Ian Coxon

At an engineering research center in Denmark we have employed a hermeneutic phenomenological approach within a broad spectrum of projects to help us to better understand everyday human experience for the people for whom we intend to design. Through this work, we have experimented with and explored creative ways to ‘get into’ the lives of various individuals and groups within the health, pharmaceuticals, education, manufacturing and local government sectors. Some of our ideas were a little unorthodox, some were downright sneaky but we have discovered that they work and can provide powerful insights into the everyday ‘natural’ worlds of ordinary people. Finding new ways to capture lived experiences (as best we can), understanding hidden ‘meaning structures’ contained within them at the most primordial level, and communicating these insights experientially are the goals that have driven this work. In this paper we will share some examples of how we have infused design thinking with hermeneutic phenomenology across the four stages of each project (Exploring, Sharing, Understanding and Showing How).  We have developed this approach by constantly referring back to philosophical first principles to inspire new techniques and ‘ways into’ the life-worlds of real people that we are striving to help. We hope that designers and engineers will find these examples helpful in their attempts to find new perspectives on old problems and to challenge old perspectives on new problems.