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I feel sorry for you, I’m ‘sympathetic’

Before I give you a clear introduction about what exactly ‘Empathetic Design’ means, let me give you a definition of ‘Empathy’ and how different it is from the word ‘sympathy’. Let me give you an example.

Say if your friend met with an accident and had a leg injury. If you feel sorrowful about their misfortune, that means you are ‘sympathetic’ to your friend and hence the word “sympathy.’ However, suppose you have experienced a similar situation like that and can understand how the other person feels about it. In that case, that means you are ‘empathetic’ to your friend, and hence the word ‘Empathy’. This is what the difference is between “Empathy” and “Sympathy.”

Now coming back to the topic, This is what empathetic design means.

Why is Empathetic design essential in our design process?

It begins with the rule of thumb of UX You are not thy user, which means, as UX designers, you are not designing the product for yourself.

It is for your end-users or target customers.

Empathy in design thinking means going an extra mile to understand your end-users’ keeping these aspects in mind. We become better designers with which we can provide a more effective design solution.

Empathy is the first stage in our Design-Thinking approach: here, we try to understand our end user’s difficulties and uncover their desires and needs. Hence, the empathetic design is crucial in our human-centered design process and for its business success.

Now how can we practice empathy in our day to day lives?

And why is it essential? It is a prerequisite as UX designers that you need to be empathetic, and it is imperative to invoke empathy within yourselves and your designs. Now, what are the different ways of practicing empathy?

Observe as many people as possible and try to understand their experiences around them.

Talk to as many people as you can and let them explain their life experiences.

Try to understand the emotion behind it; always be open-minded and never tolerate bias into your thinking while talking with your end-users. While interviewing your end-user to understand their sentiment, avoid distractions, and ever withhold judgment while listening to them.

Accept what you see and hear even though if it contradicts your views.

And last but not least, try to experience everything as much as possible on your own and keep a record of it. You never know when it comes in handy, especially while trying to design for your products.

As UX designers, the one deliverable that we can present to our business clients as well as to our team members to identify our end-users’ needs and desires while using an application or a service is your ‘Empathy Map’ along with your persona is a guide for designers which puts the user and the product in context.

The empathy map consists of four main sections where we identify the end user’s needs and difficulties. We also need the summary and the conclusion to which we try to identify the end user’s emotion while using a specific application or a service.

Empathetic Design is fundamental and crucial for our UX design process. This is because it gives us in-depth knowledge and understanding of our end users’ emotions, and that way, we can design practical solutions to meet them.