The Power of Empathy

At the heart of user-centric design is a big buzzword: empathy. Read a lot of blog posts on the tenets of UX, and nine times out of ten you will find some reference to the practice to developing empathy for your users and using it to inform better design decisions. But what does empathy really accomplish? What is the benefit to users when we practice empathy with them?

Practicing empathy shows we understand (or are trying to understand) how users feel about a product or task and are taking that into account in our designs.

It’s a great feeling as a consumer to find a product that feels like its been tailor made just for you. It’s not a stretch to say that people like it when they feel thought of and that someone cares about their experience. As a designer, practicing empathy helps me to make sure I’m actually connecting with my target audience and that the designs I’ve created actually address the issues people have. It’s one thing to intuit what people are thinking, but another thing altogether to take time to validate your ideas against the thoughts of the very people you’re designing for.

Empathy prevents autocratic decision making

When working on a personal project there’s no need for user research or usability studies because ultimately the project only has to please you. You are the expert on what you prefer and in that context what you think is king. But when working on a product available to a larger public, it is important to remember that what users think and feel is often times more important than our personal preferences. To decide that because you are the designer you must know what’s best for the users is a huge disservice both to your design and to the community of people who will use your product. When we as designers consider ourselves omniscient about our users’ needs we deceive ourselves. Does this mean we can’t have good intuitions? No. Does it mean we can’t have good ideas outside of research? Absolutely not. But it is always important to remember that the vitality of your product depends on people using it, so ignoring the contexts in which they experience your product in favor of your preference will only hold you back.

Empathy informs automation and innovation

As business grows and tasks stack up, every company looks for processes that can be automated. This can be chat bots for customer service, auto-send emails for new customer engagement, or even integrations with services like Zappier to cut down on menial tasks and promote more productivity. As we engage in empathy with our users we learn what is most important to them which in turn focuses our efforts, shapes our to-do lists and even reveals new areas ready for innovation.