How Empathy Mapping Keeps Our Memories Alive
“We smelled a lot of fresh air!” — That’s what Ethan said when he presented the results of our “sensing journey” you’ll be reading about in a minute.
Before we dive in, let’s get familiar with some key things:
- Empathy Walk: This term was coined by Dr. Edgar H. Schein, a big-shot professor at MIT, and one of the most famous experts on company culture. He suggests that leaders should open their hearts to their employees by taking a walk with them to understand their experiences.
- Otto Scharmer: A big cheese at MIT who created the “Theory U.” He incorporates Prof. Schein’s walk into the “Co-Sensing” part of the Theory U process. It’s one of the ways a “Theory U” opens their heart, which is super important for successfully navigating the transformational journey of Theory U.
- Empathy map: We used this to understand the existing needs and experiences of the people living in Cikapundung. It helps build empathy and identify potential ideas for design solutions.
- Sensing journey: This is a project of Knods Playground that involve 15 students chosen from the NUS (National University of Singapore) College, in the Global Experience (GeX) Courses held in UNESCO-recognized creative cities. In Indonesia, that’s Bandung and Jogja. Knods Playground is a research and community development initiative under Labtek Indie Company.
Our Sensing Journey in Cikapundung
On this sensing journey, me and 5 other students from NUS used the empathy map to help us navigate our findings. From the beginning to the end of the walk, one small-but-big thing we noticed was the fresh air. It’s seems odd how we could smell such clean air even though we were right in the middle of the city. We realized there can be a lot of differences in just a few kilometers!
The journey went from Gang Bapa Ehom (Teras Cikapundung) to Mimilu Cafe, which was about 6 kilometers total. My team and I discovered a lot of things.
Just like I said at the beginning, the first thing we noticed was how fresh the air was. The morning air was amazing, with birds chirping and the Cikapundung River flowing beside us for most of the walk.
Just a few meters from the starting point, we started noticing things they (maybe) wouldn’t see oftenly back home in Singapore. One of them asked about a warung built over a big pond. “Is that legal?” they asked. This question made me think too, even though I’d walked through this area many times before. I was like, “Oh, wait? Is that warung really legally built over a pond?” It’s interesting how locals are used to seeing things built like that and asiding the legal aspect of it. I, for example, accept it unconditionally as a normal thing without questioning the existence of it ever.
Walking a bit further, we saw a sign that said “Kampung Pelangi” . They asked me what it was in English. When I said it was a Rainbow Village, they were confused and like, “Why is there no rainbow?’’ Then I explained that the houses used to be painted in rainbow colors and called “Rainbow Village,” but the paint faded. It reminds me too of a maintenance effort that is usually overlooked, and again, we sometimes accept it as a normal thing unconditionally.
Along the river, we saw a lot of trash floating freely, which was a bummer. But there were also piles of trash that made us hold our breath a bit as we walked by, haha. Not far from the trash piles, we saw a man burning trash. We felt a bit bad about it because the smoke from the burning trash polluted the fresh morning air. This feeling can’t help but make us wonder whether the residents felt that there’s only two options in handling trash; burn it or throw it in the river. We notice that the more crowds there are, the more waste produced, and I assume that keeping up with waste management must be an overwhelming task without proper system or infrastructure availability.
Moving on from things we could see, we all started feeling a bit “tired,” especially Fitrah. From the beginning to the end of the trek, she was the one who always fastly spotted a spontaneous seating spot. Whenever we stopped to observe something, she’d always find a place to sit down, so she was basically the unconditional design designer! Here’s the photo that shows it :P
I also super grateful for all the cats we saw along the way. They helped keep us engaged with the trek. In the middle of the walk, we turned “spotting cats” into a challenge. Every 100 meters, we had to find a cat as a checkpoint. Maybe it was luck or coincidence, but we seriously saw a cat every 100 meters!
Another interesting thing we noticed was the contrast between the fresh air and the whole area around it. Nature was like this peaceful, refreshing escape, but right next to it, there were signs that people weren’t living the same way. We saw fancy houses and apartments contrasting simple houses we were passing by. It got us thinking about how stuff is divided up in the city, like who gets clean air, proper waste management, and a nice place to live.
This realization about the inequality within Cikapundung is exactly why I think the Empathy Map is important. It’s not just about scrapbooking this trip, it’s about capturing facts that we saw and learned in a way that can be used later. Empathy Map becomes more than just a piece of paper — it’s a portal back to that fresh morning air, the sound of the river, and even the moment Michelle liked and figured out the title of a Peterpan song. Every time I look at it, I can practically see Fitrah exhausted and hear James and Prathiba arguing.
And so, at the end of this journey, what Empathy Mapping really does is keep our memories alive.
