Human-Centered Engineering Design - Lesson 02 - Empathy and Needfinding
Author ORCID Identifier
Document Type
Other
Publication Date
Winter 1-15-2025
Department
Thayer School of Engineering
Abstract
Purpose and audience. This is the second lesson in a series called, “Human-Centered Engineering Design.” These lessons are intended to be integrated into introductory courses on engineering design at the undergraduate level, across any engineering discipline. They are designed to function either as a sequence or as stand alone lessons to fill an existing gap in a course.
This second lesson, Empathy and Needfinding, is meant to be a first introduction to design research theory and two design research methods: the contextual observation and the contextual interview. The lesson begins with a short presentation on the main goal of design research, needfinding: discovering and clarifying unmet and undermet needs of a particular population. The lesson then provides a short experience in observing and then a short experience in interviewing, with how-to tips accompanying both exercises.
This lesson series was funded by a Dartmouth Library’s Open Education Initiative grant. All materials have a Creative Commons license–they are free to use and adapt for non-commercial purposes with attribution to the authors and Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College.
Structure at a glance:
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Presentation - 10 minutes
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Refresher on design and design process
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What is empathy?
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Needfinding–the first goal of design research
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How design research compares with natural science research.
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Methods and skills we’ll cover today: observing and interviewing
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Activity #1: Observing - 15 minutes
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Activity #2: Interviewing - 20 minutes
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Reflect in pairs - 5 minutes
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Reflect as an individual - 4 minutes
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Close with “Ethnography” definition - 1 minute
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Questions and discussion - If time allows in your class
Dartmouth Digital Commons Citation
Magdalena Gomez, Sara; Mensi, Grace; Coffey, Virginia; and Steinhauer, Rafe, "Human-Centered Engineering Design - Lesson 02 - Empathy and Needfinding" (2025). Other Faculty Materials. 16.
https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/faculty_other/16
