Design for Action aims to motivate student problem solving through empathy and compassion for the needs of others. Students investigate 6 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for needs and design opportunities and then use this as a driving force in the development of a solution to an identified problem. Students ultimately design a conceptual solution and present this along with their findings to their peers.
Key concept(s): Problem solving (through empathy)
Related concept(s): Empathy (as a motivator), Research (as a design tool) & Presentation (as a form of communication)
Statement of inquiry: Through empathetic research, designers can solve global problems
Factual questions: What is empathy? Why were the UN SDGs created?
Debatable questions: Should we be concerned with issues that don’t affect us?
Conceptual questions: What does it mean to empathise? What is a problem? What should a design include in order to communicate an idea? Why do we analyse existing products?
