Empathize is the first stage of the design thinking process. Design teams conduct research to get personal grasps of their users’ needs. They set aside assumptions to obtain insights into the users’ world by observing and consulting with users. This way, they can understand users’ experiences, motivations and problems.
“If you want to build a product that’s relevant to people, you need to put yourself in their shoes.”
— Jack Dorsey, Programmer, entrepreneur, co-founder of Twitter & founder of Square
See how to empathize with users to gather a wealth of insights and fuel your design process.
Empathize is design thinking’s first stage for a reason. It’s the first step on the road to thoughtfully designed products that prove the designers built with a compassionate eye for their users. Empathy is a naturally occurring characteristic which people have in varying degrees. However, they can improve their ability to empathize as a soft skill. Anyone in a design team will have preconceived ideas about the many situations people find themselves in as users. It’s unavoidable – you can’t unlearn your life experience. Therefore, you should always adopt a beginner’s mindset to be able to view and analyze situations with users objectively.
© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0
Empathize is the first stage in the design thinking process.
To empathize is to research. So, you should constantly remind yourself to question everything you observe instead of judging. You should also listen to others open-mindedly rather than focus on points that confirm your biases. Because our biases will naturally creep into how we view the world and the situations we consider, as designers—or design thinkers—we must catch and overcome these before they distort our research. You must become fully objective before you can start to see through your users’ eyes and interpret their viewpoints optimally. They are the experts. You must understand the users’ dimensions of use (e.g., tasks) and their feelings (e.g., motivations) before you can work towards delighting them through your design.
© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0
When you empathize you try to understand you users’ perspective.
You have a range of options, including:
Observing real users. Ask these questions to shift from concrete observations to abstract motivations:
“What?” – You detail your observations.
“How?” – You analyze how users do things (e.g., with difficulty).
“Why?” – You make educated guesses about the users’ emotions and motivations.
Conducting photo- and/or video-based studies in users’ natural environments or sessions with the design team or consultants – You record these users while they try to solve an issue you propose to resolve with your design.
Personal photo/video journals – You ask users to record their own experiences with approaching a problem. These may capture their pain points more accurately.
Interviewing users – Your team uses brainstorming to first find the right questions to ask in a generally structured and natural flow. Then, you can directly ask users for their insights in an intimate setting where they can respond earnestly to open-ended questions.
Engaging with extreme users – You find the extreme cases within your userbase to determine the greatest degrees of users’ needs, problems and problem-solving methods. You can then see the full scope of problems which typical, non-extreme users might run into. If you can satisfy an extreme user, you can satisfy any user.
Analogous empathy – Your team finds effective analogies to draw parallels between users’ problems and problems in other fields. This way, you can get insights you’d otherwise overlook.
Sharing inspiring stories – Your team shares stories about what they have observed so you draw meaning from these and note fascinating details.
Bodystorming – You wear equipment (e.g., goggles, gloves, torso attachments) to gain first-hand experience of your users in their environment.
Empathy maps and customer journey maps – Your team should have at least one of these as a reference point to appreciate the users’ perspectives.
Personas to establish accurate portraits/profiles of users who’ll interact with your product.
Whichever approach/es you take, beware of formulating solutions at this stage. Aim to realistically envision possible scenarios where users experience problems. Empathize is not just a key part of design thinking. It’s also pivotal to user-centered design and user experience (UX) design. When your design team remains aware of your users’ realities and passionate about helping real people solve real problems, you’ll reap precious insights which you can ultimately translate into products your users will love.
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Find invaluable tips on how to empathize here.
For a deeper view of how to empathize from a more psychology-based UX angle, read this.
Empathy and sympathy are related but distinct concepts. Empathy involves understanding and sharing another person's feelings and experiencing their emotions as if they were your own. It's about stepping into someone's shoes and genuinely feeling with them. On the other hand, sympathy is recognizing another's suffering and offering comfort, often from distance or detachment. Empathy is pivotal in design, allowing designers to connect with users' needs and experiences deeply. The article on interaction-design.org further elaborates on how empathy is integral to design thinking, enabling truly human-centered solutions.
