Design Empathy
Objective Design Empathy
Objectivity is the most important Design Skill — Part 3
Objective Empathy
The Fine Balance of Detached Attachment.
Objective Empathy is purposeful. Objective Empathy is strategic, tactical, and meaningful. Objective Empathy understands human needs, while also balancing an inherent knowledge of “the system,” to deliver the highest possible benefit to the human actor, within the circumstances of real world constraints.
The success of Empathy’s contribution to the Design process is determined by the effectiveness of the Design practitioner to objectively understand, represent, and respond to, the perspective of the human actor within the context of the Design solution.
In either functional model of Empathy, objectively representing the human actor’s perspective is the core consideration of its application and functional use within Human Centered Design frameworks.
Design practitioners must learn to objectively administer the application of Empathy as both a step, and a team attitude, when formulating solutions based on Human Centered Design practices.
Objective Empathy in Human Centered Design
Human Centered Design practices place a high degree of emphasis on Empathy as a way of understanding a human actor’s needs, goals, and outcomes because the determination of Design solution “success” is measured by its degree of direct benefit to the human actor.
Establishing Objective Empathy as a driving team attitude should be clearly articulated when assembling Collaborative Human Centered Design teams. Designers create the most beneficial solutions by understanding all of the variables of the system, including variables which may not be directly driven by the human themselves.
Many of the decision points that create successful design solutions are not known to the human actor. The value of “Empathetic Understanding” is the Design practitioner’s ability to view the problem from the perspective of the user, while also responding from the standpoint of a professional Design practitioner. This dual purpose must be objectively applied to find balance between the needs of the human, and the service, product, or technology.
It is the Design practitioner’s responsibility to Empathetically understand the human need, and respond with meaningful Design solutions, while also objectively balancing the human benefit against the functional needs and limitations of the “system.”
Objectively balancing the human perspective against the functional considerations of the solution is one of many benefits Objective Empathy provides within the Human Centered Design process.
Objective Empathy in Specialized Team Functions
As Design practitioners approximate and evaluate possible perspectives of the human actor, they must practice objectivity to effectively minimize their own relative preferences, biases, and world views.
Maintaining objectivity can be especially difficult when Collaborative Design participants are contributing a highly specialized skill or business function.
While the entire Design team shares the same inherent challenge of objectivity, those with specialized skill sets are often motivated by different systemic considerations than the Human Centered problem statement. Specialized team considerations run a higher risk of driving decision making as a reflection of a “departmental” need, rather than an associated Human Centered benefit.
Objectively discussing the impact of specialized team roles or functions on the experience of the human actor facilitates increasingly successful Human Centered Design solutions by focusing team conversations around the human actor’s response to system limitations.
Considering the human actor’s perspective when reviewing specialized limitations or opportunities gives the Collaborative Design team a forum to troubleshoot alternative solutions which meet the needs of the human actor, as well as the needs of specialized team functional contributions.
Objectivity in Design Research
The role of Objectively in the Design Research process.
The functional contribution of Human Centered Design Research is to objectively observe, test, measure, or evaluate the motivations, needs, outcomes, attitudes, or responses, of the human actor.
Design Researchers act as facilitators for Human facing conversations with the intent of observing, measuring, or quantifying various determining factors of benefit, while also assessing or qualifying the human’s response to a variety of Design solutions. Design Researchers facilitate the conversation, feedback, observation, qualification, and quantification of the human actor through a wide variety of methods, techniques, and exercises. Design Research tests are often targeted to illicit specific types of feedback, or indicators of success, from a human actor as a reflection of Design “success.”
Because many of the Human Centered Design team’s decisions will be based on incorporating the direct feedback of the human benefiting from the solution, it becomes increasingly important to establish objectivity, trust, and transparency as a central characteristic of Design Research contributors.
Establishing Objective Research Baselines
Objectivity minimizes subjective Research variables across different Design Researchers, effectively establishing a comparative baseline, from which to draw meaningful Design conclusions.
Objective Design Research gives Design practitioners a central team knowledge base, compiled from both Qualitative and Quantitative Research results. When compiled and reviewed, objective research findings can be meaningfully compared, referenced, and analyzed by cross-functional teams when evaluating Design solutions for testing and evaluation.
When Design Researchers become influenced by Affective Empathy, subsequent results, observations, readouts, and findings become an interpretation, rather than an objective representation, of the human actor. This bias ultimately leads to a Design solution that addresses the subjective views or interpretations of the Design Researcher, rather than the actual needs of the human actor.
