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Published on January 29, 2025

On December 4, Dahdaleh faculty fellow Shital Desai led a seminar on empathy driven design, focusing on life centered solutions for seniors and individuals with dementia. Desai explored participatory and co-design methodologies to address systemic challenges such as the digital divide and its impact on marginalized populations.

Desai highlighted how digital exclusion disproportionately affects older adults, individuals with disabilities, rural communities and economically marginalized groups. Increasing digitization of essential services such as banking and healthcare which often leaves these groups behind due to barriers like affordability, lack of technological familiarity and limited access to resources such as WIFI. Intersectional challenges such as being an older adult who is also an immigrant or refugee, can exacerbate these issues and further isolate individuals.

The seminar introduced human centered design as an approach to involving users early in the research and design process. However, Desai emphasized the importance of transitioning to life centered design, which includes not just humans but also the environment, animals and Indigenous knowledge frameworks. This holistic approach aligns with systems thinking, which addresses the interconnectedness of stakeholders and their environments.

Desai shared insights into the Double Diamond design process, a method combining divergent thinking (exploration) and convergent thinking (focusing on solutions). Through storytelling and immersive tools like generative AI models like “Talking Sox,” Desai explained how technologies can be tailored to enhance autonomy and communication for individuals with dementia. She emphasized co-design collaborative nature, where stakeholders actively contribute ideas and experiences, fostering inclusive engagement and equitable solutions.

Desai concluded the seminar by calling for  a responsible design, slow design and redefined sustainability to ensure technologies and systems are inclusive, accessible and address societal inequities, ultimately enhancing health and well being for all.

Watch the seminar presentation below:

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