Abstract
In roughly 20 years, the concept of empathy has grown from virtual obscurity in design circles into a valuable new approach. Empathy in design is being promoted within new and existing methodologies, for the purposes of fostering understanding and spurring innovation. This has occurred as HCI shifts toward more creative, playful, and meaningful applications that cross boundaries between work and home.
For the designer, empathy represents an open, experiential way of knowing the user. As an interplay of feelings between people, it is deeply subjective; not a replacement for objective inquiry but a complement to it.
This chapter begins with a theoretical discussion of empathy, including the definition of high-level empathy; then shifts to a practical survey of design approaches. These include the following: a four-stage empathy framework; user-sensitive inclusive design; empathy-based participatory design; empathy-oriented co-design; and empathic product design. The chapter ends with a discussion of related challenges and recommendations. For designers of technological and business solutions, empathy remains one of the few ways to answer the crucial question: what is an experience like for you?
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
References
Agosta L (2011) Empathy and sympathy in ethics. http://www.iep.utm.edu/emp-symp/. Retrieved 1 June 2017
Batson C (2009) These things called empathy: eight related but distinct phenomena. In: Decety J, Ickes W (eds) The social neruoscience of empathy. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
Battarbee K, Suri J, Howard S (2014) Empathy on the edge: scaling and sustaining a human-centered approach in the evolving practice of design. IDEO
Bernhardt BC, Singer T (2012) The neural basis of empathy. Annu Rev Neurosci 35:1–23
Blakeslee S (2006) Cells that read minds. The New York Times
Bødker S (2006) When second wave HCI meets third wave challenges. In: Proceedings of the 4th Nordic conference on Human-Computer Interaction: changing roles. ACM, pp 1–8
Bødker S (2015) Third-wave HCI, 10 years later—participation and sharing. Interactions 22(5):24–31
Brown D, McHugh D, Standen P (2011) Designing location-based learning experiences for people with intellectual disabilities and additional sensory impairments. Comput Educ 56:11–20
Coplan A (2011a) Understanding empathy: its features and effects. In: Coplan A, Goldie P (eds) Empathy: philosophical and psychological perspectives. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 3–18
Coplan A (2011b) Will the real empathy please stand up? A case for a narrow conceptualization. South J Philos 49(Suppl 1):40–65
Coplan A, Goldie P (2011) Introduction. In: Coplan A, Goldie P (eds) Empathy: philosophical and psychological perspectives. Oxford Scholarship Online
Corbett R (2016) You must change your life: the story of Rainer Maria Rilke and Auguste Rodin. WW Norton, New York
Cuff BMP, Brown SJ, Taylor L, Howat DJ (2016) Empathy: a review of the concept. Emot Rev 8(2):144–153
Dandavate U, Sanders EB, Stuart S (1996) Emotions matter: user empathy in the product development process. Proc Hum Factors Ergon Soc Annu Meet 40(7):415–418
de Waal FBM (2008) Putting the altruism back into altruism: the evolution of empathy. Annu Rev Psychol 59(1):279–300
de Waal FBM (2010) The age of empathy: nature’s lessons for a kinder society. Broadway Books, New York
Decety J, Meltzoff A (2011) Empathy, imitation, and the social brain. In: Coplan A, Goldie P (eds) Empathy: Philosophical and psychological. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 58–81
Depew D (2005) Empathy, psychology, and aesthetics: reflections on a repair concept. Poroi 4. https://doi.org/10.13008/2151-2957.1033
Eakin J, Mykhalovskiy E (2003) Reframing the evaluation of qualitative health research: reflections on a review of appraisal guidelines in the health sciences. J Eval Clin Pract 9(2):187–194
Edwards R (2011) Listening and message interpretation. Int J Listening 25(1–2):47–65
