IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 15

An Empathetic Approach
ABOVE & LEFT

North Carolina State
University Hunt Library,
Images courtesy
Snøhetta with Clark
Nexsen

Companies that promise a new way of rethinking
space are most commonly found in industries that
are experiencing the greatest flux. Retail, offices,
financial services, outpatient health care: these are
all spaces that are being disrupted by technology.
To create a better experience in these environments,
designers need to understand the shifting
demands of users. This requires thorough research,
from observing how people work and shop to
asking them questions about their needs and
feelings. Innovation consultancies make an
"empathetic approach" to design a central part of
their process.
This approach also has a way of putting clients at
ease. Innovation consultancies take care to let
different stakeholders feel heard and understood.
They are also savvy about speaking the language
of business, with references to things like brand
identity, user experience, and the relationship
between sound design and better performance.
"If you're a big brand that doesn't know what you
want, this process is very comforting, very
inclusive," says Cliff Kuang, author of a
forthcoming book about user experience (to be
published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux) and a
design editor at Fast Company.

Carolyn Argentati, the deputy director of libraries
at North Carolina State University, says working
with an innovation consultancy played a key role
in creating the award-winning Hunt Library on
campus. The university wanted to build a premiere,
high-tech learning environment-"the best in the
country"-with space for students of all disciplines,
and storage for over 5 million volumes (not
including electronic books). "We had unique
constraints and ambitions," she says. "There was no
existing building that we could point to and say,
'We want one like that'." The university tapped
Snohetta as the lead designer, and they brought in
DEGW, a design-strategy firm now known as
Strategy Plus, to facilitate meetings and
conversations with library administrators, staff,
students and faculty. This approach was essential
for figuring out how to meet the needs of everyone
involved. "A lot of different stakeholders and
constituencies had to be appeased. So going
through a systematic process with a facilitator
that listened to everyone was very valuable to us,"
says Argentati.

PERSPECTIVE

15



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015

IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015
Contents
From IIDA
Behind the Issue
Contributors
Viewpoints
The Innovation Insurrection
Lens Flare
The Once and Future King of Commerce
Point/Counterpoint
All Around the World
Inspiration
Colophon
Design Buzz
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - Cover2
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 1
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - Contents
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 3
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 4
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - From IIDA
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - Behind the Issue
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 7
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - Contributors
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 9
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - Viewpoints
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 11
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - The Innovation Insurrection
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 13
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 14
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 15
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 16
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 17
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 18
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 19
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - Lens Flare
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 21
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 22
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 23
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 24
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 25
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 26
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 27
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 28
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 29
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - The Once and Future King of Commerce
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 31
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 32
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 33
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 34
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 35
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 36
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 37
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 38
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 39
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - Point/Counterpoint
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 41
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 42
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 43
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 44
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 45
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - All Around the World
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 47
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 48
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 49
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 50
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 51
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - Inspiration
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 53
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - 54
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - Colophon
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - Design Buzz
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - Cover3
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2015 - Cover4
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