STORYTELLING AND REPETITIVE NARRATIVES FOR DESIGN EMPATHY: CASE SUOMENLINNA

Abstract

Today it is widely established in design research that empathy is an important part of creating a true understanding of user experience as a resource for design. A typical challenge is how to transmit the feeling of empathy acquired by user studies to designers who have not participated in the user study. In this article, we show how we attained an empathic understanding through storytelling and aroused empathy to others using repetitive narratives in an experimental presentation bringing forth factual, reflective and experiential aspects of the user information. Taking as a starting point our experiences with the design project Suomenlinna Seclusive, we conclude with the potential of using narratives for invoking design empathy.