This is my second blog post on empathy in design. In the first one, I talked about, what are the benefits of designing delightful experiences and why it’s a struggle when it comes to digital products. Empathy is one of the elements which can help us create better experiences for the users and in this post I would like to share a few practical insights which, hopefully, can help along the designing process. Let’s begin!
01 | kill your ego
This issue is usually more relevant to the visual designers as they tend to get too attached to their work. But design is not a place for one’s artistic genius to blossom. We are facilitators, we apply our expertise to a given problem and come up with a solution. There is nothing about me, it’s all about the others and how to make things work for them. It helps to be more open to feedback and criticism as your goal is not to get approval for your work, but to satisfy the audience.
In the UX process most of the time we find ourselves in the shoes or heads of the others, but the assumptions are still coming from us. We set the starting point, but later on in the journey, we have to be able to detach from our assumptions and let the user lead.
02 | listen, observe, be curious and don’t judge
Hearing everyone who has a word on your product. Don’t underestimate even, if they are not the target audience. There might be an unexpected influence found, which wouldn’t have been seen otherwise.
During the interview or other interaction with a user, listen with attention and attempt to understand why users are feeling/thinking/behaving the way they do. Try to avoid assumptions, judgement or conclusions in the middle of the process, be open to all their answers (especially the ones you don’t like). You will draw the conclusions later.
Observe the whole picture. People can control, what they are speaking and tell you, what they think you want to hear, but their body language and other details are usually out of control. Thoughtless acts, remember?
03 | their body language
Paying attention to interviewees body language is important on two aspects. First, it gives you information, if user’s words are matching their thoughts: ‘Oh I get it, you can edit it here’ meanwhile finger is lost in the screen taping every inactive element. Second, it’s important so you could empathise with them and adapt your behaviour accordingly. If they are feeling a bit uncomfortable or slightly stressed, you should ease the atmosphere and help them relax, as the quality of the answers can be impacted by that. No honest results can be expected from someone who, for example, is afraid to look incompetent during the user testing.
04 | your body language
Meanwhile observing the interviewee, don’t forget your own body posture and overall approach. It should radiate empathy for the other person. Show them that you are present and listening with attention and curiosity. It is very hard to talk and open up to someone whose body language is saying I’m bored. If you don’t care, they will not care to share their insight either.
05 | question the status quo
Users are usually stuck in their routines and they have no clue, how something could work better, they have their own old mindset and stick to that. This is why people can’t answer a question ’what is that you want?’. Humans just get used to the inconvenient situations and if they are being repeated long enough they don’t seem so inconvenient anymore. Questioning the status quo, you open new possibilities for innovation, fresh ways of looking at the problem and finding unexpected solutions. As the saying goes — no new lands were discovered walking the old paths.
Thank you for reading!
Your comments are always very welcome!
