News

Empathy in design and digitalisation – Aalto University researchers hold workshops for students at Arabia Comprehensive School

Aalto University researchers organised workshops for seventh graders, whose creative thinking skills were put to the test in designing future information services
A teacher and two researchers smiling and sorting through paper presentations in a classroom
Paula Valkonen (left) and Kaisa Savolainen (right) from Aalto University and Liisa Luostarinen from the Arabia Comprehensive School shuffling through the workshop presentations. Image: Anna Pulkkinen

Researchers from Aalto University and teachers from the Arabia Comprehensive School recently joined forces to organise service design workshops for seventh graders. The workshops harnessed students with design thinking skills and challenged them to design digital health and wellness services, which would be emphatic towards the end-users.

‘With these workshops, we can show students how human-centric service design thinking can be applied to various areas,’ says Paula Valkonen, doctoral researcher at Aalto University’s Department of Computer Science. ‘Understanding people is extremely important when you’re designing information systems. Without empathy, these systems may become difficult to use.’

Two full classes of seventh graders grabbed the assignment by the horns. In one of the tasks, students used self-made cartoons and videos to map out user-needs for digital health services and envision how these services could be made better in the future. 

Students worked on the cartoons and videos in small groups and demonstrated how naturally and creatively teenagers can empathise with end-users and develop concrete proposals for more human-centric alternatives.

‘Our students had a wonderful opportunity to try out service design with these fun but somewhat challenging tasks,” says Liisa Luostarinen, art and design teacher at Arabia Comprehensive School. ‘It’s important that students have a chance to design and communicate their ideas visually in various contexts, because it develops their design thinking skills more generally as well.”

Design thinking has been integrated into the school’s teaching throughout a student’s journey through grades one to nine.

‘At Arabia Comprehensive School, we emphasise design education in all grades and offer it as elective studies from grades 4-6 and 8-9. Additionally, our seventh graders study design as a part of their curricula for an hour each week,’ says Luostarinen.

The researchers were also inspired by the workshops and the creativeness of the students.

‘The students were able to utilise their various strengths in group work, much like is done in service design processes in working life,’ says Kaisa Savolainen, postdoctoral researcher at Aalto University’s Department of Design. ‘It was wonderful to witness how unapologetically and proficiently they tackled the design challenges and made use of some genuinely creative thinking.’

The fruitful results have prompted ideas for more workshops in the future. The workshops are based on a concept initially developed for in the annual Shaking up Tech event. The event aims to encourage more young women and gender minorities to choose an education and career in technology. It is based on the premise that technology professionals have an essential role in deciding which problems technology will seek to solve. The more diverse the team involved in building the future, the more versatile it will be in meeting people's needs.

Text: Paula Valkonen, Kaisa Savolainen, Liisa Luostarinen

Paula Valkonen

Doctoral Researcher
Mahine Learning researchers working at Department of Computer Science in Aalto University

Department of Computer Science

To foster future science and society.

Johanna Viitanne standing, red tree leaves background

A healthy dose of usability

Digital health services have emerged as cost-efficient options for healthcare, but better user experience is needed to ensure inclusive digitalisation.

News
ISM_vierailuluento 2023

Service design contributes to ensuring the quality and suitability of digital services

Principal University Lecturer Johanna Bragge invited her colleagues from the School of Science and School of Arts, Design and Architecture to deliver a guest lecture

News
AALTO_b-9344_Original.jpg _OE_4723_Original.jpg

Department of Design

The Department of Design is a diverse community of competent, creative and responsible individuals. In design, we appreciate technical skill, social significance and artistic expression.

  • Published:
  • Updated:

Read more news

Hollmen Reuter Sandman Architects' Women's Centre in Senegal
Awards and Recognition Published:

Showcasing female architects and their works

Finnish Architects Saija Hollmén, Jenni Reuter and Helena Sandman are featured in ‘’100 Women: Architects in Practice’’ book presenting female architects and their works all over the world.
On a table there are tools for plaster modelling
Press releases, Research & Art, Studies Published:

Handbook introduces the world of ceramics

The Ceramics Handbook guides the reader to working with clay through texts, images, illustrations, animations, and videos.
The picture shows the School of Business Professor of Practice Iivo Vehviläinen in a forest.
Press releases, Research & Art Published:

Economist: A natural resource tax on hydropower would generate revenue and improve the state of the environment

A natural resource tax would be a way to distribute the costs of environmental protection so that they would not fall solely on electricity consumers
Radical Creatives documentary film was screened at the beginning of the Aalto ARTS Annual Review
Research & Art, University Published:

The Annual Review took stock of the past year

The School of Arts, Design and Architecture's Annual Review on 13 March reflected on the results and highlights of the previous year. Also, the year's contributors and the Alumn of the Year were awarded.