Design Empathy and Contextual Awareness: Frames of Reference for the 21st Century Creative

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Wayne K. Li

Design Empathy and Contextual Awareness

Frames of Reference for the 21st Century Creative

Wayne K. Li

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English

Laurence King Publishing
28 August 2025

Product design; Technical design

This book captures so many tools that can be used to design well in community. I can't wait to teach with it by my side.

- Dr Susie Wise, author of Design for Belonging: How to Build Inclusion and Collaboration in Your Communities

One of the biggest challenges facing designers across all fields is not simply in the design of the product or service itself, but rather how to arrive at a design solution that resonates with a target audience, that will have a higher than likely chance at market adoption, and that will avoid negatively impacting society or the environment. What are the skills that can be employed by a student or young professional creative early on that enable them to identify the issues at work and address them? By understanding design from human-centered perspectives - both from the customer's and the producer's point of view - innovative, resonant designs are possible.

Design Empathy and Contextual Awareness demystifies the ""fuzzy"" front end of the design process, where research methods mix with business trends and marketing. The accessible, authoritative text presents design as neither merely a ""trade"" skill nor an exercise in personal creative vision, but rather the application of multiple mindsets and practices, built around a process of alternating points of view (or ""frames""). As well as covering theory and process, this visually engaging book also provides real-life business examples and applicable templates to help designers hone their empathy and contextual awareness in order to more directly and efficiently achieve successful design outcomes.

Chapters cover:

Laying a foundation: design as a whole-brain activity

Design behaviors: design as a whole-life activity

Empathy: cognitive and emotional empathy, and compassionate concern

Contextual awareness: cultivating your designer's sixth sense

By: Wayne K. Li
Imprint: Laurence King Publishing
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 240mm, Width: 170mm, Spine: 24mm
Weight: 540g
ISBN: 9781529438215
ISBN 10: 1529438217
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 28 August 2025
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Wayne K. Li is the Oliver Professor of Practice in Design and Engineering at the Schools of Industrial Design and Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, in Atlanta. He also runs his own design consultancy, working with clients including the Home Depot, Toyota Mobility, Google, and Panasonic. Previously, he worked as a Senior Designer for Williams Sonoma, Interaction Design Researcher for Volkswagen/Audi, and Product Designer for Ford Motor Company and IDEO Product Development. He received a Master's of Science in Engineering (Product Design) from Stanford University and undergraduate degrees in Fine Arts and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

Reviews for Design Empathy and Contextual Awareness: Frames of Reference for the 21st Century Creative

This book captures so many tools that can be used to design well in community. I can't wait to teach with it by my side. -- Dr Susie Wise, author of Design for Belonging: How to Build Inclusion and Collaboration in Your Communities