how to...
EMPATHY TASK
carry out an
?
What is the aim?
The aim of an empathy task is to understand the users needs in a greater detail through exploration and taking on a persona by physically performing a set task.
This type of design focus is called 'User-centered Design' and is about putting the user at the heart of the design process, focusing on their actual needs vs perceived needs. This requires the designer to fully engage with a variety of users throughout the process getting constant feedback through observation, testing and questioning.​
​
Below is a video by IDEO.org explaining why this is such an important and valuable aspect of the design process.
How can you do this?
This completely depends on who your user/target market is and what task you are designing for but we have given some examples below which might help you think about how you could do it for your specific needs.
​
Example 1: A pregnant lady who is looking to make her journey on a tube more enjoyable.
You could put a rucksack on backwards, fill in with heavy items and padding and take a trip on the tube to see how you find the process. While you do it consider other aspects about being pregnant you may not be able to replicate but have found out during your research, eg easily tired, feeling nauseous, sore joints etc.
​
Example 2: An elderly person with limited dexterity wanting to sew
You could tape your fingers up with strips of cardboard to limit movement and then carry out the type of sewing task your user wants to perform. Whilst you do it consider other aspects about struggling with limited dexterity that you may not be able to replicate but have found out during your research, eg severe pain, swelling, numbness etc
​
Example 3: A student with limited vision going to live on their own for the first time and wanting to be independent in the kitchen.
Prepare some glasses with the vision distortion your user struggles with. Whether that is blurred (add a layer of baking/tracing paper), reduced central vision (blackout the central part of the glasses), reduced peripheral vision (blackout the outer edges of the glasses) etc. Then you would carry out a variety of the main kitchen tasks with the glasses on and discover what you can find out.
​
Below is a video by Ford showing how the designers wanted to consider the needs of pregnant women more when designing their car and so they took on their own empathy task to better understand those needs.
How can you record this?
As always you will want good quality evidence that you have carried out this task so just saying you have done it is not enough. Ideally, you will record a video of yourself doing it and whilst you do this you say what you are discovering so that when you re-watch it, this reminds you what you were thinking at the time. If you don't want to that then take photos and write notes.
You will have discovered some new insight into the problem and hopefully begun to understand your user more. But what to do with this? Combine this insight with your interview and think about what more you know and what specific area you could focus on to move forward. It might be that you have discovered a new problem you want to solve or just add an extra element for consideration when designing that you will want to add to your design criteria.