EMPATHIZE

What is Empathize?
• 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.
Developing Empathy towards People
• The first stage (or mode) of the Design Thinking process involves
developing a sense of empathy towards the people you are designing
for, to gain insights into what they need, what they want, how they
behave, feel, and think, and why they demonstrate such behaviors,
feelings, and thoughts when interacting with products in a real-world
setting.
How to Empathize to Get the Right Insights
• Assuming a Beginner’s Mindset
• If we are to empathize with users, we should always try to adopt the mindset of a
beginner. What this means is that, as designers (or design thinkers), we should always
do our best to leave our own assumptions and experiences behind when making
observations. Our life experiences create assumptions within us, which we use to
explain and make sense of the world around us. However, this very process affects
our ability to empathize in a real way with the people we observe. Since completely
letting go of our assumptions is impossible (regardless of how much of a checkered
reputation the word “assumption” has!), we should constantly and consciously remind
ourselves to assume a beginner’s mindset. It’s helpful if you always remind yourself
never to judge what you observe, but to question everything—even if you think you
know the answer—and to really listen to what others are saying.
Ask What? How? Why?
• By asking the three questions — What? How? Why? — we can move from concrete
observations that are free from assumptions to more abstract motivations driving the
actions we have observed. During our observations, for instance, we might find separately
recording the “Whats”, “Hows” and “Whys” of a person’s single observation helpful.

• In “What”, we record the details (not assumptions) of what has happened. In “How”, we
analyze how the person is doing what he/she is doing (is he/she exerting a lot of effort? Is
that individual smiling or frowning?). Finally, in “Why”, we make educated guesses
regarding the person’s motivations and emotions. These motivations we can then test with
users.
Photo and Video User-based Studies
• Photographing or recording target users, like other empathizing methods, can help you
uncover needs that people have which they may or may not be aware of. It can help guide
your innovation efforts, identify the right end users to design for, and discover emotions
that guide behaviors.
• In user camera-based studies, users are photographed or filmed either: (a) in a natural
setting; or (b) during sessions with the design team or consultants you’ve hired to gather
information. For example, you might identify a group of people who possess certain
characteristics that are representative of your target audience. You record them while
they’re experiencing the problem you’re aiming to solve. You can refresh your memory at
a later time with things people said, feelings that were evoked, and behaviors that you
identified. You can then easily share this with the rest of your team.
Personal Photo and Video Journals
• In this method, you hand over the camera to your users and give them instructions,
namely to take pictures of or video-record their activities during a specified
period. The advantage is that you don’t interfere or disturb the users with your
personal presence, even though they will adapt and change their normal behavior
slightly as they know that you’ll watch the video or see the photo journal later. In
a similar way to using personas, by engaging real people, as designers we gain
invaluable personal experiences and stories that keep the human aspect of design
firmly in mind throughout the whole process. While we probably know, deep
down, what limits are involved when three people are trying to use one phone,
there’s nothing like the first-hand evidence of a live (and recorded) performance to
put this front and center in our awareness from the outset.
Interviews
• One-on-one interviews can be a productive way to connect with real people and
gain insights. Talking directly to the people you’re designing for may be the best
way to understand needs, hopes, desires and goals. The benefits are similar to
video- and camera-based studies, but interviews are generally structured, and
interviewers will typically have a set of questions they wish to ask their
interviewees. Interviews, therefore, offer the personal intimacy and directness of
other observation methods, while allowing the design team to target specific areas
of information to direct the Design Thinking process.
• Most of the work happens before the interviews: team members will brainstorm to
generate questions to ask users and create themes or topics around the interview
questions so they can flow smoothly from one to another.
Engaging with Extreme Users
Contd.
• By focusing on the extremes, you will find that the problems, needs and methods of solving problems become
magnified. First, you must identify the extremes of your potential user base; then, you should engage with this
group to establish their feelings, thoughts and behaviors, and then look at the needs you might find in all
users. Consider what makes a user extreme and you’ll tend to notice it’s the circumstances involved. A basic
example is a grocery store shopping cart and a shopper with five very young children in tow – there are two
fold-down seats in the cart, but the other kids (who are also too young to walk) must go somewhere. Our
shopper is, therefore, an extreme user of the shopping cart design.
• On the one hand, if you can manage to please an extreme user, you should certainly be able to keep your main
body of users happy. On the other hand, it is important to note that the purpose of engaging with extreme
users is not to develop solutions for those users, but to sieve out problems that mainstream users might have
trouble voicing; however, in many cases, the needs of extreme users tend to overlap with the needs of the
majority of the population. So, while you may not be able to keep everyone happy at all times with your
design, you can certainly improve the chances that it will not frustrate users.
