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Realizing Empathy: An Inquiry Into the Meaning of Making
Do you think that art is self-indulgent and has no function? Or that craft is outdated? That's what the author thought. Especially so as a designer, given that most have been distancing themselves from artists and craftsmen since the industrial revolution. But after spending 4 years exploring the very disciplines of craft as well as the visual and performing arts, the author came to the realization that he had completely misunderstood the two disciplines.
Realizing Empathy: An Inquiry Into the Meaning of Making, is a book that analyzes and reflects on the author's embodied exploration of the disciplines of craft as well as the visual and performing arts, to tell the story of how and why realizing empathy is the heart of the creative process we call ‘making.’
Through this exploration, the author also blends together his experiences in computer science and human-centered design to investigate both the ethics of our relationship to computer technology as well as the necessary and sufficient conditions required for facilitating empathic conversations in our human-to-human as well as human-to-machine interactions.
Realizing Empathy: An Inquiry Into the Meaning of Making, is a book that analyzes and reflects on the author's embodied exploration of the disciplines of craft as well as the visual and performing arts, to tell the story of how and why realizing empathy is the heart of the creative process we call ‘making.’
Through this exploration, the author also blends together his experiences in computer science and human-centered design to investigate both the ethics of our relationship to computer technology as well as the necessary and sufficient conditions required for facilitating empathic conversations in our human-to-human as well as human-to-machine interactions.
- GenresDesign
418 pages, Hardcover
First published May 15, 2013
1 person is currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
Seung Chan Lim
2 books10 followersSeung Chan Lim (Slim) is an award-winning designer and an award-winning author specializing in coaching the transformational process of personal, inter-personal, and organizational innovation.
Slim helps people & organizations become aware of conflicts often hidden from plain sight that are nonetheless limiting their ability to transform & innovate. He leverages his 15+ years of experience in the field of design & innovation to guide them in the practicing and honing of their ability to leverage such conflicts as a source of insight & innovation. He calls this process "Realizing Empathy."
Slim was born in Seoul, Korea, only to move to Cairo, Egypt at the tender age of 6. Since then, he has enjoyed the life of a global nomad, living in two additional countries: China and the U.S. Trained first as a computer scientist, Slim spent the first 9 years of his career at MAYA Design. There, he split his time between conducting visionary research into the future of human-computer interaction and helping fortune 500 companies innovate through human-centered design. It was at MAYA Design, where he realized that the challenge in design & innovation is less about coming up with new ideas for products or services, and more about fostering a culture in which such ideas could emerge, develop, and thrive. This lead him to leave his practice to explore a culture often considered ideal for design & innovation: an art school.
For 4 years, Slim conducted research exploring the culture in which visual and performing arts flourished. He kept asking himself "what does it mean to 'make something' and how does it work?" What arose from this research was a unique understanding of empathy and its relationship to innovation, development, and transformation. One that helped Slim conclude that realizing empathy was at the heart of all potentially creative endeavors, and that creativity played a significant role not only in art and design, but also in general human relationships.
Slim helps people & organizations become aware of conflicts often hidden from plain sight that are nonetheless limiting their ability to transform & innovate. He leverages his 15+ years of experience in the field of design & innovation to guide them in the practicing and honing of their ability to leverage such conflicts as a source of insight & innovation. He calls this process "Realizing Empathy."
Slim was born in Seoul, Korea, only to move to Cairo, Egypt at the tender age of 6. Since then, he has enjoyed the life of a global nomad, living in two additional countries: China and the U.S. Trained first as a computer scientist, Slim spent the first 9 years of his career at MAYA Design. There, he split his time between conducting visionary research into the future of human-computer interaction and helping fortune 500 companies innovate through human-centered design. It was at MAYA Design, where he realized that the challenge in design & innovation is less about coming up with new ideas for products or services, and more about fostering a culture in which such ideas could emerge, develop, and thrive. This lead him to leave his practice to explore a culture often considered ideal for design & innovation: an art school.
For 4 years, Slim conducted research exploring the culture in which visual and performing arts flourished. He kept asking himself "what does it mean to 'make something' and how does it work?" What arose from this research was a unique understanding of empathy and its relationship to innovation, development, and transformation. One that helped Slim conclude that realizing empathy was at the heart of all potentially creative endeavors, and that creativity played a significant role not only in art and design, but also in general human relationships.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 30, 2018
I wanted to know what is empathy and I think I got the most comprehensive and deep explanation I ever could expect. Moreover, I know the process and I know how to facilitate for better empathy. I understand why empathy is important, how it helps to build good relations with people and things, how it leads to better learning, experience, design and collaboration. Damn, this book is very deep and you need to read it a couple of times! And I can’t say it was easy to read this book. It was complicated. But it is so full of insight...
November 30, 2013
Realizing empathy
I liked the concept of the book - a very unique approach to innovation and design through understanding people and things. It is both didactical and biographical. The author draws upon many of his personal experiences to explain empathy and how he came to embrace this concept. It could get a bit slow and somewhat wandering at times. Still a good read.
I liked the concept of the book - a very unique approach to innovation and design through understanding people and things. It is both didactical and biographical. The author draws upon many of his personal experiences to explain empathy and how he came to embrace this concept. It could get a bit slow and somewhat wandering at times. Still a good read.
June 16, 2014
A really nice meditation on the role of empathy in design. It's not necessarily human centered, but it isn't opposed to it either. A lot of the thoughts on empathizing with materials are really fascinating, and the break down of empathic concepts so deeply was great. It was a good thinking book.
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March 28, 2015Recommended by Megan
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews