoherent body of knowledge, the proposition is made that morphology has a special place inadvancing architectural knowledge because it is able to make the link between design and itssocial consequences. Understanding this relationship is vital if architecture is to defend itsposition as an art that is of general social relevance as opposed to being the domain of thesocially privileged. Kolb?s learning cycle is introduced as a device to track the forms of knowledgethat are essential to the reflective practice of a genuinely social architecture and to relatethese to the insights into morphology and design that have been provided by space syntaxover the past two decades. ?Sheltered? housing for older people is taken as an example of howa morphological approach can offer an enlightened critique of design guidance that articulatesthe authentic experiences of the inhabitants. The creative interplay of intellect and intuition isconsidered in relation to how morphology can help to clarify strategic design choices early onin the design process. The importance of briefing and evaluation are also stressed as essentialingredients that will enable space syntax to turn Kolb?s learning cycle into a dynamic learningprocess. The paper concludes by proposing an ethical framework for design. This paper starts by exploring models of knowledge in order to place architectural knowledgein relation to the forms of knowledge that have been developed by other academic disciplineswithin the universities. In the light of suggestions that the low esteem in which architectureis held within the universities may be due to its basis in practice and its apparent lack of acoherent body of knowledge, the proposition is made that morphology has a special place inadvancing architectural knowledge because it is able to make the link between design and itssocial consequences. Understanding this relationship is vital if architecture is to defend itsposition as an art that is of general social relevance as opposed to being the domain of thesocially privileged. Kolb?s learning cycle is introduced as a device to track the forms of knowledgethat are essential to the reflective practice of a genuinely social architecture and to relatethese to the insights into morphology and design that have been provided by space syntaxover the past two decades. ?Sheltered? housing for older people is taken as an example of howa morphological approach can offer an enlightened critique of design guidance that articulatesthe authentic experiences of the inhabitants. The creative interplay of intellect and intuition isconsidered in relation to how morphology can help to clarify strategic design choices early onin the design process. The importance of briefing and evaluation are also stressed as essentialingredients that will enable space syntax to turn Kolb?s learning cycle into a dynamic learningprocess. The paper concludes by proposing an ethical framework for design

Teaching principles of network and agent-based models to architecture students

Architectural design is necessarily a situated learning process that continues to be a subject of interest in architectural education. Whether designers should give preference to a functional design product or whether the focus should be centered on creative output are issues that need to be questioned. Given the typically vague descriptions of creativity it is even harder to determine whether design functionality and design creativity should be treated as separate entities. The implications of any preferences made on the methods of assessment are crucial. While teaching is necessarily aligned to design as an experiential learning process, it also requires careful understanding of how knowledge can inform rather than constrain creativity. In evaluating the creativity or even the functionality of a design there are challenges present in accounting for a comprehensive and yet practical framework for assessment. In teaching practices the challenge is to ensure that the assessment process is sufficiently specified without limiting creative explorations. It is argued that through exposing design propositions to internal and external criticism, assessing progress becomes less of a challenge. In this course of development 'creativity' is revealed not as value-neutral but as a product of a social process that is practiced through experiential learning

Thinking geo/graphically: The interdisciplinary space between graphic design and cultural geography

In relation to the understanding and representation of everyday life and place, it is clear that many cultural geographers are beginning to explore what one might call “creative” qualitative research methods, the majority of which draw on the discipline of fine art. In particular, the use of film and sound within research is increasing, as are calls for conference submissions and journal articles relating to such work. Such developments within cultural geography mirror those across qualitative research within the broader social science arena, and for geographers the use of this type of media is perhaps a way to contend with the ongoing, relational nature of place and the representational challenge that brings. In contrast, the perception of the traditional medium of print seems to be that it is lacking the fluid nature of film or sound, only capable of generating representations of place that are too “static” or “fixed.” However, this paper proposes that interdisciplinary collaboration between cultural geography and graphic design offers much with regard to the development of print-based creative methods for understanding and representing everyday life and place. It suggests that the form of the book offers an opportunity to develop geo/graphic work that engages both form and content in a holistic way, enabling the production of a space of interpretation and multi-sensory exploration for the reader. Such work engages with contemporary debates around representation, and positions the reader’s interaction with the book as both cognitively and performatively embodied. For the researcher, the geo/graphic design process also functions as an analytical tool, one that, through the development of the material form of the work, re-situates them in place and enables further reflection and understanding

