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."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"We forget to care about ourselves and our teams when we're doing research or working with folks."
Carol Scott Melissa EgglestonAvoid Harming Your Team and Users: Promoting Care and Brand Reputation with Trauma-Informed UX Practices
February 5, 2025
"Future UX includes designing for user discovery in conversational and augmented interfaces, not just clicks."
Lija Hogan Milan Mijatovic Sam Proulx Louis RosenfeldThree Years Out: Perspectives on the Near-Term Future of User Research
March 15, 2024
"Every app built into my phone is perfect when it comes to accessibility – Apple and Android set a strong example."
Sam ProulxMobile Accessibility and You
June 9, 2022
"We evaluate the work and not the amount of hours."
Ana FerreiraDesigning Distributed: Leading Doist’s Fully Remote Design Team in Six Countries
January 8, 2024
"Keeping large content repositories organized is an ongoing challenge that often gets deprioritized."
Jorge ArangoScale Smart: AI-Powered Content Organization Strategies
September 24, 2024
"We’re an older company by tech standards—older than Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and even Google by one year."
Chris MosesStretching the Definition of DesignOps with Product Development
November 7, 2018
"It becomes the designer’s responsibility to figure out what aspects of the instructions to the LLM should be configurable and what should be fixed."
Trisha Causley[Demo] Complexity in disguise: Crafting experiences for generative AI features
June 5, 2024
"There’s a perception that generative AI is gonna change everything, but I think it’s gonna transform, not totally overhaul mine."
Clara Kliman-SilverUX Futures: The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Design
June 7, 2023
"An org chart is about formal reporting; a relationship map is about networking and collaboration across silos."
Michael PolivkaScaling Design through Relationship Maps
November 7, 2017
