3 Empathy Methods That Will Help You in Design Thinking

Introduction

Empathy is the ability to truly understand others and connect with their emotional experience. This skill is the first and one of the most fundamental steps in the Design Thinking Process. To practice empathy, there are numerous methods available for you to try. Here, I will delve into three of my favorite empathy techniques that will initiate your journey in design methods.

What-How-Why Method

The first technique you could use for practicing empathy is the What/How/Why Method. This method is a tool that helps you dive deeper into your surface-level observations (Interaction Design Foundation)

In What, start with any concrete observations. This would include any details of what is happening such as: What is the person doing? What is happening around them? An example of this is "he is going for a run."

From these details, we can move to a deeper level of understanding with the How. In How, you should aim to describe the details of what is happening. For example, if the answer to what is "going for a run," the how might be "putting in a lot of effort." Try to describe the emotional impact of the task at hand. Doing this will help tap into empathizing.

Finally, during Why, you should decipher the most profound insights possible. This stage will use the What and How observations to determine emotional reasonings. In our running example, we could guess that the person is putting in a lot of effort because they are stressed and use running to help with mental clarity. We may also guess that they are putting in a lot of effort because they have an upcoming race to train for.

Whatever the case may be, the What/How/Why method allows us to stretch our empathy muscles and truly understand the emotional needs of others.

Storyboarding

A second technique to try for empathizing is storyboarding. This may be one of the better examples for visual learners like me. If you aren't familiar with storyboarding, it is a series of sketches that follow the steps of a customer experience (Wiecek, 2018). Many filmmakers use storyboards to describe what shots would look like in their movies. The point of view for these storyboards should always be that of the user.

To create an effective storyboard, you should first conduct user interviews. The interviews will give you a full scope of the story being conveyed. Listen and note the emotions coming through during their answers. These insights will be used for the imagery later on.

Next, use the notes from your interview to establish a narrative. The narrative should include your classic story arch: An exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. When plotting these points, write down what needs to be communicated at each step, as each point will align with a scene in your storyboard (Hagen, 2020).

Lastly, it is time to translate your narrative into imagery. Sketch out each step in the narrative as its own scene using the noted emotions from the interview stage to help you. You do not have to be artistically inclined to do this. Use stick figures and simple sketches. When it comes time to embed an emotion, try to convey it in the body language of your stick figure. Even if you cannot do that, just write out the emotion you want to convey next to them.

The point of this exercise is not to make aesthetically perfect scenes. It just has to convey that you understand how and why others feel like they do.

Story Share-and-Capture

Finally, a third empathy technique you can use is Story Share-and-Capture. This method is excellent for those who work best in a team environment and enjoy discussing issues in a "Socratic Seminar" format.

To do this, have your team members each go out and interview users. Ensure they note the five W' (Who, What, Where, When, and Why) and any feelings or sentiments. Any observations are helpful.

Next, it is time to bring your team together and unpack all of the observations and stories you have collected. While each team member shares their user stories, other members should take note of exciting patterns, insights, and quotes. Post-its can be helpful, as grouping like-items might illuminate important themes (Product Discovery Methods).

At the end of this session, there should be a wall, board, or table filled with Post-it notes. This will help your team understand patterns happening within the user experience, thus jump-starting ideas for solutions in later design thinking stages.

Final Comments

Empathy is a critical skill that forms the foundation of human-centered design. Here, we have explored three powerful empathy techniques that can help kickstart your design thinking journey. By applying these methods, you will gain the ability to delve deeper into the human experience, enabling you to craft effective solutions.

Hi! My name is Kristin Ardese and I am a professional Graphic Designer and Marketing Strategist. I hope that by sharing some of my expertise, I can help offer valuable insights and build an engaging community.