Have you ever wondered what it would be like to walk in someone else's shoes to gather a deeper understanding of their experiences in the world? This workshop is your chance to do just that. You will spend the evening engaging in empathy exercises to role-play specific persons lives and literally walk in their shoes.
Come join us and take time to listen, observe and feel what it is like to experience the world from someone else's perspective. We will spend time planning an immersion activity and then take the research out to the neighborhood to role-play ambulatory, dexterity, and hearing challenges as we go about day-to-day tasks such as buying a cup of coffee or purchasing a metro ticket. Working in pairs, each pair will embody 2 different personas for a dedicated amount of time to understand behaviors, feelings and attitudes. Your goal will be to gain a deeper understanding and familiarity with your personas values, beliefs, and way of life. We will gather back in the workshop space to reflect, share insights and debrief. Plan to arrive early. The activities build on each other and if you miss the start, you will miss the opportunity to participate in the activities. Space is limited!
What you'll learn:
* What it feels like to walk in someone else's shoes
* How walking in someone else's shoes impacts your own life
* What the advantages of immersion activities are over other empathy techniques such as interviewing and observation
* The potential limitations of immersion activities
* Ethical considerations to keep in mind while designing immersion activities
This agenda is jam-packed and we can't wait to run you through the activities! Are you ready to get out of your comfort zone and have fun? Come with an open mind and lots of energy. This activity requires walking in the community so plan to come ready to walk.
Agenda
6:30 - Networking
6:45 - Introduction to Immersion
7:00 - Experiential Immersion Activity
8:15 - Debrief
8:45 - End
About the Facilitator
Karen Hold is a design strategist who specializes in building creative capacity in individuals, organizations and cities. She thrives on helping her clients innovate and adapt to a rapidly changing competitive landscape. Karen has extensive industry experience across many sectors including telecommunications, consumer packaged goods, publishing, non-profits and education. Karen is the Director of DT:DC.
