Designing with Empathy: A Universal Practice for Meaningful Collaboration
In an era marked by the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, it is reassuring to recognize that the human capacity for empathy remains unique and irreplaceable.
Introduction
On a recent project I worked on I found that I was not very clear on the subject matter and the complexity of the problems that were presented. I did not know any of the business stakeholders well, and while I had previously worked with some of the project team members, I had not yet developed a meaningful working relationship with them. I needed to get up to speed quickly so that I could start thinking about how to run discovery sessions, and how to frame the problem and ask the right questions in my stakeholder interviews.
To arrive at that stage I needed to get to know the stakeholders, understand what was important to them and what motivated them to embark on this project. To accomplish this, I spent time both privately and in group discussions with the stakeholders. The one-on-one interviews I initially conducted with the stakeholders and the group discovery workshops were helpful in allowing them get to know me as a person first, before being the individual filling the role of the designer on the project.
I was able to gain the stakeholders’ trust by showing that my role was first and foremost focused on understanding their needs and goals, and that I was immersing myself in their experiences. This was essential for the stakeholders because they were trusting me to lead the design on a project that impacted their day-to-day work, and it was also essential for me to help establish a strong foundation and build trust as I embarked on this project.
When I reflect on how I was able to arrive at that stage of trust and partnership with the stakeholders, I realize that it was the fact that I understood and related to how they felt about their work, and that I tried to put myself in their shoes by rephrasing and reconfirming my understanding of their problems. I was successful in letting the stakeholders know that that they were not alone in the challenges they were facing, and that I was there to understand the problems they were trying to solve by really imagining myself as part of their team. I wanted to show that I could relate to them so that together we could start a journey to gain a better perspective and create a great solution.
This example is only one of many I can reflect on throughout my career as a designer, where I realized the fundamental role empathy plays in providing reassurance to myself and others I worked with, that we all shared a mutual care and understanding of our experiences and goals.
In this post, I explore the need for designers to consistently practice empathy throughout all aspects of their role. For designers, empathy extends beyond end users, encompassing every individual involved in the design process, including stakeholders and colleagues. I refer to this as Universal Empathy, wherein a designer is expected to genuinely understand and relate to everyone within their professional sphere to effectively create products that are usable, impactful, and successful.
Why Empathy Matters In Design
In psychology, empathy is defined as the capacity to comprehend and share the feelings of another individual. This extends beyond courteous or considerate behavior, involving the ability to perceive situations from another person's perspective, understand their emotions, and respond appropriately in alignment with their perspective. Such an understanding allows individuals to convey genuine support, assuring others that their experiences are acknowledged and their needs are recognized.
Tim Brown identifies empathy as a fundamental element in design thinking, particularly when addressing complex problems [1]. As a human-centered methodology, design thinking requires a comprehensive understanding of users' needs, business requirements, and relevant organizational and technological considerations to achieve successful product development.
Kouprie and Visser [2] provide an in-depth examination of the role of empathy in design by presenting a four-phase model. They describe how designers should adopt a dynamic, multi-stage approach to empathy that includes the following phases:
Discovery: In this phase, designers remain inquisitive, actively observing, learning, and asking questions about users.
Immersion: This phase involves designers engaging directly in the user experience through interviews, observation sessions, and shadowing activities.
Connection: At this stage, designers identify with users and establish a genuine understanding of their feelings regarding their experiences.
Detachment: Finally, designers apply their insights objectively, ensuring that design decisions are informed by the observations gathered during earlier stages.
The work by Kouprie and Visser further underscores the designer’s essential role in acting as a catalyst for the phases of empathy. This helps foster the creation of effective solutions that serve both end user and organizational goals.
Universal Empathy
I would like to emphasize how the designer’s universal approach to empathy is essential to their success, the success of their team, and ultimately the success of the products they design. This approach is essential throughout the product design lifecycle, beginning with the design thinking phase and through to the development and implementation phase. Designers play a pivotal role, not only in guiding design discovery and generating research-driven concepts, but also in fostering team cohesion and promoting a collaborative culture rooted in empathy. The designer accomplishes this by bridging the gap between the user needs, stakeholder needs and the project team needs by fostering a comprehensive understanding of the goals of everyone involved in the project.
The designer cultivates universal empathy by:
Listening to, understanding and connecting with user needs, connecting with their experiences and knowing when to disconnect in order to be able to make objective design decisions.
Building trust with stakeholders and connecting with their needs and establishing a strong foundation to collaborate on building a product that meets the needs of both the business and the end users.
Facilitating their team's understanding of technical design aspects by readily addressing questions, remaining attentive to the team’s needs, and helping when required.
Fostering an overall inclusive environment that recognizes and values feedback from everyone in their sphere, promotes successful collaboration and addresses the diverse requirements and viewpoints involved in the design process.
Conclusion
I have consistently found that demonstrating empathy toward those around me has contributed significantly to my success in my work as a designer. By cultivating this approach, I learned to listen, understand, acknowledge and fully immerse myself in the experiences of users, business stakeholders, and my colleagues alike.
I have also been able to help foster a culture in which individuals support one another and feel comfortable seeking assistance when needed. In my experience, such an environment always promoted greater job satisfaction, personal growth and stronger professional relationships that extended beyond individual tasks and contributed towards shared goals.
In an era marked by the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, it is reassuring to recognize that the human capacity for empathy remains unique and irreplaceable.
References
[1] Brown, T. (2009). Change by Design: How Design Thinking Creates New Alternatives for Business and Society. Harvard Business Press.
[2] Kouprie, M., & Visser, F. S. (2009). A framework for empathy in design: Stepping into and out of the user’s life. Journal of Engineering Design, 20(5), 437–448.
