When it comes to design, there are so many things to consider. There are various actors across teams that will have an important role to play in your new project/initiative. There is always the possibility that we will lose sight of what is most important - that is the end user.

The human that will either adopt our new product seamlessly, or have a negative experience and move on to a competitor's product instead.

The job of UX professionals is to design for the user. That is, to design products that will help solve real user problems, and cater to their needs. When we think about user experience, and ultimately, user satisfaction, an empathic approach to design is often thrown into the arena. The idea of user empathy has become increasingly important in design, that it is often one of the first goals UX teams aim to achieve at the early stages of their project. 

Under the umbrella of the Double Diamond framework, this early stage sits in the Discovery Phase of design. It is here that we truly see the development of empathy. Or at the very least, we see empathy building as a goal UX teams aim to achieve. Effective user research plays a critical role in achieving this goal, and with the adoption of novel UX Research Platforms, we can accomplish shared empathy for our customers/users. First, what is empathy?

What is empathy in a UX Research and Design context?

In the context of UX, design, and design thinking, there are many ways to describe empathy. Two quotes come to mind that highlight empathy and its importance to UX and design.

Source: Sympathy vs. Empathy in UX (nngroup.com)

Source: uxplanet.org

Now that we have a shared understanding of what empathy is in the context of UX research and design, how then can a UX research platform help us achieve this critical component of our project? We must first understand exactly what a UX research platform is.

UX Research Platforms

UX research platforms like Indeemo play a critical role in developing this empathetic understanding. By providing tools for qualitative insights into user experiences and behaviours, these platforms enable UX professionals to design solutions that genuinely cater to user needs. Whether it's capturing user journey maps, developing personas, or building empathy across teams, UX research platforms offer a comprehensive suite of tools for deep user understanding.

Indeemo works as a central repository of qualitative data that is commonly used for the following purposes:

1. Capturing User Journey

2. Uncovering UX unknowns

3. Understanding a day in the life of users

4. Developing User Personas

5. Building Qualitative Insights for guiding design

6. Developing Empathy across Teams

Developing empathy is one of the most required needs for UX teams when adopting and implementing a tool such as a UX Research platform. Because of its importance in the effective guidance of design, the requirement of empathy has inspired us to outline three of the main ways such a tool can help teams develop an empathetic understanding of users.

Using Video and Screen Recording to research User Behaviours

There is no doubt that with the onset of Covid-19 in 2020 we have seen a substantial increase in the development of and deployment of remote qualitative research. Nearly four years on since the way we conduct user research was flipped upside down, we continue to see remote research being the most optimal way of gathering user insights. This is particularly evident in how observational and user behaviour research is conducted.

At the user discovery phase of a project, observation and exploration is often applied to help uncover unknowns about research participants. When we onboard a UX research platform for user discovery, we can design an objective that can be operationalised through observational principles of. The key to developing empathy is simple. By blending traditional observational methods with modern technology, UX researchers can now gain a more nuanced understanding of user behaviours and needs. 

Most importantly, leveraging multimedia data such as photographs, text (user diary entries), video, and mobile screen recordings, we significantly enhance the observational value of user behaviour. When we acquire a unique perspective about the user experience and the behaviours through various media components, we are afforded the opportunity to develop empathy. How? When we empower our research participants with the use of a UX research platform, we are given the opportunity to see and hear how they live their lives. Essentially, we get to walk in their shoes as they bring us with them on their journey. This increases our understanding of their problems, behaviours, and values. It is a key starting point to bridge the gap between designers and users - another component that is essential for developing empathy.

Closing the Empathy Gap with deeper insights from UX Research Tools

Observation and continually discovering is directly linked to bridging the gap between designers and users. In fact, all three ways a UX research platform can help your team develop empathy intersect. Each one either benefits, or is the beneficiary of the other. This will become more apparent in the next section.

So, how can a UX research platform help us develop empathy by bridging the gap between designers and users? Instant connectivity between researchers and research participants is essential for the effectiveness of remote qualitative research. With the use of the platform we are able to build a comprehensive understanding of our users by observing their daily habits, behaviours, and experiences. Even more importantly, this instant connectivity allows us to dig further into unknowns that begin to emerge from our research participants in real time.

We get a central repository of insights as video and mobile screen recording data are uploaded by research participants. This encourages us as researchers, designers, and decision makers to develop not only a shared understanding of the user, but to bring the voice of the user front and centre. An instant dashboard view of visual insights can bridge the gap between designers and users simply because our designers can now begin to see real world experiences and behaviours as they occur, in the moment.

Harnessing the power of Video and Mobile Screen Recording

Video: A Window into User Experiences

Video is a potent medium for capturing and documenting user behaviors and experiences. With the advent of video capabilities in UX research platforms, a transformation in research methodology has occurred. Participants can record their experiences in real-time, offering a visual and auditory narrative of their interactions with various interfaces and design elements.

This immersive approach empowers researchers to truly walk in the users' shoes, as they share their journeys through multimedia. Video enhances understanding by providing a unique perspective on user experiences, behaviors, and values. It is a pivotal element in bridging the gap between designers and users.

Mobile Screen Recording: Unveiling User Interaction

Mobile screen recording is another invaluable feature of modern UX research platforms. It allows participants to capture their interactions with digital interfaces, shedding light on their decision-making processes, usage patterns, and usability challenges. Mobile screen recordings provide a window into the users' world, offering insights into how they navigate digital landscapes.

Developing Empathy Across Teams

With video and mobile screen recording, the path to empathy becomes more accessible. Researchers can observe users' real-world experiences in the moment and gain immediate insights. This shared understanding bridges the gap between designers and users, fostering an environment where the user's voice takes center stage.

Discovery UX Research tools help identify Problem Spaces & User Needs

There is always the risk that we design and build a product or features of a product that do not cater to our user. Essentially, designing something that does not meet the needs of our users, and does not reflect requirements that come from our customers. When we design our user research well, with the goal of understanding our users and aim to develop a strong sense of empathy for them, we can then utilise the platform to achieve these goals.

First, leveraging well-established qualitative methodologies, such as ethnographic research and observational techniques gives us the opportunity to gather a range of contextual insights into the user experience. Second, integrating such methods into the technology will allow us to follow our research participants in the moment, i.e. in real time.

Lastly, when we optimise the use of multimedia, particularly video ( which can be used for diary studies or ethnographic observations), we can then truly uncover one or many pain points that our participants experience during the user research and user discovery phase of our project. This is essential, and this is where empathy development is at its strongest. Why? Simply because we can instruct participants to show, describe, and demonstrate areas in their daily lives that result in negative experiences. When we identify the real problems that occur in their lives, through the morphing of strong methodologies and innovative technology, we are afforded the opportunity to guide the remainder of our project with the correct solution in mind.

Let us help you build user empathy

We’ve supported thousands of research projects covering everything from mapping user journeys to digital ethnography to employee experience research.

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