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Empathising and connecting are different things
Empathising is a one way street. You need to try to truly connect.
In a lot of design literature, 'empathising with your target user' is the start of your design process. We do not necessarily disagree with that, but we do feel 'empathising' can sound a bit condescending. As if it is a one-way street in which the designer steps off his high horse, to open up to some poor wandering soul, allowing all his frustrations and pains to land in fertile ground, where they can grow into this perfect solution that just makes the world a better place. And yet, it appears that some of these poor souls don't like to be 'empathised' with. Some of them, stare at you baffled, when you talk about their 'journey'. Some of them can barely hide their laughter when you reach for your post-its to plot an emotion map. So what's that all about?
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When in Rome...
Perhaps this is more of a talent thing than a skill thing.
Well, we feel it is better to 'connect' before you start 'empathising'. Connecting goes both ways, it requires something from you, and from the other, while empathising requires only something from you - the awesome empathetic designer.
We once did a project in which we needed dock workers to accept a digital solution that they did not really wanted in the first place. Formally, there may have been some empathising in that project, but only after there was a firm connection established through table football, jokes about management, and perhaps some playful humiliations. Of course, this connection needs to be sincere. It's not a trick in the big designer's book of tricks, but a connection forged through genuine engagement and shared common grounds. It's about being human, really, and we feel the ability of a designer to find common grounds and connect easily, will determine his or her ability to truly 'empathise'.
So what happened to the hard hats? They got their app and were happy as a clam with it! Not only because it worked like a charm, but also because they liked and trusted the guys that made it for them.
