Abstract
A broken food system has resulted in a wide disparity between food producers and consumers, undermining the perceived link between food and nature. It is therefore important to re-create the relationship with food when co-designing future solutions. This requires new tools and a new set of skills among food designers. Designing with empathy is well known from design processes as a way to respect human experiences. We therefore question if empathy for food can be used when co-designing the food system of tomorrow? The purpose of this paper is to explore what empathy means in food design, and how empathy for food can be created among users and stakeholders involved in the design process. The aim is to contribute to strengthening food design as a field that can contribute to tackle future food-related challenges in a responsible way.
Keywords
Design Empathy, Empathy for Food, Organic Food, Sustainable Food System
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2016.520
Citation
Hermannsdóttir, H., Dawes, C., Gideonsen, H., and De Moor, E. (2016) Designing with Empathy: Implications for Food Design, in Lloyd, P. and Bohemia, E. (eds.), Future Focused Thinking - DRS International Conference 2016, 27 - 30 June, Brighton, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2016.520
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Designing with Empathy: Implications for Food Design
A broken food system has resulted in a wide disparity between food producers and consumers, undermining the perceived link between food and nature. It is therefore important to re-create the relationship with food when co-designing future solutions. This requires new tools and a new set of skills among food designers. Designing with empathy is well known from design processes as a way to respect human experiences. We therefore question if empathy for food can be used when co-designing the food system of tomorrow? The purpose of this paper is to explore what empathy means in food design, and how empathy for food can be created among users and stakeholders involved in the design process. The aim is to contribute to strengthening food design as a field that can contribute to tackle future food-related challenges in a responsible way.