Analogous Empathy
• Using analogies can help the design team to develop new insights. By
comparing one domain with another, we as designers can conjure different
solutions that would not necessarily come to mind when working within the
constraints of one discipline. For example, the highly stressful and time-
sensitive procedure of operating on a patient in a hospital emergency room
might be analogous to the process of refuelling and replacing the tires of a
race car in a pit stop. Some of the methods you might use in analogous
empathy include comparing your problem and another in a different field,
creating an 'inspiration board' with notes and pictures, and focusing on
similar aspects between multiple areas.
Sharing Inspiring Stories
• Each person in a design team will collect
different pieces of information, have
different thoughts, and come up with
different solutions. For this reason, you
should share your inspiring stories to
collect all of the team members’ research,
from field studies, interviews, etc. By
sharing the stories that each member has
observed, the team can get up to speed on
progress, draw meaning from the stories,
and capture interesting details of the
observation work.
Bodystorming
• Bodystorming is the act of physically experiencing a situation in order to
immerse oneself fully in the users’ environment. This requires a
considerable amount of planning and effort, as the environment must be
filled with the artifacts present in the real-world environment, and the
general atmosphere/feel must accurately depict the users’ setting.
Bodystorming puts the team in the users’ shoes, thereby boosting the
feelings of empathy we need as designers in order to come up with the most
fitting solutions. Having that ‘real-life’ experience will serve as a reference
point for later in the process, enabling us to stop, stand back and ask
ourselves: “Remember when we tried being the user? How would this new
thing fit in with that?”
Steps Involved
Step 1 - Research Planning
• Define Objectives: Clearly define research goals and objectives.
• Identify Stakeholders: Determine key stakeholders and their roles in the
research process.
• Choose Methods: Select appropriate research methods such as interviews,
observations, or surveys.
• Plan Resources: Allocate resources including time, budget, and team
members.
• Ethical Considerations: Ensure ethical guidelines are followed in data
collection and participant interactions.
• Visual: Checklist or flowchart depicting research planning process.
Step 2 - Immersion
• Contextual Understanding: Observe users in their natural environment to
understand context.
• User Interaction: Engage with users through informal conversations and activities.
• Empathy Building: Develop empathy by experiencing users' challenges firsthand.
• Note Observations: Record observations, behaviors, and key insights during
immersion.
• Limit Bias: Avoid imposing assumptions or biases during immersion activities.
• Visual: Images of researchers conducting field observations.
Step 3 - Data Collection
• Interviews: Conduct structured or semi-structured interviews to gather in-depth
insights.
• Observations: Observe users' behaviors, interactions, and pain points in real
contexts.
• Surveys: Administer surveys to collect quantitative data and validate qualitative
findings.
• User Stories: Document user stories to capture experiences, goals, and frustrations.
• Multi-method Approach: Use a combination of methods for comprehensive data
collection.
• Visual: Icons representing data collection methods (interviews, observations,
surveys).
Step 4 - Data Analysis
• Coding Data: Organize and code qualitative data from interviews and
observations.
• Identify Patterns: Look for recurring themes, behaviors, and pain points
across data sets.
• Affinity Mapping: Group similar insights together using affinity mapping
techniques.
• Insight Synthesis: Synthesize data to develop actionable insights and user
personas.
• Validate Findings: Validate findings through member checking or additional
research iterations.
Step 5 - Persona Development
• Persona Creation: Develop fictional personas based on real user data and
insights.
• Key Characteristics: Define demographics, behaviors, goals, and pain points
for each persona.
• Empathy Mapping: Use empathy maps to delve deeper into personas'
thoughts, feelings, and motivations.
• Alignment Tool: Align team members' understanding and decision-making
around user needs.
• Iterative Process: Refine personas based on ongoing research and feedback
loops.
Step 6 - Empathy Map Creation
• Empathy Map Sections: Divide maps into sections: Says, Thinks, Feels,
Does.
• Capture Insights: Fill in each section with insights gathered from interviews
and observations.
• Visual Representation: Create visual representations of user experiences,
emotions, and behaviors.
• Collaborative Tool: Use empathy maps in workshops to facilitate team
empathy and brainstorming.
• Iterative Tool: Update empathy maps as new insights emerge throughout the
design process.
Case Study 1: Airbnb
• Empathy Approach:
• User Interviews: Conducted in-depth interviews with hosts and guests
worldwide to understand their motivations, pain points, and desires.
• Persona Development: Created detailed personas representing different host
and guest segments, considering demographics, behaviors, and aspirations.
• Empathy Mapping: Used empathy maps to visualize user experiences,
emotions, and decision-making processes.
Contd.
• Outcome:
• Improved Experience: Tailored platform features and services based on user
insights, leading to enhanced user experiences and satisfaction.
• Increased Trust: Fostered trust and loyalty among hosts and guests by
addressing their specific needs and concerns.
