A Systematic Analysis of Mixed Perspectives in Empathic Design: Not One Perspective Encompasses All

The work presented in this paper is set up in the context of empathic design, in particular design for people in mourning situations. It seems almost a truism to say that designing for a situation as delicate, emotional, and complex as mourning demands that the designer is able to build empathy and (com)passion with the people and context at stake. In building empathy with stakeholders in the design process, it is important for designers to approach the problem from multiple perspectives and values in order to understand how diverse individuals experience and go through such rituals (e.g., mourning). Of particular concern in this paper is the question of how designers can utilize their own feelings, intuitions, and experiences in the design process. Especially in design projects that require great sensitivity on the part of the designer (e.g., empathic design), the wise application of this first-person perspective may be a major contributor to the design outcomes. Therefore, we aim to provide designers and coaches of design students with a way to design for and with others and within user situations by deliberately using perspective transitions and clusters in different phases of design processes.