Empathy Is Not a Trait: Structuring Inclusive Design Practice in Education

Empathy is widely positioned as a cornerstone of design education and often framed as a mindset or personal capacity that students must develop. This paper challenges that assumption by examining empathy as a practice that can be supported through the structure of the design process. It presents a phased inclusive design methodology that places recurring prompts, constraints, and reflective questions at key points within studio projects. The methodology was implemented in a 15-week undergraduate studio involving 23 students working across two inclusive toy-design briefs developed in collaboration with Hape Toys. Survey responses, project documentation, and design outcomes indicate that students continued to consider user diversity during ideation, prototyping, and evaluation, rather than limiting inclusion to early research. The paper argues that design education can support empathic practice by building sustained attention to users into workflows, critiques, and design decisions.