Inaccurate, biased, or “interpreted” Design Research creates a false metric for success, significantly impacting the “accuracy” of the Design solution’s response when measured against the actual needs, goals, and outcomes of the human actor.
Communicating Design Research Results.
Effectively communicating Qualitative and Quantitative results is a key responsibility of Design Research practitioners.
Communicating Human Centered Design Research results across departments, roles, and collaborators provides a central “Human” reference point, which helps facilitate Empathy for the human actor within larger organizations and team functions.
As practitioners gain visibility into objective Design Research, it becomes easier for cross-functional teams to understand their impact on the human’s experience. When Human Centered Design Research become “filtered,” contextual details which may have meaning to certain specialized team contributors may be minimized, or lost, when only limited Research results are presented.
As the functional specialties of different Design contributors may be interested in different solution-impacting aspects of the human actor’s perspective, limiting or distilling Design Research based on the interpretation of the Researcher ultimately ignores, or minimizes, different functionally specialized opportunities that can be found in Research results.
Qualitative and Quantitative Research results benefit the entire cross-collaborative Design team by establishing a common frame of reference for solution success across departments, and contributing team functions.
Objective Empathy — The Tactical View
When balancing Empathy objectively, Human Centered Design practitioners are able to effectively identify causal needs, craft and evaluate ideal human outcomes, and Deliver meaningful benefit to the human actor more effectively than traditional requirements-led Design processes.
- Design with a professional attitude of Objective Empathy throughout the Human Centered Design phases of Discovery, Innovation, Iteration, Evaluation, and Delivery.
- Lead with Cognitive Empathy to understand the perspective needs of the human actor benefiting from the Design solution.
- Objectively determine the needs, goals, and outcomes that the human actor will use as a perceived measure of the solution success.
- Understand the human’s psychological view, causal need, or mental model, behind the emotional indicators without taking on the emotional burden of the human actor.
- Emphasize functional, tactical, or psychological observations of the human actor’s perspective over emotional interpretations.
- Objectively and directly address the actor’s measures of success by crafting solutions as a reflection and response to their needs, goals, or ideal outcomes.
- Apply Empathy Objectively as a method of mentally gauging the human actor’s anticipated response to practical Design Solutions.
- Apply Empathy during Design Research by understanding the actor’s perspective, while also observing the surrounding conditions, circumstances and scenarios which frame the context of the human actor’s intent.
- Objectively reflect on the practical, real-world, benefits of the Design solution as contrasted against the needs of the human actor.
- Continue to facilitate meaningful Human Centered Design conversations even after Design solution delivery.
Objectivity is the Most Important Design Skill
Design practitioners who adopt Objectivity as their foundational guiding Design principle employ many different types of techniques, exercises, and methods, to respond to the needs of the human actor. As a universally applicable attitude, Empathy must purposefully lead to Objective evaluation, conclusion, and action on the part of the Design practitioner, to truly benefit the human actor.
While Empathy does serve the Design team as attitude, method, and philosophy, the objective balance of anticipated human benefit must be weighted against the real world circumstances and limitations of the practical, usable, and functional Design solution.
Designers who take on the emotional burden of the human actor undermine the Objective nature of the Human Centered Design process, delivering Design solutions that do not meet the human actor’s need.
Empathy is one of many exercises, methods, and attitudes, but Objectivity remains as the most universally important Design skill.
…and now for hugs.
Empathy is more than just an attitude, tool, or Design-sales jargon.
In the world outside of Design frameworks, Empathy, Sympathy, and Compassion make up a trifecta of traits that indicate an emotionally balanced worldview within human actors. Empathy is highly encouraged in nearly any social context, and most articles conceptually highlighting the value of Empathy (especially in the workplace) are in support of the larger socio-cultural “good,” which is something that even the saltiest Design practitioners can easily support.
Empathy is an act of respect and acknowledgement. Empathy is caring enough to take the time to understand the perspective of another person. Empathy is an act of listening, sensing, and observing, to better understanding another human’s perspective. Empathy is acting with consideration. Empathy is that tingly feeling you get when you emotionally resonate with another human.
Empathy is a lot of the things. Inside of Human Centered Design practice, it’s a lot of the things on behalf of the human actor.
This article is the third part of a series, condensed from the longer article: Objectivity Is The Most Important Design Skill.
