Beyond Functionality: An ABC Guide to Designing with Empathy
Artem Udovichenko, Product Designer, Dyninno Latvia
Emotional design invites us to sprinkle a bit of heart and soul into our digital interfaces. To go beyond mere functionality and envision designs that don’t just solve tasks but also gently relay understanding and care of the user’s journey, fostering a more delightful and memorable interaction.
We previously covered what exactly is emotional design and how it can help modern businesses, but in this article, I will offer practical help and simple steps anyone can take to make sure their designs are empathetic.
Because when we weave empathy into our designs, we craft spaces that resonate on a deeper emotional level. This makes technology not only useful but also subtly familiar and comforting. Employing empathy in design involves strategic choices of colors, shapes, and navigational structures to evoke specific emotional responses from users. Including familiar and simple elements further crafts an environment that is both comforting and accessible to a diverse user base.
Design touched by empathy doesn’t just enhance user experience; it creates a tender bridge between the user and the platform. It transforms interactions into meaningful connections. We’re not just building interfaces; we’re crafting experiences, blurring the lines between the digital and emotional world.
Make interfaces friendly, easy to use and responsive
The interfaces you develop should not only aim to excel but to also befriend your users. It’s essential for individuals to feel at ease so they can make informed and confident decisions. Enliven your plain design with visually appealing and user-friendly elements.
For example, when it comes to the overused star reviews, we redesigned the after-payment step details for asaptickets.com. I strived to craft a design that feels as amicable as possible, using emojis from the “Fluent Design System”. Most of us are familiar with these since we use them in everyday communication. Thus, the interface achieves two objectives:
· Familiar elements add comfort and also serve as a visual attraction for the users and their choices.
· Like a genuine friend, the service apologizes and enquires if the rating is bad, clarifying what exactly was wrong and demonstrating empathy.
This approach replaces the typical star ratings with an intuitive, friendly evaluation method. It conveys to the user that the application genuinely seeks to address their concerns, emanating genuine empathy if issues arise.
Familiar things inspire confidence
When interfaces remind users of well-known objects and experiences, they spark an instant connection, inviting users to interact confidently.
By employing universally recognized icons, like the magnifying glass for search or the three horizontal lines, often dubbed the “hamburger menu,” designers offer soft guidance , allowing users to navigate platforms with an inherent understanding. By utilizing recognized color schemes, such as red for caution or green for progression, designers provide an intuitive map that gently leads the way. Recognizable gestures, like swiping left to go back, also weave a thread of the familiar through the digital tapestry, minimizing cognitive load and enhancing user engagement. By employing these familiar UX/UI elements, we’re not just designing; we’re constructing a bridge of trust, ensuring users traverse their digital journey with confidence and ease.
Interfaces must be helpful, not just beautiful
Unfortunately, in the last couple of years there has been a rapid trend towards creating merely attractive interfaces that do not fulfill their function and often do not help the user with their problem. Many UX designers, influenced by aggressive marketing, have prioritized aesthetic appeal over quality. And it almost makes sense, because a user viewing a product for the first time will most likely trust the better looking one.
However, an empathetic UI listens; it perceives when a user might be struggling and gently helps, perhaps through a timely tooltip or a subtle design shift to guide the way.
It speaks in familiar symbols and layouts, from signup forms to checkout processes, and is smooth and user-friendly. This considerate digital companion anticipates needs, foreseeing potential user questions and ensuring the path to every task completion is clear, direct, and enjoyable. It ensures that users not only accomplish their tasks with ease but feel understood and cared for in each click, swipe, and keystroke.
This is exactly what I am trying to convey with this topic: all design should awaken emotions, but we must maintain a fine line, and try to spend more time, making it functional, understandable, and most importantly — visually attractive. After all, if a friendly and beautifully designed interface also turns out to be useful and functional, then the user will not need to look for an alternative.
The ABC Check for Empathetic UI Design
I have developed a quick three-step ABC check whether a UI Design you work on is empathetic.
A — Understanding the user
Dive into the user’s universe with research and empathy maps to deeply comprehend their needs, desires, and potential pain points. Attune every design detail, from color choices to text, ensuring they resonate with and accommodate the diverse needs and contexts of your audience. Be mindful of cultural, social, and accessibility aspects, providing an inclusive and resonant user experience. You can do all of that with the help of competitive analysis, by collecting both quantitative and qualitative data. You simply need to know or predict the main needs of the user and convert them to tasks they can complete with the help of your well-designed product.
B — Guidance and assist
Weave a user journey that actively supports and assists, utilizing elements like tooltips and microinteractions to enhance the user experience. Implement design features that minimize cognitive load, streamline decision-making, and provide a smooth, effortless user path. Ensure error messages and support guides are constructive and gently redirect users, avoiding frustration and maintaining a positive interaction flow. The interface must be as responsive as possible — you must check for all states, errors, and questions which the user may encounter and try to provide them with the most straightforward information and experience you can. Remember, the interface must assist and answer users’ questions throughout their journey.
C — Transparency
Commit to clear communication with clean visuals, straightforward language, and logical, intuitive layouts. Allow users to effortlessly understand and engage with the interface by employing universally understood icons and avoiding ambiguous navigational cues. Offer clear and immediate feedback on user actions, affirming their interactions and guiding them smoothly through each phase of their journey. You can ensure that your interface is transparent by conducting a usability test.
With these three steps designers can create a user interface that not only combines aesthetic appeal with functional excellence but also cultivates a deeply empathetic and supportive user experience.
Conclusion
Understanding how emotional design applies to the needs and problems of your target audience is crucial. The designer’s ability to analyze problems from the user’s perspective and devise solutions is invaluable.
A true designer knows that design exists not only for the needs of the business, but to also help people use these products effectively, emphasizing strengths and minimizing weaknesses.
And in all this, strangely enough, the users themselves help us. We build products that help people, through research, trial and error, which is why it is important to continuously maintain contact with the users to understand their exact wants and needs.
This is Part 2 of a series on emotional design:
· PART 1 Beyond Functionality: Designing with Empathy;
· PART 3 Humanization in Design: Breathing Life into Digital Experiences.
Dyninno is a group of companies providing products and services in the travel, finance, entertainment, and technology sectors in 50+ countries.
It was founded in 2004 in San Francisco by Alex Weinstein. Today, 5,100 professionals work in the company around the world. Our offices are located in the USA, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, India, the UAE, the Philippines, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Italy, the Netherlands, the UK, Moldova, Romania, Latvia, Cyprus, Malta, and Turkey.
