Photo by Evie S. on Unsplash

For more than 250,000 years, the concept of thinking has been wondering humans. In the 14 century, the word “sympathy” was introduced which further evolved to “empathy” in the 20th century. And today, the word “empathy” has considered a must-have quality for at least a UX researcher.

Well, do you think empathy will not further evolve into a deeper level of emotions? Did we really explore the deeper level of thinking that lies inside us? Let’s try to rethink what we are thinking about our thinking.

Today, in the design world, empathy is the must-have quality that UX researchers nurture to bring value to end users, but it is not the only quality that defines a UX researcher. There is something beyond empathy that exists, but it is yet to be realized. It can communicate with silence and require no words and expressions to sympathize and empathize. It is called inner intellectual thinking.

Inner intellectual thinking is the root of our thinking. We can say it is a deeper layer of self-discovery that lies under the thick blanket of our day-to-day memories. This inner intellectual thinking lies not only among us but it covers entire living and nonliving natural bodies (I will discuss this in another article) on planet earth. Let’s start with nature, it can explain much better than I could.

Have a look at the below pink tulip plant, its roots are the source of its upbringing and nature. And its beauty reflects awareness of inner intellectual thinking. Let’s contextualize it.

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

You might have observed that despite sharing the same soil in your garden with a variety of plants, each plant will remember its true nature. Its understanding of other plants is so deep-rooted that it will never impose its nature on other plants and its awareness of inner intellectual thinking reflects its true nature rather than being any other plant like Rose, Lily, Jasmin, etc in your garden.

In the context of UX researchers, can we relate the below values which inner intellectual thinking could bring to us?

1. Ability to understand the true nature of others without being biased toward our own nature.
2. Ability to understand our own nature despite being social.
3. Ability to listen to the silence of others when words and physical expression cannot express emotions.
4. Ability to understand and feel others regardless of their culture, beliefs, and diversity.

Aren’t these qualities an evolution of empathy? Aren’t these qualities make us better UX researchers?

Well, nature can teach us the finest quality of UX research which goes beyond the word “empathy”. At least for one, I have learned a lot from nature to prepare for the UX researcher role. Whenever I lose myself, I turn to nature to discover myself, for me there is no better way than to connect with nature.

Here, I would like to share a short story of mine about how nature became my teacher to pursue a career in the field of design research and UX research.

I started my career professionally when I was 24, in the year 2012, almost 12 years ago, but the core foundation was laid long before when I was just an 8-year-old boy. Being a design and UX researcher, one question often surprises me, who would have sketched such beautiful plants, birds, animals, insects, aquatic life, moon, sun, stars, and the universe? Every time I observe them brings me strange joy despite the silence between us. It took me almost 28 years to understand this silent communication between me and nature which results in discovering my inner intellectual thinking hides under the thick blanket of day-to-day memories. Those years-long observation helps me to understand the deeper layers of life that connect all of us together.

I am sure nature would have amazed you at least once in your life and brought joy to your life. Being aware of the truth that we are no different from others, instead, we are well integrated with all the living and non-living natural bodies. By listening to our inner intellectual thinking could reveal the silence which connects all of us together, therefore enabling us to connect with end users at a deep level.