The present work approaches an academic experience of learning and service carried out with a group of students of Industrial Design who, in the Workshop course, used their professional competences to support the reconstruction of a community of fishermen in Lirquen, Chile, after the earthquake and tsunami that took place in 2010. The objective is to evaluate, in this experience of co-creation, the skills that are developed as a result of intervening in a complex and difficult context. To evaluate the teaching-learning strategy a methodological combination was used that considered qualitative aspects with focus groups as well as quantitative ones, with surveys to students selected through accessibility sampling. The results identified the following desirable student characteristics: active empathy, commitment to work, proactivity, sensitivity to the context, constructive interactions and contribution to the community, consolidation of learning, technical aptitude and willingness to work, group work; and weaknesses such as group problems, disciplinary inexperience, vulnerability to emergencies. Among the reflections that these data show, it can stated that in spite of the disciplinary deficiencies, it is the emotive factor (consciousness and commitment to be part of the reconstruction of a family), which builds creativity and learning in all the actors.