Why Empathy is important in designing?

One of the most important aspects of any design is the empathetic understanding and connection of the user to a problem. If a designer is 'selfish' and designs a product keeping it alone in his mind and not the user, it will eventually fail because it does not provide a solution to a genuine and present problem.

Design thinking comprises five core phases: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. In design thinking first step is empathy. Designers and Researchers ability is to see the world/problem through others perspectives, feel what they feel, and experience things as they do. We do this by putting aside our own beliefs and ideas, adopting humility, and choosing to understand others' ideas, thoughts, and needs instead.

Empathy Mapping

A designer must figure out what end-users want and need.

We have to better understand what user empathy is and why it is so critical to a design product's overall success. There is no really a step-by-step process to master this design thinking. There are several different approaches that designers/researchers can take to better understand the person they are designed for.

There are many different ways can do this process. One way to develop empathy is by using an empathy map, build empathy with analogies, engage with users, Customer Journeys, or a visual representation of what users think, feel, say, and do.

How to be an Empathic

1. Abandon ego

2. Embrace Humility

3. Be a Great Listener

4. Set Your Observation Skills

5. Care

6. Be Curious

7. Be Sincere

Design is a very creative business, and therefore, it opens the floor to many different ideas and acumen on what the final design should look like. From a designer who possesses a wealth of experience to a buyer who perhaps has limited to no knowledge in this field, there is lots of possibility for miscommunication and misinterpretation in design projects.

That is why empathy is one of the most critical – if not the most important – elements of the design process. It allows for open discussion, right, constructive feedback, and inclusivity, all of which are essential to a product's success and keep a robust designer-customer relationship that lasts.

Take Away

Empathy is essential in design thinking because UX designers and UX researchers give designers fresh eyes to view a problem and find out the solution. It allows a designer to really understand the user's requirements without our own hangups affecting our judgment. It will enable designers to design solutions that are more viable, likely, and usable that eventually become a success because they solve a real problem.