Entrepreneurial learning: a narrative-based conceptual model

Purpose – Entrepreneurial learning is an important area of enquiry which is not well understood in either the academic study of entrepreneurship or the practical development of new entrepreneurs. The article aims to explore two questions: first, how do people learn to work in entrepreneurial ways – are there significant processes and experiences in their learning, which can be related to existing learning theories? Second, can a useful framework to understand entrepreneurial learning be developed and applied both in entrepreneurial practice and conceptually by educators? Design/methodology/approach – The article includes a brief critical review of the theoretical literature in the areas of entrepreneurship and learning. Thematic discourse analysis is used to interpret the life story narratives of three entrepreneurs in the creative industries. Material from their learning experiences is used to support the development of a conceptual model. This demonstrates connections between the emergence of entrepreneurial identity, learning as a social process, opportunity recognition, and venture formation as a negotiated activity. Findings – The principal finding is to propose a conceptual framework of entrepreneurial learning as a triadic model, including major themes of personal and social emergence, contextual learning, the negotiated enterprise, and a group of 11 related sub-themes. Practical implications – Applications of the model in entrepreneurship education, work-based learning and practice, are proposed, within and beyond the context of the creative media industry. Originality/value – The paper develops an original and distinctive conceptual understanding of entrepreneurial learning through analysis of entrepreneurs’ experiences, based on a social learning and constructionist perspective

Interaction, dialogue and a creative spirit of inquiry

The aim of technology and design is ‘to enable all pupils to become confident and responsible in solving real life problems, striving for creative solutions, independent learning, product excellence and social consciousness’ (NICC 1991: 15). A main aim of the present study was to create an environment and climate for learning that would enhance design capability and problem solving. To achieve this, pupils from two Year 7 classes (mean age 11 years-old) were organised into groups of four as creative learning communities. Working collaboratively and co-operatively pupils were able to discuss, clarify, brainstorm, think through their ideas, negotiate and arrive at a shared contextual understanding for their talking, thinking, planning and making. A local story was used as a stimulus for critical and creative thinking and as the platform for design and technology activity. Methodology included digital video and audio recordings, picture capture, classroom observation, pupil and teacher semi-structured interviews, teacher logs, researcher field notes, project evaluation. Findings, from the transcripts of classroom-based discussions, showed that active participation and careful scaffolding of the learning by the teachers, enabled pupils to achieve at a higher level than they would have done if left unassisted. Individual creativity and problem solving was enhanced, as evidenced by the high levels of pupil engagement in the process and diversity of pupil outcomes. Dialogue, interaction and a creative spirit of inquiry were significant in the teaching-learning process. As technologists, pupils were learning how to learn and thinking how to think within a context that was real and of interest to them

Scope and continuum of participatory research

As wider social and societal changes have led to moves towards equality as a response to a better understanding of inequalities, ethical considerations in research are now more consciously focussed on power dynamics. As a consequence, participatory research methods have gained traction. Simultaneously, artistic and creative methods are used within such projects to such an extent that arts-based, creative research has become equated with participatory research. In this article, I draw on three case studies to pursue three arguments: Firstly, I argue that the current understanding of community-based participatory action research is not the only potential for participatory methods, and indeed should not be. Depending on the design participatory research needs to be seen as a continuum from being minimally participatory to being fully egalitarian, whereby realistically most participatory research designs are situated somewhere in between the two with the level of participation changing throughout the process. Secondly, I argue that the employment of arts-based methods for data collection or dissemination does not automatically translate into a participatory research design. Thirdly, I argue that for ethical reasons researchers should not aim for fully egalitarian research to maintain participants’ interests and wellbeing

Scope and Continuum of Participatory Research

As wider social and societal changes have led to moves towards equality as a response to better understanding of inequalities, ethical considerations in research are now more consciously focussed on power dynamics. As a consequence, participatory research methods have gained in traction. Simultaneously, artistic and creative methods are used within such projects to such an extent that arts-based, creative research has become equated with participatory research. In this article, I draw on three case studies to pursue three arguments: Firstly, I argue that the current understanding of community-based participatory action research is not the only potential for participatory methods, and indeed should not be. Depending on the design participatory research needs to be seen as a continuum from being minimally participatory to being fully egalitarian, whereby realistically most participatory research designs are situated somewhere in between the two with the level of participation changing throughout the process. Secondly, I argue that the employment of arts-based methods for data collection or dissemination does not automatically translate into a participatory research design. Thirdly, I argue that for ethical reasons researchers should not aim for fully egalitarian research to maintain participants' interests and wellbeing

