<p>Design-based projects focus on designing creative solutions that are both novel and useful. To design creative solutions, students must build empathy, i.e., understand the needs of the users for whom the design is intended. However, few studies have explored how to enhance students’ empathy and thus promote their design creativity. This study explored the effects of a feedback strategy on the development of students’ empathy and design creativity. The participants were 172 grade 6 primary school students from four classes. The four classes were randomly assigned to the experimental or control condition. The students worked in groups of 5–6 members to design playground facilities for younger children. During the design task, only the students in the experimental condition received user feedback on their understanding of user needs. The results show that the students in the experimental condition demonstrated higher levels of cognitive empathy, empathic motivation, and design creativity than those in the control condition. The students’ comments revealed that the user feedback they received stimulated their reflection on empathy, changed or confirmed their understanding of user needs, and inspired them to think from multiple perspectives. The findings suggest that a user feedback strategy can inspire designers to think from multiple perspectives when understanding problems and thus has positive effects on students’ empathy and design creativity in design-based projects.</p>