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UX Designers: How to improve your empathy to be a better designer
10 ways to improve your empathy
Do you often hear the word ‘empathy’ at work?
Do you find that it gets thrown around too much in the world of design?
Do you know what it means?
Would you like to be able to improve your empathy and become a better designer in the process?
During my time as a designer, I’ve heard the word empathy a lot, too much if I’m honest. When we study user experience, we’re told to have lots of it for our users.
I don’t know a lot about empathy. The process of researching the topic helps me to reflect on it more, and improve my understanding of it.
Before doing my research for this article, I thought of empathy as putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. After digging around I found that there’s much more to it. Here what’s covered in this article:
- What is empathy?
- Three types of empathy?
- How it works?
- Why we need it?
- The role of empathy in design
- How we can improve our empathy
- How to bring empathy into your design work
It is through weakness and vulnerability that most of us learn empathy and compassion and discover our soul.
(Desmond Tutu)
What is empathy?
Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another, and feeling with the heart of another.
It allows understanding not only of other’s beliefs, values, and ideas but also the significance that their situation has for them and their associated feelings (Rogers, 1951).
The English word empathy comes from the Ancient Greek word empatheia, meaning ‘physical affection or passion.’ Empathy is the ability to share and understand the emotions of others.
What is sympathy
The verbal and nonverbal expression of sorrow or dismay (Morse et al, 1992).