• Market Growth: Expanded globally and diversified offerings to meet evolving
market demands, leading to business growth and market dominance.
Case Study 2: Apple
• Background:
• Apple, known for its innovative products, faced challenges in designing
inclusive and accessible technology solutions for users with disabilities.
• Empathy Approach:
• User Co-Creation: Collaborated with users with disabilities, advocacy groups,
and accessibility experts in product design and testing.
• Usability Testing: Conducted extensive usability testing with diverse user
groups to identify barriers and improve accessibility features.
• Empathy Workshops: Organized empathy workshops for design teams to
immerse in users' experiences and perspectives.
Contd.
• Outcome:
• Inclusive Products: Integrated accessibility features such as
VoiceOver, AssistiveTouch, and Magnifier across Apple
devices, making technology more accessible to all users.
• Empathy-driven Design: Embedded empathy-driven design
principles in product development processes, ensuring
inclusivity from inception to launch.
• Positive Impact: Received accolades for accessibility efforts,
gained customer trust, and set industry standards for inclusive
design.
Case Study 3: IDEO's Shopping Cart Redesign

• Background:
• IDEO, a global design and innovation consultancy, took on the challenge of
redesigning the traditional shopping cart for a major retail chain.
• Empathy Approach:
• Observational Research: Observed shoppers in-store to understand their
behaviors, frustrations, and needs related to shopping carts.
• Prototyping with Users: Iteratively prototyped and tested new cart designs
with shoppers, incorporating feedback and insights.
• Co-Creation Workshops: Engaged store employees and shoppers in co-
creation workshops to ideate and refine concepts.
Contd.
• Outcome:
• User-Centric Design: Designed a more ergonomic,
intuitive, and user-friendly shopping cart based on user
feedback and insights.
• Increased Sales: Improved shopping experience led to
increased customer satisfaction and higher sales for the
retail chain.
• Design Thinking Adoption: Showcased the power of
design thinking in solving complex user problems and
driving innovation in retail environments.
Case Study 4: Empathy in Healthcare - Patient
Experience Design
• Background:
• A healthcare provider aimed to enhance patient experiences across various
touchpoints in the healthcare journey.
• Empathy Approach:
• Patient Journey Mapping: Mapped out the patient journey from appointment
booking to post-treatment follow-ups, identifying pain points and
opportunities.
• Patient Interviews and Surveys: Conducted interviews and surveys with
patients to understand their emotions, challenges, and expectations.
• Staff Training on Empathy: Provided training to healthcare staff on empathetic
communication, active listening, and patient-centered care.
Contd.
• Outcome:
• Improved Patient Satisfaction: Implemented changes such as streamlined
processes, improved communication channels, and personalized care plans,
leading to higher patient satisfaction scores.
• Reduced Wait Times: Optimized scheduling and check-in processes based on
patient feedback, reducing waiting times and enhancing overall experience.
• Culture of Empathy: Cultivated a culture of empathy and patient-centric care
among healthcare staff, resulting in better outcomes and patient loyalty.
Empathy Questionnaire
• Understanding User Needs
• How important do you think it is to understand the needs and emotions of
users in product/service design?
• Rate on a scale of 1 to 5: How well do you currently understand your target
users' pain points and challenges?
• Empathy Building
• What strategies or methods do you use to build empathy with your target
users?
• Share an experience where empathizing with a user's perspective led to a
valuable insight or solution.
Contd.
• User Research and Observation
• Do you conduct user interviews, observations, or surveys to gather insights? If
yes, describe your process briefly.
• How do you ensure objectivity and avoid biases during user research and
observation activities?
• Persona Development
• Have you created user personas for your projects or products/services? If yes,
how do you use them in decision-making processes?
• How often do you update personas based on new insights or changes in user
behaviors?
Contd.
• Empathy in Action
• Share an example of a product or service where empathy-driven design led to
a significant improvement in user satisfaction or business success.
• How do you measure the impact of empathy-driven design on business metrics
such as customer retention or sales?
• Challenges and Opportunities
• What are the common challenges you face in incorporating empathy into your
design process?
• How can organizations encourage and support a culture of empathy and user-
centric design?
Conclusion
• In conclusion, empathy emerges as the heartbeat of effective Design Thinking,
guiding us to deeply understand and address user needs, emotions, and
experiences. By embracing empathy, we unlock pathways to user-centric
innovation, fostering meaningful connections with our audience. Through
empathetic research methods such as user interviews, observations, and persona
development, we gain valuable insights that drive informed design decisions.
Collaboration fueled by empathy cultivates diverse perspectives within teams,
leading to creative and impactful solutions. As we continue this journey, let's
integrate empathy as a core principle, championing user-centricity and driving
positive business outcomes through empathetic design.