Value co-creation characteristics and creativity-oriented customer citizenship behavior

For the competitive advantage of service organization, it is important to improve the creative performance of human resources in the organization. For example, when employees perform creatively, in other words, if they generate novel and useful ideas, it will contribute to organizational competiveness. Therefore, there has been an increased focus in identifying its antecedents and consequences. Unfortunately, little is known about the creative performance of customers. According to service-centered dominant logic, customer is the value co-creator, it emphasizes co-opting customer involvement in the value creation process as an additional human resource. In addition, customers can be a valuable resource for service improvement efforts for firms. For instance, companies might benefit greatly from customer feedback and complaints regarding their offerings and can enhance their productivity in terms of quality and quantity. In this paper, the type of novel, creative-oriented customer behaviors highlighted in the preceding paragraph are referred to as creativity-oriented customer citizenship behaviors (CCBs). In the customer value co-creation context, creative-oriented CCBs refer to extra-role efforts by customers with regards the development of ideas about products, practices, services, and procedures that are novel and potentially useful to a firm. According to the intrinsic motivation perspective, the context in which customers create values, influences their intrinsic motivation, which in turn affects creativity-oriented CCBs. The intrinsic motivation perspective suggests that high intrinsic motivation is affected by information from both task characteristics (i.e., autonomy) and social characteristics (e.g., supplier support). Specifically, complex and challenging task characteristics such as high levels of variety, identity, significance, autonomy, and feedback are expected to increase customer intrinsic motivation. Under these conditions, customers should increase the likelihood of creativity-oriented CCBs. Therefore, customers are expected to be most creative when they experience a high level of intrinsic motivation. In contrast, complex and challenging task and social characteristics can have the opposite effect to customers. For example, in a high level of variety task, increased autonomy can lead to increased workload because they must take on related extra responsibilities and accountability. Increased workload, in turn, is expected to lead to decreased likelihood of creativity-oriented CCBs. Therefore, this study attempts to explore the impact of task characteristics and social characteristics on creativity-oriented CCBs. Furthermore, a substantial body of research has examined the possibility that creativity is affected by personal characteristics. As such, in addition to the relevant task and social characteristics, the moderating influence of several trait variables is also considered. This article makes several contributions. First, this study investigates the trade-off effect of the customer value co-creation related task and social characteristics by examining the underlying opposing mechanism of motivation and work overload. Second, this research provides a deeper understanding of contingency factors that systematically strengthen the relationships under consideration. Third, this study may indicate that companies seek to promote the creativity of their industrial customers and should design the tasks and social characteristics of their industrial customers in a way that maximizes their creativity. But, companies should be aware of the negative impact of specific tasks and social characteristics that may minimize the creativity of industrial customers

Realising the geo/graphic landscape of the everyday: a practice led investigation into an interdisciplinary geo/graphic design process

This research proposes that the ‘geo/graphic’ design process—an original synthesis of cultural geographic and graphic design theory and practice—offers much to geographers and graphic designers in relation to the understanding and representation of place, and the potential of print based graphic design to create interactive, multi-linear spaces of exploration for the reader. The understanding and representation of place is a central issue within cultural geography, with place itself a complex notion defined in contemporary geographic terms as ongoing and relational. This problematises both understanding and representation, as places, in a sense, are never ‘fixed’. Addressing this, and the contention that much of place evades representation, many geographers have begun to use methods that site the researcher, and their understanding, in more embodied, experiential ways within place, and are drawing on ‘creative’ methods such as film-making or sound recording. Yet, the predominant representation of place within geography remains the academic text, with few attempts to explore the communicative possibilities of type and image in this context. So, the pages of academic journals remain conventional, though research methods develop in multi-sensory ways. This research bridges the apparent divide between methods of exploring and representing place, and in doing so positions the graphic designer as researcher and develops a process that engages with the understanding and representation of place in a holistic way. Foregrounding graphic design practice, it highlights design interventions that re-situate the page as an experiential place. A qualitative, naturalistic and reflective methodological approach is taken, drawing on social science methods and design practice. Ethnographic methods inspire a series of print based design test projects, each conveying a particular version of the London borough of Hackney—the testing ground for the research. Analysis of the design test projects, establishes key elements of the research and practice, thus articulating the specifics of the ‘geo/graphic’ design process