Eisma R, Dickinson A, Goodman J, Syme A (2004) Early user involvement in the development of information technology-related products for older people. Univ Access Inf Soc 3(2):131–140
Engen HG, Singer T (2013) Empathy circuits. Curr Opin Neurobiol 23(2):275–282
Ernø-Kjølhede E (2000) Project management theory and the management of research projects (No. 3/2000)
Ferreira B, Silva W, Oliveira EA, Conte T (2015). Designing personas with empathy map. In: SEKE, pp 501–505
Gallese V (2003) The manifold nature of interpersonal relations: the quest for a common mechanism. Philoso Trans R Soc Lond B 358(431):517–528
Gates B, Gates M (2014) Text of the 2014 Commencement address by Bill and Melinda Gates. http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/june/gates-commencement-remarks-061514.html. Retrieved 21 July 2017
Gaver B, Dunne T, Pacenti E (1999) Design: cultural probes. Interactions 6(1):21–29
Gaver W, Boucher A, Pennington S, Walker B (2004) Cultural probes and the value of uncertainty. Interactions 11(5):53–56
Goldie P (2011) Anti-empathy. In Coplan A, Goldie P (eds) Empathy: philosophical and psychological persepctives. Oxford Scholarship Online
Goldman A (2006) Simulating minds: the philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience of mindreading. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Goldman A (2011) Two routes to empathy: insights from cognitive neuroscience. In: Coplan A, Goldie P (eds) Empathy: philosophical and psychological perspectives. Oxford University Press, Oxford, p 4
Goleman D (2006) Emotional intelligence. Bantam, New York
Ickes W, Mast M (2007) Empathic accuracy. In: Baumeister R, Bohs K (eds) Encyclopedia of social psychology. Sage, Thousand Oaks, pp 295–296
Jahoda G (2005) Theodor Lipps and the shift from “sympathy” to “empathy”. J Hist Behav Sci 41(2):151–163. https://doi.org/10.1002/jhbs.20080
Jauhar S(2017) Empathy gadgets. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/29/opinion/sunday/empathy-gadgets.html. Retrieved 25 Oct 2017
Jiancaro T, Mihailidis A (in review-a) Technology, design and dementia: an exploratory study of the user-device fit
Jiancaro T, Mihailidis A (in review-b) Understanding causes and constraints: a systems analysis of people with dementia making phone calls
Jiancaro T, Jaglal SB, Mihailidis A (2017) Technology, design and dementia: an exploratory survey of developers. Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol 12(6):573–584
Jiang J, Dai B, Peng D, Zhu C, Liu L, Lu C (2012) Neural synchronization during face-to-face communication. J Neurosci 32(45):16064–16069
Kahn E (1985) Heinz Kohut and Carl Rogers: a timely comparison. Am Psychol 40(8):893–904
Kitwood T (1997) The experience of dementia. Aging Ment Health 1(1):13–22
Kohut H (1982) Introspection, empathy and the semi-circle of mental health. Int J Psychoanal 63:395–407
Kouprie M, Visser F (2009) A framework for empathy in design: stepping into and out of the user’s life. J Eng Des 20(5):437–448
Krznaric R (2008) You are therefore I am: how empathy education can create social change. Oxfam GB
Leonard D, Rayport J (1997) Spark innovation through empathic design. Harv Bus Rev 75:102–115
Lindsay S, Brittain K, Jackson D, Ladha C, Ladha K, Olivier P (2012) Empathy, participatory design and people with dementia. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, pp 521–530
Lipari L (2010) Listening, thinking, being. Commun Theory 20(3):348–362
Lipps T (1903) Einfühlung, innere Nachahmung und Organenempfindungen
Lipps T (1906) Ästhetik: T. Die ästhetische Betrachtung und die bildende Kunst. Voss
Mar RA, Oatley K, Djikic M, Mullin J (2011) Emotion and narrative fiction: interactive influences before, during, and after reading. Cognit Emot 25(5):818–833
Mattelmäki T, Vaajakallio K, Koskinen I (2014) What happened to empathic design? Design Issues 30(1):67–77
Mcdonagh D, Thomas J (2010) Disability+ relevant design: empathic design strategies supporting more effective new product design outcomes. Des J 13(2):180–198
Newell A, Cairns A (1993) Designing for extraordinary users. Ergon Des Q Hum Factors Appl 1(4):10–16
