Empathy: Its Proximate and Ultimate Bases in Advancing Technology

Empathy is ubiquitous in the design process of advancing technology, which is aimed for the benefit of humanity. Proximately, empathy of engineers arises after perceiving and then understanding the context of their users. Empathy is necessary during prototyping, the user feedback generating process, as empathy affects communication quality between the two parties. On the ultimate base, the usability of empathic design shapes the better user experience. Many studies have indicated the importance of empathy, especially and mostly in the beginning of designing a product for divergent thinking. In our study, we argue that empathy should be practiced in every step of the creative design thinking process, the Double Diamond Model, for different purposes. As a result, we propose the Guideline L.O.V.E. for empathy for engineers to follow up while they are engaging in the design thinking process. Four letters, L.O.V.E., respectively stand for listening, observing, valuing and engaging. In every phase of the Double Diamond Model, the four keys can be examined and there is no conflict. We believe that only when engineers increase and practice empathy do their products empathically benefit their users.