ABSTRACT
This chapter explores techniques employed in empathic design that differentiate it from Human-Centered Design or user-centered design. Techniques that help the designer to gain a new perspective require stepping back out of the users' shoes and often involve engaging the users in co-design or participatory design strategies. Participatory design or co-design activities are techniques employed to value the expertise and wisdom of older users, and have the potential for engaging younger users as experts in their way of living, particularly with school, museum, and hospital projects. Empathic design techniques of stepping in or stepping back, whether formal or informal, will reveal lessons for designers. A post-occupancy evaluation is a formal research strategy intended to evaluate and measure a built-design project's performance corresponding to the overall design objectives. The higher the value that the designers place on the users' "expertise" by engaging them in the design process, the more they will gain understanding of the users and their emotions and experience.
