The Power Of Empathy In The World Of Design Thinking

WHAT IS EMPATHY?

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. When you empathize with others, you can sense other people’s emotions and can try and imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling. As humans, empathy is rooted deeply in our brains, bodies, and our evolutionary history. Without knowing it, we empathize with others daily and see the world through other people’s eyes- see what they see and feel what they feel.

WHAT IS DESIGN THINKING?

Design thinking is a process where we seek to understand the user (the audience), challenge assumptions, and redefine problems in an attempt to identify alternative solutions. In order to do this, we need to dig deep into our user’s thoughts because the solution may not be instantly apparent with our initial level of understanding. The designer’s work process can help us apply human-centered techniques to solve problems in a creative and innovative way.

EMPATHY IN DESIGN THINKING

Now that we know what design thinking is and what empathy is, how does empathy fit into the design thinking process? Empathy is considered the starting point for any design project. The first step of the design thinking process is, in fact, empathy. During this phase, the designer spends time getting to know the user and understands their wants, needs, and objectives. In order to do this, one needs to observe and engage with potential users and understand them on a psychological and emotional level.

As an empathizer, you have to set aside your own thoughts, feelings, and assumptions. Not everyone thinks the same way, so you have to go in with an open mind and really try to understand the world through your user’s eyes. This is important because you’re designing for your users, not for yourself. This is why putting aside judgment is crucial.

EMPATHY METHODS

In order to successfully accomplish the empathize phase, there are certain methods you can follow to get a better understanding of your user. I’ll focus on the top 5 methods I think are the most important- assuming a beginner’s mindset, conducting empathy interviews, asking what how, and why, creating journey/empathy maps, and engaging with extreme users.

ASSUME A BEGINNER’S MINDSET

The first method is to assume a beginner’s mindset. With this method, it’s important to listen and not judge. As I mentioned before, it’s important to set aside your own assumptions and not be critical in order to build empathy. Yes, it;’s difficult. As humans, we always have our own preconceptions, experiences, and misconceptions- it’s how we make sense of the world we live in. However, this is what stops us from building empathy. We need to listen and engage with our users and speak with them with an empty mind. The better you listen and understand, the more insights you’ll get from your user.

An example of this can be during an interview, or when it comes to just talking to your user. Coming in with an open mind will really allow you to get to know them better.

EMPATHY INTERVIEWS

As I just mentioned, empathy interviews are another way to build empathy. However, there’s a certain way to do it in order to get the best information out of your user possible. The key is to structure it as an open conversation- don’t try and steer it with a list of questions. This allows for the conversation to be led by the user more, so you can get as much insight into them as possible.

A good way to get more insight is to ask ‘Why’ a lot. This allows you to get deeper and really understand the reason behind their thoughts and feelings. It’s a good way to figure out what drives or motivates them so you can make better solutions for your user. In order for any of this to be effective, remember to be present and attentive. Don’t get distracted and don’t seem uninterested because both of these will hinder your results.

ASK WHAT, HOW, & WHY

Another great method is to appear curious and not only ask, ‘Why’ but also ask, ‘What & How?” This really helps you understand your user’s motivations without creating assumptions about these answers yourself. The more you reflect on how and why your users might behave in a certain way, the more you can empathize with and design for them.

Asking ‘What’ allows you to understand the details of something that may have happened. For example, if they’re talking about ordering coffee, ask ‘What did you order?’ This will allow you to understand their actions

Asking ‘How’ allows you to understand how the user ordered these actions. Going back to the coffee example, you can ask, ‘How did you feel when ordering?’ This allows you to get a sense of their actions and how they may feel in social settings in this case.

Asking ‘Why’ is one of the most important and allows you to shy away from making guesses about their emotions and actions. You can simply ask, ‘Why?’ and get so much out of your user. You can understand why they ordered a specific coffee or why they might have been nervous when ordering. This will really help you get insights and understand them better.

EMPATHY MAPS

Empathy maps are a collaborative visualization used to articulate what we know about a particular type of user. Creating empathy maps is really important when working with a team. This way, you can easily share the knowledge you gather in a way that everyone would understand. They create a shared understanding of the user’s needs and also aid in decision-making. When making an empathy map, you consider four different ideas- what the user says, what they think, what they do, and their feelings.

Noting what the user says should include quotes from an interview or something they directly verbalized to you. This allows you to make sure you didn’t miss anything or misremember something.

Trying to understand what the user thinks requires a little bit of an educated guess. You should consider what the user might be thinking but might now want to explicitly reveal. They might think, “Am I dumb for being nervous while ordering coffee?” It allows you to understand their thoughts about a certain situation.

It’s important to look at the user’s actions and note what they do during a certain situation. For example, maybe they nervously tap their nails on the counter when ordering a coffee. This allows you to understand their actions and what they do when it comes to certain things.

Finally, understanding what the user feels towards something allows you to understand their emotions better. For example, maybe they’re impatient when waiting for their coffee order to come out. Understanding how they feel towards certain things will allow you to make better solutions in the long run.

ENGAGE WITH EXTREME USERS

There are many more empathy methods out there, but the last one I’m going to mention is engaging with extreme users. Extreme users are those whose needs are somewhat amplified and need/ want less or more of something to solve their problems. They often find workarounds to existing problems and aren’t like the average user in their thoughts, actions, or feelings. These users help reframe the problem and uncover new insights or solutions you may not have seen when just interacting you mainstream users. Building empathy with both the “average” and “extreme” users makes you better equipped to come up with solutions that target every aspect of all your users.

CONCLUSION

Overall, empathy in the design thinking process is very important. It’s the difference between knowing your user and understanding your user and their needs, feelings, wants, and thoughts. As a designer, this will help your design process as it helps you come up with better solutions that are more personalized to your user.