Big Design Dallas 2015. Uncover the power of empathy in design and user experience. Explore the value of a truly user-centered approach to design, and the power that comes with taking yourself out of the equation.
12. @lnorman16
Pattie: “What about people with arthritis?”
“What about people who use a cane?”
“What about people have lost strength?”
“What about people with impaired vision?”
“What about people who use hearing aids?”
22. @lnorman16
Moore began working with Sam and Betsey Farber, founders of OXO.
Sam came up with the idea for OXO after watching his wife using an
apple peeler with her arthritic hands.
Source: New York Times
24. @lnorman16
• OXO Good Grips tools
were an instant success
• The company grew rapidly,
expanding its line to more
than 500 products
Source: Wired to Care (p.184)
42. @lnorman16
Difference between sympathy and empathy
EmpathySympathy
Identifying with the feelings
of another, but not
necessarily sharing in those
emotions. Has an element of
feeling bad or sorry for
someone else.
Feeling for someone.
The ability to understand
the emotions that someone
else is feeling and being able
to identify with them.
Feeling with someone.
Source: langelett.com | medium.com
45. @lnorman16
Einfühlung
Origin of the word empathy
From the German word
(Peter Eckert: projekt202 German founder
not happy with my pronunciation)
Source: oxforddictionaries.com
47. @lnorman16
Origin of the word empathy
The psychologist Edward Titchener introduced the term
“empathy” in 1909 into the English language as the
translation of the German term “Einfühlung”
Source: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/empathy/
48. @lnorman16
Types of Empathy
CognitiveEmotional
Sharing in the emotional
experiences of another,
feeling what the other
person feels
(Affective empathy)
Purposely discovering the
underlying thoughts and
emotions that guides someone
else’s decisions and behaviors
(Perspective taking)
Source: Practical Empathy Indi Young, (p.24-25)
49. @lnorman16
When do we develop empathy?
Some scientific debate on when this happens…
• It appears that children must first be able to identify themselves as
separate individuals before they can truly feel empathy for others
Source: earlychildhoodnews.com (Eisenberg, 1995)
50. @lnorman16
When do we develop empathy?
Some research indicates that it is not until the child is
approximately six or seven years old that she becomes
cognitively capable of "walking in someone else's shoes"
Source: earlychildhoodnews.com
54. @lnorman16
Can we measure empathy?
Empathy has been studied in a variety of ways, including
self-reporting tests.
• EQSQ Test: Empathizing Quotient (EQ) and
Systemizing Quotient (SQ)
Empathizing Systemizing
vs.
Source: http://personality-testing.info/tests/EQSQ.php
55. @lnorman16
Can we measure empathy?
EQSQ Test developed by autism researcher Simon
Baron-Cohen in 2003
• Test consists of 120 statements that you
must rate on the scale of (1) strongly
disagree (2) slightly disagree (3) slightly
agree (4) strongly agree
• http://personality-testing.info/tests/EQSQ.php
58. @lnorman16
Are there gender differences in empathy?
The EQSQ test appears to show sex differences in the
general population, with women scoring higher in
empathy but lower in systemizing compared to men
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org
59. @lnorman16
Are there gender differences in empathy?
• Lise Eliot,Associate
Professor of Neuroscience
at the Chicago Medical
School, would argue the
differences are small
Source: http://www.liseeliot.com/bio
60. @lnorman16
Are there gender differences in empathy?
• Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How
Small Differences Grow Into
Troublesome Gaps -- And
What We Can Do About It
Source: Pink Brain, Blue Brain
61. @lnorman16
In subjective tests women tend to score
much higher than men, on average
Source: Video Lise Eliot- Debunking Gender Stereotypes
62. @lnorman16
However, objective tests show little difference
between men and women in their ability to empathize
Source: Video Lise Eliot- Debunking Gender Stereotypes
65. @lnorman16
It does a disservice to both sexes
(and the user) to relegate empathy
roles to women
66. @lnorman16
Can empathy be biased?
Cognitive bias is powerful and
we have to be aware of it
Source: news.harvard.edu bostonreview.net hbr.org
67. @lnorman16
Can empathy be biased?
• Studies show that we are more likely to be
empathetic with people who remind us of ourselves,
who share our cultural/ethnic background, or people
we find attractive
Source: news.harvard.edu bostonreview.net hbr.org
68. @lnorman16
Can empathy be biased?
• A Harvard Business Review study showed that
marketers who saw themselves as empathetic were
more likely to be biased
Source: news.harvard.edu bostonreview.net hbr.org
69. @lnorman16
Ways to avoid bias
• In a follow-up Harvard Business Review study,
marketers who were instructed to be aware of their
bias were able to check it
Source: hbr.org
70. @lnorman16
Ways to avoid bias
• Working with a diverse group of decision-makers may
also help
• “With a group you would get different, perhaps
opposing opinions and realize that you were predisposed
to think about yourself just from hearing others talk
about experiences that are different from yours.”
Source: hbr.org
73. @lnorman16
Not everyone is going to be your “ideal” user
• In order to be empathetic
with the people that use our
products we have to
accommodate those that are
not in ideal situations
74. @lnorman16
Not everyone is going to be your “ideal” user
The people that use what you make:
• May not have the latest fancy
device
• Might not have access to
lightning fast internet
• May have a vision impairment
• May be dyslexic
• May not speak the same
language as you
• May have never been to your
site before
75. @lnorman16
Not everyone is going to be your “ideal” user
We also have to consider the possible emotional states that our
users could be in.They might not be in a perfectly happy and
wonderful state of mind.
79. @lnorman16
We tend to focus on users being in the utmost state of happiness, not very realistic
Source: http://juliahwest.com/prompts/emotion_intensity.html
80. @lnorman16
Not everyone is going to be your “ideal” user
• There’s a danger in assuming your users are happy
85. @lnorman16
Not everyone is going to be your “ideal” user
What Facebook could’ve done:
• Offer people a way to opt-out
• Don’t pre-populate the image assuming that it will be ideal
Source: http://5by5.tv/webahead/91 Podcast episode with Eric Meyer
96. @lnorman16
“Accept no substitute for listening to and
observing real people who need to do the things
you’re designing a thing to help them do.”
-Erika Hall, co-founder of Mule Design
Just Enough Research
Source: Just Enough Research (p.92)
97. @lnorman16
Ethnography:What do people do and why do they do it?
Must see!
Source: bigdesigndallas.com | Just Enough Research Ethnography definition (p.82)
98. @lnorman16
Good ol’ fashioned listening and observing
• Doesn’t have to be expensive
• You don’t need a fancy usability lab
• You don’t need a scientist on your team
• You just need to be willing to seek out other people and
listen to and observe them