Pedagogy and Professional Development

Empathic Design Approaches for the Development of Adaptive Wear

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Abstract

This study focused on a collaborative project that was implemented for design major students to practice critical design thinking process for the development of adaptive wear with empathic design approaches. This included in-depth interviews of customers, the involvement of experts as partners, prototyping, and group discussion. The instructor collected students' feedback using reflective journal in order to evaluate the effectiveness of this collaborative project as a pedagogical method for the development of adaptive wear. It turned out that the interview and critique process with industrial experts as well as Muscular Dystrophy patients via four times video conferences significantly enhanced the student's understanding of design development employing empathic design approaches for the customers with special needs. This collaborative project provided students an excellent opportunity to practice empathic inferences of users' perspective and situations of product use.

Keywords: Key words: empathic design, adaptive wear, Muscular Dystrophy, collaborative project, empathic design

How to Cite:

Cho, S., (2022) “Empathic Design Approaches for the Development of Adaptive Wear”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 78(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.13296