For the Greater Good

As engineers, we must create solutions to all of life’s problems. We build in order to appease the masses. From bridges, to buildings, to new materials, and new medicines, webuild in order to create a more comfortable world. However, when so few design for so many, we run into the reality that some people may not be satisfied. Some may not be represented in the decisions made. We begin to see that our creations can have huge impacts on the lives of others, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. This is the idea behind empathic design.

Empathic design is essentially, “a capacity to understand how your design will affect the lives of other people as understood by them.” We must design to suit the people who will interact and be affected by our solutions. In order to this, we must first understand the problem that those people face. A complete understanding of their perspective is necessary in order to effectively solve the problem and come up with reasonable solutions. This is why it is best to target situations we are familiar with such as designing a school building for the community one grew up in. As an individual that was part of that community, one has a grasp on what the needs of the general masses of the area are. One may not be able to be as effective in a different country with a culture unknown to the engineer. One cannot properly address the specific needs of the specific people of that area. This is why our ” ability to guide the development of new products and services is limited by their experience and their ability to imagine and describe possible innovations.” It is for precisely this reason that empathic design calls for the observation and deep analysis of the consumer before solutions are created.

Through careful analysis of the market and extensive benchmarking, an engineer can make a more educated and insightful design. Upon being handed a problem, research into those that are affected must be taken, then a concept can be generated. This concept will experience several trials of scrutiny and refinement. The final design will therefore be for the greater good and will encompass the needs of those most affected by it.

Resources

https://sites.google.com/a/psu.edu/design-thinking/empathic-design

http://hbr.org/1997/11/spark-innovation-through-empathic-design/ar/1

http://cas.illinois.edu/Faculty/ViewFellAssoc.aspx?Guid=730B90C1-C058-47BB-A456-2FFF66A98949&Role=aa

 

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