Newell A, Carmichael A (2006) The use of theatre in requirements gathering and usability studies. Interact Comput 18:996–1011
Newell A, Gregor P (2000) “User sensitive inclusive design”—in search of a new paradigm. In: Proceedings on the 2000 conference on universal usability, pp 39–44
Newell A, Gregor P, Morgan M (2011) User-sensitive inclusive design. Univ Access Inf Soc 10(3):235–243
Osterwalder A, Pigneur Y (2010) Business model generation: a handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers. Wiley, Hoboken
Oxford Dictionary of English (2015) www.oxfordreference.com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 2 Oct 2016
Polit DF, Beck CT (2010) Generalization in quantitative and qualitative research: myths and strategies. Int J Nurs Stud 47(11):1451–1458
Pollak K, Alexander S, Tulsky J, Lyna P, Coffman C et al (2011) Physician empathy and listening: associations with patient satisfaction and autonomy. J Am Board Fam Med 24(6):665–672
Postma C, Zwartkruis-Pelgrim E (2012) Challenges of doing empathic design: experiences from industry. J Des 6(1):59–70
Rizzolatti G, Fadiga L, Gallese V, Fogassi L (1996) Premotor cortex and the recognition of motor actions. Cogn Brain Res 3:131–141
Rogers C (1959) A theory of therapy, personality, and interpersonal relationships: as developed in the client-centered framework. In: Psychology: a study of a science, Study 1. McGraw-Hill, New York, pp 184–256
Rogers C (1975) Empathic: an unappreciated way of being. Couns Psychol 5(2):2–10
Sanders EB (2005) Information, inspiration and co-creation. In: The 6th international conference of the European Academy of design, pp 29–31
Sanders EB, Dandavate U (1999) Design for Experiencing: new tools. In: Overbeeke CJ, Hekkert P (eds) First international conference on design and emotion. Delft University of Technology, Delft, pp 1–5
Singer T, Lamm C (2009) The social neuroscience of empathy. Ann NY Acad Sci 1156:81–96
Smith A (2010) A theory of moral sentiments (original). Penguin, London
Somogyi RL, Buchko AA, Buchko KJ (2013) Managing with empathy: can you feel what I feel? J Organ Psychol 13(1):32–42
Stocker M, Hegeman E (1996) Valuing emotions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Strickfaden M, Devlieger P (2011) Empathy through accumulating techne: designing an accessible metro. Des J 14:207–229
Stueber K (2012) Varieties of empathy, neuroscience and the Narrativist challenge to the contemporary theory of mind debate. Emot Rev 4(1):55–63
Suri JF (2001) The next 50 years: future challenges and opportunities for empathy in our science. Ergonomics 44(14):1278–1289. https://doi.org/10.1080/0014013011010585
Titchener E (1909) Lectures on the experimental psychology of the thought-processes. McMillan, New York
VandenBos GR (ed) (2007) APA dictionary of psychology. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC
Venkataramani A (2016) What is co-creation? http://sonicrim.com/2016/04/what-is-co-creation/. Retrieved 4 July 2017
Vischer R (1873/1994) On the optical sense of form. A contribution to aesthetics. In: Malgrave HF (ed) Empathy, form, and space. Problems in German aesthetics, 1873–1893. Getty Center Publications, Santa Monica, pp 89–123
Warszawa MN, Nowak M (2011) The complicated history of Einfühlung. Argumentation 1(2):301–326
Winerman L (2007) The mind mirror. Monit Psychol 36(9):48–49
Wright P., McCarthy J (2008) Empathy and experience in HCI. In: CHI’2008, Florence, Italy, pp 637–646
Zaki J (2014) Empathy: a motivated account. Psychol Bull 140(6):1608–1647
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Jiancaro, T. (2018). Empathy-Based Design Approaches. In: Filimowicz, M., Tzankova, V. (eds) New Directions in Third Wave Human-Computer Interaction: Volume 2 - Methodologies . Human–Computer Interaction Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73374-6_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73374-6_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-73373-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-73374-6
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)