Rosenverse
The Dangers of Empathy: Toward More Responsible Design Research

This video is only accessible to Gold members. Log in or register for a free Gold Trial Account to watch.

Log in Register

Most conference talks are accessible to Gold members, while community videos are generally available to all logged-in members.

The Dangers of Empathy: Toward More Responsible Design Research

Gold
Monday, March 27, 2023 • Advancing Research 2023
Share the love for this talk
The Dangers of Empathy: Toward More Responsible Design Research
Speakers: Cassini Nazir and Meah Lin
Link:

Summary

Empathy is widely held as an important research mindset among designers. Many design research processes begin with the word. While empathy is broadly necessary to design practice, it is not without its problems. Most designers and researchers do not also know the dangers of empathy. Consider that: We confuse and conflate empathy, sympathy, and compassion. The differences are critically important. Empathic resonance in the brain is extremely biased. We find it hard to empathize with people unlike ourselves. Having too much empathy may also be problematic and can be weaponized by bad actors. We feel empathy only for humans and animals‚ not for objects, spaces, places, or our planet. This talk will explore the edges of empathy and show how and why two additional emotive capacities should be cultivated: curiosity and care. A short case study for a project involving four NASA space scientists will demonstrate that when these two capacities are added to empathy, they can lead to more generative research and richer insights.

Key Insights

  • •

    Empathy comprises multiple types: cognitive, emotional, empathic concern, and motor empathy, each affecting design differently.

  • •

    Empathy is asymptotic; we approach but never completely reach others’ experiences, risking misunderstanding.

  • •

    Empathy has a spotlight effect, favoring those most like us and narrowing rather than broadening perspective.

  • •

    Neurodivergence poses a 'double empathy problem' where neurotypical and neurodivergent individuals struggle to empathize in mutually understood ways.

  • •

    Empathy embedded in Western cultural norms can limit understanding of diverse global users.

  • •

    Relying prematurely on empathy can create an illusion of understanding and reduce inquiry, which harms design outcomes.

  • •

    Redesigning personas without demographic data, as Mia described using Greek gods archetypes, can mitigate stereotyping especially for stigmatized groups.

  • •

    Design approaches like Clinton Carlson’s 'undeliverables' encourage community co-design by intentionally leaving gaps for local input.

  • •

    Emotional avoidance and burnout are real risks from overextending empathy in design and research roles.

  • •

    Tools and templates, including personas, must be critically adapted rather than blindly followed to meet specific research contexts.

Notable Quotes

"I’m here to call b******* on empathy."

"We’re not feeling what others feel, we’re feeling what we think they’re feeling in our own way."

"Empathy is pointed on both ends—it affects you as much as the one you empathize with."

"Empathy narrows rather than widens; it spotlight focuses us and blinds us to others outside of it."

"The double empathy problem: neither neurotypicals nor neurodivergents see each other’s empathy as empathy."

"Having empathy can sometimes lead us to ask fewer questions because we think we already understand."

"Badly designed personas create stereotypes, not archetypes."

"Our work doesn’t always correspond to its actual use once it goes out into the world."

"Designing and researching wisdom is a dialogue, not a monologue."

"Research is like a compass, not a map—it provides direction but not all the details along the way."

Ask the Rosenbot
Kit Unger
Theme 2: Introduction
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Yolanda Rankin
Black Feminist Epistemology as a Critical Framework for Equitable Design
2021 • Advancing Research 2021
Gold
DesignOps and The Great Talent War of 2021
2021 • DesignOps Community
Bria Alexander
Opening Remarks Day 1
2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Gold
Tess Dixon
C'mon Get Happy
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold
JJ Kercher
A Roadmap for Maturing Design in the Enterprise
2018 • Enterprise Experience 2018
Gold
Shipra Kayan
How we Built a VoC (Voice of the Customer) Practice at Upwork from the Ground Up
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold
Bria Alexander
Welcome
2024 • Enterprise Experience 2020
Gold
Lily Aduana
5 Reasons to Bring Your Recruiting in-House (and How To Do It)
2021 • Advancing Research 2021
Gold
Jodi Forlizzi
Design and AI innovation
2024 • Designing with AI 2024
Gold
Cheryl Platz
Demystifying Multimodal Design: The Design Practice You Didn't Know You're Doing
2024 • Rosenfeld Community
John Maeda
About Design Organizations
2019 • DesignOps Community
Peter Merholz
Customer-Centered Design Organizations
2017 • Enterprise Experience 2017
Gold
Shahrzad Samadzadeh
What Is My Value? Two Takes and Some Mistakes
2024 • Enterprise Experience 2020
Gold
Victor M. Gonzalez
Practicing Learners and Learning Practitioners
2021 • Advancing Research 2021
Gold
Lena Shenkarenko
Collaborative Wireframing for Creating Team Alignment and Shipping Better Products
2020 • DesignOps Summit 2020
Gold

More Videos

Kate Stern

"Canonical means the one doc, process, or framework to rule them all."

Kate Stern

Scaling Learning for the Future

September 9, 2022

Rebecca Gimenez

"Brian Chesky does what Brian Chesky wants — he tweeted our blueprint, and we had nothing to do with that."

Rebecca Gimenez

Work in Progress: Service Design at Airbnb

December 3, 2024

Sam Proulx

"Mobile screens have forced designers to create simplified interfaces without reducing features."

Sam Proulx

Mobile Accessibility and You

June 9, 2022

Mike Brzozowski

"UXers are decision architects; we mediate billions of decisions every day, many with real climate impact."

Mike Brzozowski Laura Palotie Steve Isley Nancy Tsang

UX in everyday products: Empowering climate conscious choices

July 17, 2024

Maria Rosala

"Slowing down on messy data is worth it because you could miss something incredibly important that changes the trajectory of the product."

Maria Rosala

AI-Assisted Qualitative Analysis: What to Automate and What to Own

June 5, 2026

Yoel Sumitro

"We should open our profession to fresh graduates and those without traditional design research backgrounds."

Yoel Sumitro

Actions and Reflections: Bridging the Skills Gap among Researchers

March 9, 2022

Louis Rosenfeld

"We've worked with speakers for months to prepare our conference content, so it's expensive to produce, but really good."

Louis Rosenfeld

About the Rosenverse

March 15, 2026

Samuel Proulx

"If you think about the baby boomer generation, they are getting older, but their reliance on technology is not decreasing."

Samuel Proulx

Designing for Disability, Innovating for Everyone

March 11, 2025

Joseph Williams

"The interview exercises feel like free work for the employer, but UX research is a team sport."

Joseph Williams Nepani Birondo Matt Readman Allison Ngo

Unlocking impact and influence through inclusive hiring in research

December 16, 2021