Before we get into it, let me explain the title of this post. When I say I'm a "veteran empathizer," I don't necessarily mean I have years and years of experience utilizing empathy in the workplace - however, I do have quite a few. Empathy has always naturally been a part of my personality, but it took me quite a while to see it as my greatest strength rather than my greatest weakness.
Here's what I mean.
Growing up, I felt I was too sensitive.
I tried to hide these sensitive feelings because they seemed like a weakness. If you've ever experienced somebody tell you that "you're being too sensitive," you understand the negative stigma that comes with this.
It wasn't until I started my first customer service job where I realized that this "sensitivity" was empathy, and my ability to put myself in others' shoes was a strength that I could use in all facets of life.
So, that's why I consider myself a veteran empathizer. After living with this trait for 26 years, I have a pretty solid understanding of how I can utilize it to my and others' advantage. This skill ended up being a factor that would later lead me to user experience.
So let's tie empathy together with design. The easiest way to do this is by looking at the first step in the Design Thinking Process. If you don't already know what that first step is, you can probably guess it.
Empathize.
As a designer, you have to understand who you're designing for; What are their needs and goals? What's the problem you're trying to solve? What's the users' environment like? What difficulties might they be facing?
To be a successful designer, first and foremost, you have to be able to gain an empathetic mindset for your user. If you can set aside your assumptions and conduct research and testing to get a better insight into who your users are, you'll be on your way to creating a product that fulfills the real needs of real people.
Here are some ways you can empathize with your user.
1. Conduct user interviews
Your goal here should be to gain as much insight as possible about your user. Keep it natural and light so your participant is comfortable sharing information with you. Record your sessions so that you're focused on the conversation instead of taking notes, and constantly ask "why?"
2. Observe your users
This idea is similar to conducting user interviews, but with an emphasis on observing your users' behaviors and actions when they're interacting with your product or when they're discussing a problem they frequently come across.
3. Create personas
Give your user a face and a name. When presenting your research and design to stakeholders, you will be able to communicate your reasoning behind specific ideas much easier if they know who you're designing for and why this solution will help them.
4. Construct a mental model and/or user journey map
A mental model is a map that shows how a person wants to accomplish a certain task. This can provide some insight into a user's thought process and help you, as a designer, empathize with the user's motivations. To read more on mental models, check out this article from Medium.
A user journey map is a visual representation of how the user will accomplish these tasks. You can present a user journey map to your design team and other stakeholders so they can share this visualization of what the user goes through when accomplishing a task to gather more, you guessed it, empathy for the user. Check out some unique examples of user journey maps here.
Empathizing is a huge component of the design process. If anyone has ever told you that you're being too sensitive, congrats! You were born with a strength that can be essential in so many different ways.
If you're still wondering how you can step into the shoes of your user, reach out to your fellow empathizer!
- Kaity
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