User Experience Design

CHAPTER 14USER EMPATHY PLAY: How do I develop enough understanding to truly empathize with my user?

Creating a user‐centric experience requires more than simply understanding your users’ domain and what tasks they need to perform—it requires deep empathy. Empathy helps you avoid making erroneous assumptions about your users and instead uncover new opportunities based on what they actually want and need. This play is foundational to all subsequent plays because it will help you develop that deep understanding of who your users are, what their needs are, and which problems to solve for them. These insights will guide the decisions you make about your design and your product strategy in a way that puts the user first.

Why Do You Need the User Empathy play?

This play will allow your business to:

• Develop deep empathy for your user;
• Design and deliver products people actually want and need;
• Create a culture of innovation built on user insights and uncovered design opportunities;
• Be more confident in your product strategy and development decisions.

Who Are the Key players in the User Empathy play?

ROLE	WHO’S INVOLVED	RESPONSIBILITIES
DRIVER	Experience strategist	Oversee research Identify the best empathy‐building method Collect data through research Synthesize data ...