Empathy is an essential component of design thinking because to accomplish the goal of helping others and solving problems, one must ask the following questions. First, why is the project being built in the first place? What ideas or means is this process constructed to support or better the individuals who will use the product. Another question to answer is how is this idea better than previous ideas. Empathy does not end after the inquiry is responded to but continues to be the main idea for the entire process of design thinking.
The Empathy Map gives a perspective of a project pertaining to teachers and technology. method of design thinking about empathy must ask the following questions as part of understanding the client. First, are the people who are the end-users honestly being heard about the implications of design? Another expression would be, does everyone involved have a seat at the table? Are the thoughts and opinions of these individuals really being heard by the design thinking decision-makers?
Next, are the decision-makers really interested in the product’s overall impact and its value on others? Finally, a great design thinking process is the key to bringing everyone involved face to face with the concerns or complications of a project. The design think process for this project includes teachers and parents working together with the student to address academic and behavioral issues at school.
The student would clearly benefit from having all parties involved to do their part in bringing changes to the social-emotional well-being of the student. The use of empathy is the key to working across all opinions to focus on the student impacted by the problem.
Brian Barrett 