Abstract
Empathic design approach and user-centered design research have primarily focused on the end user’s needs and experiences in design of new products and learning (Kouprie and Visser, 2009). Little research has been conducted on utilizing the empathic design approach to create avatar personas and design simulation scenarios (Hosking et al., 2015). Identifying a need to create the persona of an on-screen avatar with authentic actions and reactions to an end user, an empathic design approach seemed a good fit for this simulation design. Utilizing Kouprie and Visser’s (2009) three techniques for promoting empathy and four phases of empathy framework, and with a critical pedagogical lens (Bradshaw, 2017), this design case showcases the design and development processes of developing Emil, an on-screen avatar persona, and a simulation scenario for higher education faculty focused on implicit bias, providing another option for institutes of higher education for faculty implicit bias training. Due to the authentic interactions of the on-screen avatar with the end user faculty member, Emil also became an end user in this design. By situating Emil as an end user, this empathic design approach allowed the designers to move in and out of Emil’s world during the development of his persona, further lending to a more reflective and iterative stance. This chapter will go through this iterative design process and provide insights into developing avatar personas and simulations through empathic design approaches.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Amadeo J “AJ” Chavez for his perspective and work in the design of this simulation and Emil.
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Bal, I.A., Knowles-Davis, M.L. (2023). Designing Avatar Personas for an Implicit Bias Simulation Through Empathic Design Approaches. In: Spector, M.J., Lockee, B.B., Childress, M.D. (eds) Learning, Design, and Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17727-4_194-2
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Designing Avatar Personas for an Implicit Bias Simulation Through Empathic Design Approaches- Published:
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17727-4_194-2
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Designing Avatar Personas for an Implicit Bias Simulation Through Empathic Design Approaches- Published:
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17727-4_194-1