Summary:
The primary objective of our empathic design research is to create a structured conceptual design methodology that stimulates user-centered innovation by engaging engineers in empathic experiences. Empathic experiences are designed to help designers empathize with users under a variety of challenging conditions. Working collaboratively with colleagues from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, Singapore University of Technology and Design, and Aalto University, we have been conducting concept generation experiments to test the empathic design method. The results indicate that the method increases the originality of engineers' solutions, without affecting their feasibility or technical quality.
As a precursor to these experiments, we studied hundreds of award-winning mechanical products to investigate the types of engineering characteristics that they most frequently embody. The resulting paper earned a Best Paper Award from the ASME IDETC Design Theory and Methodology Conference, and it was subsequently published in the ASME Journal of Mechanical Design.
We have also extended our work to investigate the innovation capabilities of undergraduate engineering students. A series of studies compare the innovation capabilities of first-year and final-year mechanical engineering students at two different universities, before and after their major engineering design courses. The resulting papers have earned two Best Paper Awards from the ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, and subsequently published in the ASEE Journal of Engineering Education.
Collaborators:
Katja Holtta-Otto, University of Melbourne (formerly of U Mass-Dartmouth, SUTD, and Aalto University)
Trina Kershaw, U Mass-Dartmouth
Matthew Green, LeTourneau University
Funding:
NSF
Related Publications:
Innovative Mechanical Products
Hölttä-Otto, K., Otto, K., Song, C., Luo, J., Li, T., Seepersad, C. C., & Seering, W., 2018, “The Characteristics of Innovative, Mechanical Products—10 Years Later,” Journal of Mechanical Design, Vol. 140, No. 8, pp. 084501 (8 pages).
Saunders, M., C.C. Seepersad, and K. Holtta-Otto, 2011, "The Characteristics of Innovative Mechanical Products," ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, Vol. 133, No. 2, pp. 021009-1-9.
Saunders, M. N., C. C. Seepersad and K. Holtta-Otto, 2009, "The Characteristics of Innovative, Mechanical Products," ASME IDETC Design Theory and Methodology Conference, San Diego, CA, Paper Number: DETC2009-87382. Best Paper Award for 2011 ASME IDETC Design Theory and Methodology Conference.
Empathic Design
Kershaw, T., S. Bhowmick, C.C. Seepersad, K. Holtta-Otto, 2019, “A Decision Tree Based Methodology for Evaluating Creativity in Engineering Design,” Frontiers in Psychology-Cognition, Vol. 10 (32), pp. 1-19.
Johnson, D.G., N. Genco, M.N. Saunders, P. Williams, C.C. Seepersad, K. Holta-Otto, 2014, “An Experimental Investigation of the Effectiveness of Empathic Experience Design for Innovative Concept Generation,” Journal of Mechanical Design, Vol. 136, No. 5, p. 051009 (12 pages).
Genco, N., D. Johnson, K. Holtta-Otto and C. C. Seepersad, 2011, "A Study of the Effectiveness of the Empathic Experience Design Creativity Technique," ASME IDETC Design Theory and Methodology Conference, Washington, DC, Paper Number: DETC2011-021711.
Innovation Capabilities of Undergraduate Engineering Students
Kershaw, T.C., R.L. Peterson, M.A. McCarthy, A.Y. Young, C.C. Seepersad, P.T. Williams, K. Holtta-Otto, and S. Bhowmick, 2015, “A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Examination of the Development of Innovation Capability in Undergraduate Engineering Students,” ASME IDETC Design Education Conference, Boston, MA, Paper No: DETC2015-47650. Best Paper Award.
Genco, N., Holtta-Otto, K., and C.C. Seepersad, 2012, "An Experimental Investigation of the Innovation Capabilities of Undergraduate Engineering Students," Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 101, No. 1, pp. 60-81.
Genco, N., K. Holtta-Otto and C. C. Seepersad, 2011, "Factors that Influence the Creativity of Engineering Students," ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Vancouver, BC.
Genco, N., K. Holtta-Otto and C.C. Seepersad, 2010, “An Experimental Investigation of the Innovation Capabilities of Engineering Students,” ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Louisville, KY. Best Paper Award for ASEE Design in Engineering Education Division and Professional Interest Council II.
Green, M., C.C. Seepersad, and K. Holtta-Otto, 2010, “Extreme Experience Interviews for Innovative Designs: Classroom Assessment of a New Needs-Gathering Method,” ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Louisville, KY.Best Paper Award for ASEE Mechanical Engineering Division.
Lin, J. and C. C. Seepersad, 2007, "Empathic Lead Users: The Effects of Extraordinary User Experiences on Customer Needs Analysis and Product Redesign," ASME IDETC/CIE Design Theory and Methodology Conference, Las Vegas, NV. Paper Number: DETC2007-35302.