Study Hub

Study Guides

This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.

Back to Study HubBrowse Year 10 Design and technology Guides

Year 10 - Design and technology

Empathy and user understanding

Inclusive Design: Mental Health and Wellbeing

Unit Summary

This unit explores inclusive design with a focus on mental health and wellbeing. Students research user needs, generate ideas, and prototype solutions, developing empathy, creativity, and problem-solving while considering feasibility and real-world impact.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to analyse existing personas and create new personas to represent diverse user needs and experiences.

Key Notes

  • Empathy helps designers understand different user needs.
  • Not all users have the same challenges or priorities, needs or wants.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • empathy: understanding and sharing the feelings or perspectives of others
  • persona: a fictional user profile created to represent needs and behaviours
  • user needs: the requirements or expectations of the person using a product
  • diversity: recognising differences between people and experiences
  • user-centred design: a design approach that puts the needs of the user first

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Empathy just means "feeling sorry" for others.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain the lesson in two key points.

Empathy helps designers understand different user needs. Not all users have the same challenges or priorities, needs or wants.

2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'empathy'

understanding and sharing the feelings or perspectives of others.

3. Correct this common mistake.

Mistake: Empathy just means "feeling sorry" for others. Correction: Empathy is understanding someone's perspective and experience to inform design.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 10 Design and technology guide library.