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How does the Empathic Design research model work?

An empathic design research model is simplistic. It is based on finding the answers to the following questions: Who should be observed; who should observe; and what should the observer watch? A five step process is involved: observation of the user; data capture (most often by videography or photography); analysis of data; brainstorming for solutions; and development of solutions. The major problem associated with empathic design is that people tend to act differently when they are aware they are being observed. This is combated by observers remaining for as long a period of time as necessary for subjects to become comfortable with the idea of being watched and thus, to act naturally.

Empathetic design can access five types of information which traditional market research cannot. These are:

1. Triggers of use: what makes people use your products or service? Are they using it in the way that you expected?
2. Interactions with the user’s environment: how does the product fit into the user’s unique operating system?
3. User customization: does the user reinvent or redesign the product to better suit his/her own purpose?
4. Intangible attributes of the product: i.e. does the smell associated with cleaning products make them more attractive to the consumer?
5. Unarticulated user needs: the observation of consumers encountering a problem which they don’t realize can be fixed or may not even view as a problem.⁶