The Empathic Design Process
How customers feel about a particular product can have a direct impact on marketing, sales, and even development of new products. The empathic design process is a user centred approach that places the reactions and needs of the customer at the focal point of new product development.
It is important to note that the empathic design approach is often confused with and referred to as the empathetic design approach. While the two words are actually interchangeable and have essentially the same meaning, empathic design is the proper term in business environments.
Aspects of Empathic Design
In order to utilise empathic design in product development, observation is one of the most important aspects involved. The ultimate goal is to determine what the basic needs of customers happen to be so that the company can address them in an appropriate manner during product development.
Often, empathic design is used to develop and create products that customers actually want or need even if they don’t know they want or need them. Sometimes these wants or needs are solutions to problems that the customer can’t even envision due to their lack of familiarity with technology or other resources that are available to address them. Often, though, these shortcomings are the result of a particular mind set.
This is most common with the evolution of technology. As people age, they become accustomed to certain levels of technology. For example, individuals who grew up in the 1980s will have been exposed to the early advent of CD players and personal computers, though many of them wouldn’t have had much experience with either. For prior generations, experience with computers was much less common.
Fast forward to the Internet age and the first decade of the new millennium and those same individuals spend more time and effort trying to catch up and understand the computer technologies while teens and twenty-somethings have grown up with these technologies. The older generations, therefore, may not even be aware of solutions to problems they face with regard to technology.
The Empathic Design Process
The process of gathering data to assist in empathic design is to
- Observe
- Gather data
- Reflect and analyse
- Brainstorm for solutions
- Develop prototypes to address these possible solutions.
Different companies will set out to observe and gather data in many different ways. Purchasing habits based on specific demographics may be one way to observe. Surveys, questionnaires, and interviews are other alternatives to gather data. Using more than one method of collecting data is generally considered most effective.
Once the company has gathered data, it can determine what the basic needs are that could be fulfilled. Then it’s about determining the possible solutions that can fill these needs and requirements. Lastly, developing prototypes to test the market and determine if they actually address the problems and solve them.
Empathic design, as the user centred approach, is one of the most effective methods for developing new products that will boost customer satisfaction. It encompasses a significant process, the most important of which is understanding the personal traits, characteristics, and underlying concerns or needs of the customer.
By utilizing the empathic design element, companies can tap into a wealth of potential information and future revenue.