The co-creation workshop consisted of two days of creative activities held at The Shed – UWE Frenchay Campus, Bristol during the 27th and 28th of August 2021. The workshop proceeded through three stages: 1) sharing and telling empathetic design experiences; 2) deepening understanding; and 3) sensemaking and co-articulation of the meaning of design empathy. Participants engaged in multi-perspectival discussions to expand their tacit knowledge about the skill of design empathy and collectively co-construct new knowledge through mutual learning. The aim was to establish collaboration ecosystems for design creativity curated by an interdisciplinary team of design researchers and participants. Together, we explored how diverse design communities of practice relate sounds and music with empathy by self-reflecting on their own experience, and learning from each other.

The workshop drew two participants from our industrial partners (HM Land Registry, and Rheon Labs), and four academic participants. Together we spent two days developing a series of creative and reflective activities tailored and facilitated towards unfolding tacit knowledge and exploring the relationship between sounds, music, and the skill of design empathy, and hence, gathering a deep understanding of the nature and role of empathy in the design process.