Rosenverse

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
Peter Merholz
Customer-Centered Design Organizations
2017 • Enterprise Experience 2017
Gold
Weidan Li
Qualitative synthesis with ChatGPT: Better or worse than human intelligence?
2024 • Designing with AI 2024
Gold
Edward Cupps
The Principal Path: Journeying from Management to Individual Contributor
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Shanti Mathew
Civic Design at Scale: Introducing the Public Policy Layer Cake
2021 • Civic Design 2021
Gold
Taylor Jennings
Research Debate Club
2026 • Advancing Research 2026
Conference
Mike Oren
Design Research Strategy & Strategic Design Research
2022 • Advancing Research Community
Rich Mironov
How Can Product Managers and UXers Help Each Other (and Why are Product Folks so Annoying Sometimes)?
2022 • Design in Product 2022
Gold
Lena Shenkarenko
Collaborative Wireframing for Creating Team Alignment and Shipping Better Products
2020 • DesignOps Summit 2020
Gold
Louis Rosenfeld
Discussion: What Operations can teach DesignOps
2017 • DesignOps Summit 2017
Gold
Changying (Z) Zheng
Navigating Innovation with Integrity
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2024
Gold
Gillian Salerno-Rebic
Redefining Speed and Scale: How Accenture’s GrowthOS Uses AI-Simulated Insights to Reduce Risk and Accelerate Innovation
2025 • Designing with AI 2025
Gold
William Newton
How to Lead With Data, and Without Data
2023 • Enterprise UX 2023
Gold
Bob Baxley
Theme 4: Intro
2024 • Enterprise Experience 2020
Gold
Dr Chloe Sharp
Using Evidence and Collaboration for Setting and Defending Priorities
2023 • Design in Product 2023
Gold
Charlotte Vorbeck
Pipeline to Civic Design
2021 • Civic Design 2021
Gold
John Calhoun
Two Sides of the DesignOps Coin: Teams Ops and Product Ops
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2020
Gold

More Videos

Chelsey Glasson

"Leaving tech meant rebuilding my social and professional networks outside the industry, which took time and courage."

Chelsey Glasson

Exit Interview #3: Same as It Ever Was: What Leaving Tech Taught Me About Change

December 17, 2025

Laura Klein

"Nobody is going to be satisfied by insight-shaped answers or high-level summaries masquerading as breakthroughs."

Laura Klein

Human vs. machine: Testing AI’s ability to synthesize and analyze research

March 11, 2026

Dr. Jamika D. Burge

"All commercially available facial recognition software perform worse on darker females."

Dr. Jamika D. Burge

Broad Strokes: Connecting Design, Research, and AI to the World Around Us

June 7, 2023

Iram Shah

"Customers aren’t buying a quarter-inch drill, they’re buying a quarter-inch hole."

Iram Shah

Closing Keynote: The View from the Top

June 4, 2019

Alicia D. Johnson

"Emergency management is political—not partisan, but political—and that reality has transformed how we work in this field."

Alicia D. Johnson

Disasters and the 21st Century

December 10, 2021

Lija Hogan

"Regulations are design problems, not just technical ones, influencing how we create products and experiences."

Lija Hogan Milan Mijatovic Sam Proulx Louis Rosenfeld

Three Years Out: Perspectives on the Near-Term Future of User Research

March 15, 2024

Sofía Delsordo

"Imagine a world where the government prototypes and iterates the whole time."

Sofía Delsordo Kassim Vera

Public Policy for Jalisco's Designers to Make Design Matter

December 8, 2021

Ron Bronson

"If you do enough research, you might find 20% of your users are edge cases, so maybe you’re not building for the right people."

Ron Bronson

Design, Consequences & Everyday Life

November 18, 2022

Richard Buchanan

"Henry Ford had an intuition when he doubled workers’ wages because he realized they would buy cars and fuel the economy."

Richard Buchanan

Creativity and Principles in the Flourishing Enterprise

June 15, 2018