In the article about building a framework for empathy in design (Kouprie & Visser, 2009), there is a significant focus on becoming the user, and truly immersing yourself as a designer and experiencing life as they (the user) know it. The concept of empathy within the design process is taken one step further and not simply imagining what it could be like to be the learner but to also “be” the learner and relate to their needs on a personal level. The framework identified in the article related to discovery, immersion, connection, and detachment brings clarity to the approach I am hoping to take when engaging in the empathy phase of my design thinking process. I feel that immersion and detachment will be the most important aspects for me to accurately depict the needs and then reflect on the day to day lives of our store managers (who I am designing for). The empathetic technique I am planning to use is observational, where I can participate as a spectator in the context of their management training sessions (more details to follow in Activity 3 blog post on methods). I am hoping to experience both affective and cognitive empathy as being both a recipient of the learning content as well as observing the managers during the session. I am confident that this can give me the opportunity to gather various types of personal, emotional, and raw information about my users.
Potential Barriers – Incorporating Empathy Design
In “Empathy in Distance Learning Design Practice” article by Matthews, Williams, Yanchar, & McDonald (2017), the authors outline a key tension in design that I think really resonates with my situation. Through my experience in the MALAT program to date, I feel as though my awareness and understanding of learner-centric design has greatly improved. However, when working in a fast-paced environment, where deadlines and requests run rampant, it can be challenging to execute proper learner-centric research. With varying stakeholders at play for many different projects on the go, the intention is not always to create a world-class learning resource, but more to showcase a visually appealing product to demonstrate to executives how great our course content and production can be (or look).
Much like the barriers discussed in our Change Management course (LRNT 525), I feel like the challenges to consider when taking an empathetic design approach might create different barriers in the corporate world than say, higher education, where the entire focus of the organization is to learn. Before I even begin the design process, I can anticipate practical constraints like time, deadlines, and struggling to overcome “good enough” complacency (Matthews et al., 2017). I also expect to face varying opinions when it comes to sharing the importance of empathy in design. Typically the environment I am used to is very structured, operational, and efficiency focused, where deadlines and end results are at the forefront of every design meeting. Throwing around terms like feelings, emotions, dreams, and goals are not something that some stakeholders are open or willing to discuss. Although I do admit that I am drawing conclusions based on previous experiences, I am looking forward to addressing the concepts with research to back me up. Here’s to hoping that perspectives can be shifted and change can occur 🙂
Kouprie, M., & Visser, F. S. (2009). A framework for empathy in design: Stepping into and out of the user’s life. Journal of Engineering Design, 20(5), 437-448.
Matthews, M., Williams, G., Yanchar, S., & McDonald, J. (2017). Empathy in distance learning design practice. Tech Trends, 61(5), 486-493.
Hi Katie,
I am an individual who shares your corporate context (as opposed to educational), so I commonly encounter similar restraints and the “good enough” attitude which you mentioned.
A common technique I use to sell changes related to digital learning to my superiors is to create a positive image of the future. You could tell a happy story: “Imagine a world where workers can complete their training on their smartphone at their own convenience. There would be no need for travel, and no need to find a space, book a time, and facilitate and coordinate training sessions. How much time and money could the organization save? How awesome would that be?”
If your project isn’t given much for time and financial resources, you could cheaply and easily just scan the module booklet into a .pdf, email it to trainees, and then include a link to an unlisted streaming video of the in-person presentation to go along with it. Voila, digital learning!
Quick and cheap isn’t as satisfying, but it gets the job done when the goal is more about meeting regulations and being efficient instead of learning for the sake of learning.
May you be blessed with abundant support in your mission to empathetically create beautiful, engaging, research-based digital learning!
Hi Angie,
I couldn’t agree more with the simple and easy strategy of combining pdf and video assets. I do that quite frequently and find that if the instruction and learning guide is clearly written out then it can be just as effective, if not more so than a complex training course or program. Sometimes it can feel basic and less attractive but it does get the job done! Especially when financial and time constraints come in to play.
I love the note about presenting the future with a positive spin and telling a story to create buy-in. I’ll be sure to try that one out 😉