Empathy by Design
January 26, 2018
How might we assist employees to become more empathetic at work place?
Empathy by Design is an opensource toolkit designed by Studio 5B. This toolkit is the first of many steps you can take to practice empathy at work, and in your life. The tools herein help you become aware of your own experience, learn to reflect and transform your mind set to a more ‘empathetic’ state.
You will notice each card has a “See” and a “Be” side. Additionally, the website has a sectioned titled “Feel”, wherein one can share how a particular card impacted their work and/or how they interpreted and improvised it for their own situations. A detailed explanation of these titles are below:
See
Before we can practice empathy in our work, engagements and towards ourselves, we must pause to identify, understand and recognise when, where, how and why it is relevant to us. The opportunities to practice empathy need to be identified by being aware of one’s experience and recognising that something is amiss.
Be
Empathy is expressed in our conversations, body language and actions. It resides in our perceptions, approach, takeaways and framing of experiences. How one is ‘being’ in a situation can be altered by identifying actions and behaviours that step from a commitment to ‘forward’ the situation.
Feel
Empathy is less like a skill to be learned, and more like a muscle to be exercised. The effect and value of it in our work and for ourselves can be hidden if not highlighted and addressed. Being cognizant of the value that empathy brings helps in furthering its impact into our lives.
The toolkit has used resources from: Luma Institute, DIY toolkit by Nesta, IDEO method cards, Google’s Sprint Design, Artefact tools & Mind Tools
The studio also created physical toolkits that were given as part of an annual internal conference at Dr. Reddys Laboratories.
December 2017
Credits: Arunima Singh, Shivani Gupta, Shruti Niwas
Cover image: Vincent Tsui for HBR