Yes, empathy is a skill. While some individuals may have a natural inclination towards empathetic understanding, it's a competency that can be honed and developed over time. Empathy is crucial in design, enabling professionals to resonate with users' experiences and needs deeply. Unlike analytical processes, empathy is deeply rooted in the human ability to connect with and understand another person's emotions and experiences. In the context of design, while AI tools offer advancements and efficiency, they fall short in capturing the nuance and depth of human empathy, as discussed in this video on interaction-design.org.
This human-centric emotion remains paramount in crafting meaningful user experiences.
Empathy, in design, refers to understanding and sharing users' feelings, needs, and perspectives. It's a foundational step in human-centered design, where designers immerse themselves in the user's world to craft solutions tailored to their genuine requirements. Empathizing doesn't just mean observing; it's about deeply connecting and feeling with the user, ensuring designs resonate on a human level. The significance of empathy in design is highlighted in the article on interaction-design.org, which underscores the transformative power of stories in cultivating this essential skill.
In UI/UX design, "empathize" is the initial phase of a five-step design process, as Riley Hunt from the Interaction Design Foundation explains in this video.
The Empathize phase is crucial for understanding users deeply and delving into their needs, feelings, and perspectives. It involves UX teams exploring the core problem their product aims to solve. Through user interviews and reviewing existing knowledge, teams gain insights into the user's challenges and motivations. This understanding, grounded in empathy, ensures that subsequent design decisions genuinely resonate with users, making products more intuitive and user-centered. Empathy lays the foundation for creating experiences tailored to real user needs.
Empathetic design deeply understands and addresses users' needs. A classic example is OXO's Good Grips kitchen tools, created after noticing people with arthritis struggling with standard utensils. OXO designed more ergonomic, user-friendly tools by focusing on users' pain points and experiences. For a deeper dive into empathetic design, refer to the Interaction Design Foundation's article, 'Empathy: How to Improve Your Designs by Developing Empathy for Your Target Group.' This piece offers insights and strategies to harness empathy effectively in design projects.
A lack of empathy in design occurs when designers fail to consider, understand and address their users' true needs, feelings, and experiences. This results in products that might be functional or aesthetically pleasing but are not user-friendly or inclusive. Such oversight can lead to reduced user satisfaction, accessibility issues, or design solutions that miss the mark. To grasp the importance of empathy in the design process, explore the Interaction Design Foundation's article on 'Stage 1 in the Design Thinking Process: Empathise with Your Users'. This article underscores the critical role of empathy in creating effective, user-centric designs.
The five stages of design thinking, as highlighted in the video by the Interaction Design Foundation, encompass a non-linear, iterative process that drives innovative solutions. These five stages are:
Empathize: Understand users' needs and feelings.
Define: Clarify the problem.
Ideate: Generate potential solutions.
Prototype: Turn ideas into testable versions.
Test: Evaluate solutions with users.
Hasso-Platner Institute Panorama Ludwig Wilhelm Wall, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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Inspired by the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford, also known as the d-school, this 5-phase model promotes a dynamic approach. Rather than following a strict sequence, designers can loop between stages or work on them concurrently, adapting to the unique requirements of each project.
Empathy ensures designers prioritize the user's experience in web design, mainly catering to varied abilities and disabilities. According to the video on interaction-design.org, there are four main disability types: blindness (including low vision and color blindness), hearing, cognitive, and motor impairments. The video with Frank Spillers, CEO of Experience Dynamics, emphasizes that designing with blindness in mind can address 80% of accessibility issues.
This is mainly due to the significance of keyboard and screen reader accessibility. For instance, screen readers, like VoiceOver on iOS, help blind users by audibly reading out content. Moreover, elements like 'alt-text' on images are essential, as they provide a textual description that screen readers can convey, making the content accessible and aiding in SEO. Thus, empathy in web design ensures that websites are usable, accessible, and inclusive for everyone.
Are you looking to delve deeper into empathy in design? The Interaction Design Foundation offers an extensive course on Design Thinking: The Ultimate Guide. This course provides comprehensive insights into the heart as a crucial step in the design thinking process. Enhance your understanding and skills by exploring real-world examples, expert-led content, and actionable strategies. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned designer, this course is the perfect resource for mastering empathy in design.
Here’s the entire UX literature on Empathize by the Interaction Design Foundation, collated in one place:
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