What does empathy have to do with design thinking and pipe cleaner hats?

Podcast

Nov 9

Lee is a design thinker, an engineer, and a community builder. She founded a community innovation lab, Design Dream Lab, where anyone with a giving heart can make an impact and dream of a better future. Lee loves building and fostering creativity through everyday experiences and finds joy in connecting dots with other fun-loving and joyful human beings.

Lee currently serves as a Service Design Experience Lead at Pfizer.

When she is not playing at work, she brings amazing people together to build the future that we desire.

Traci was introduced to Lee just because. Traci never even knew Lee was a bit of a celebrity who made and wore pipe cleaner hats. She had worn them for a year and was covered in a beautiful New Yorker article and video expose. You are in for inspiration and a positive sparkle in your day when you listen to Lee’s creative nudges and design thinking ethos.

Episode Timeline

[00:09] Intro
[0:58] Meet Lee Kim
[4:01] Lee describes the hat she is wearing for our podcast interview.
[5:14] How “wearable Tracy” pipe cleaner hats were birthed.
[8:33] A family feud repaired through empathy and design thinking.
[14:44] Playing empathy kaleidoscope game at Queens Library in New York.
[21:00] Creating an end-of-life vision in a New York City Park
[27:32] Defining Design Thinking
[33:47] Our failed design prototypes are necessary for lighting our path
[40:34] Parting wish to listeners
[43:32] Outro

Resources Mentioned

New Yorker Piece on Silly Hats (Article / Video)

Design Dream Lab (website)

Memory Kaleidoscope (website)

Standout Quotes

“...it's impossible to achieve 100 % empathy because even if you were born in the same time go through the same life as a twin or someone, your life is different. So you can never actually 100 % empathize with that person. But as a person who is curious, what we can do is we could try, attempt to be that person.” (Lee)
“Oftentimes it is us just helping each other to grow to be a better person rather than us trying to create products to make the world better. (Lee).
“The perspective shifting reframing of the questions from the lens of the person who's going through it always start the design thinking process. And that is what designers do.” (Lee)
“So what excites me about design thinking is it's never a lone game. There are always partners who are going to come along the journey with you.” (Lee)
“And you create prototypes not to prove you're right. You create prototypes to see what you can learn more about the person. And then you go test and iterate, and then you come back to, Okay, this is what we think can help you.” (Lee)
“...the solution is communication. The solution is sharing their lived experiences, not the theory that you can find in research papers.” (Lee)
“I think it's important for me to at least know that to myself, am I true to myself.” (Lee)