Is empathy a subjective trap in which designers can fall, loosing themselves and consequently their users? Or is it the key to design meaningful experiences? Slides from my talk at UX Antwerp, where I shared concrete examples from the field, my vision on empathy, and a set of principles to follow in a daily practice to avoid traps and master that powerful tool.

1. empathy, how to fit someone else’s shoes
@CardonaKarine | UX Antwerp 30 May 2017

2. I am Karine Cardona
Psychologist - Geek -
Entrepreneur - Facts checker -
Storyteller
Service Design Lead @MOBGEN
in Amsterdam
@CardonaKarine

3. ABOUT EMPATHY
I don’t Care about empathy,
I design experiences, that’s it.
I removed empathy from my
works, it’s too speculative.
heard @ UX Strat
heard @ UX Amsterdam
@CardonaKarine | UX Antwerp 30 May 2017

4. ABOUT EMPATHY
a subjective trap in which designers can fall
the key to design meaninful experiences
ɛm.pə.θi
@CardonaKarine | UX Antwerp 30 May 2017

5. YOU AND EMPATHY
‣ what is your job title?
‣ in a few words, how would you define empathy?
‣ why do you use empathy in your design process?
http://bit.ly/ux-empathy
@CardonaKarine | UX Antwerp 30 May 2017

6. EMPATHY
SYMPATHY
(ɛm.pə.θi) - from Greek empatheia,
em- ’in’ + pathos ‘feeling’
(sɪm.pə.θi) - from Greek sumpathēs,
sun- ‘with’ + pathos ‘feeling’
@CardonaKarine | UX Antwerp 30 May 2017

7. empathy
The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
Oxford Dictionary
The ability to share someone else's feelings or
experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in
that person's situation.
Cambridge Dictionary
@CardonaKarine | UX Antwerp 30 May 2017

8. empathy
A trial to understand someone
else’s experience.
Karine Cardona
@CardonaKarine | UX Antwerp 30 May 2017

9. because it’s hard to fit into
someone else’s « shoes »
@CardonaKarine | UX Antwerp 30 May 2017

10. we are not equal
‣ neurosciences
‣ hormones (testostérone effect)
‣ psychology empathy scales (situational / dispositional)
‣ empathy quotient tests (cognitive / affective)
@CardonaKarine | UX Antwerp 30 May 2017

11. we do judge
« users are stupid, they don’t get… so we need to work
on the design of these pages »
understanding ≠ judgement
@CardonaKarine | UX Antwerp 30 May 2017

12. UX design can be frustrating
« I did change the checkout flow because I find it boring.
I wanted to design something different than usual »
UX designer ≠ Artist
@CardonaKarine | UX Antwerp 30 May 2017

13. YOU AND EMPATHY
when you do nothave experience as a user in the domain
when you dohave experience as a user in the domain
Understanding User Experience when conducting
research is easier:
@CardonaKarine | UX Antwerp 30 May 2017

14. we tend to
project our
perspective
on a situation
@CardonaKarine | UX Antwerp 30 May 2017

15. we forget about our own references
@CardonaKarine | UX Antwerp 30 May 2017

16. we protect ourselves
from emotions
emotions ≠ danger
@CardonaKarine | UX Antwerp 30 May 2017

17. Getting it wrong is violent
Context matters: cultural | symbolic | physical | relational…
@CardonaKarine | UX Antwerp 30 May 2017

18. empathy
A trial to understand someone
else’s experience.
@CardonaKarine | UX Antwerp 30 May 2017

19. empathy
A key to design meaningful
experiences.
@CardonaKarine | UX Antwerp 30 May 2017

20. EMPATHY, A KEY TO DESIGN MEANINGFUL EXPERIENCES
How to fit in someone else’s shoes: checklist and training
▸ evaluate your own experiences and believes (biases)
▸ don’t jump on conclusions, challenge them
▸ when interviewed people make statements, question them
▸ force yourself to take multi-angles perspectives
▸ make sure you do have data for context
▸ get comfortable with emotions and explore them during interviews
▸ travel / host foreign travellers / meet different people / references…
@CardonaKarine | UX Antwerp 30 May 2017

21. empathy
@CardonaKarine | UX Antwerp 30 May 2017
(ɛm.pə.θi)