Your empathy map lacks empathy

I just had the good fortune to participate in a workshop. The workshop was geared towards coming up with ideas to help disabled people with technology. So far, so good. The well-intentioned creators of the workshop started it with some introductory material and the first exercise was an Empathy Map.

I’ve used Empathy Maps quite a bit in my career. They are extremely useful to get inside the heads of the people you’re trying to design for and literally a tool to gain empathy. The “map” is really a diagram where participants in the exercise can try and describe several aspects of the person.

Above is an example and asks several questions in order to gain this empathy. Who are we trying to empathize with? What do they need to do? What do they see? What do they say? What do they do? What do they hear? What do they think and feel (including pains and gains.) The Nielson Norman Group has a great article on its use and utility.

The problem however is that the basic map as above is not at all designed for people with disabilities. People with one or more disabilities may not be able to hear or see or speak. Those with cognitive disabilities may have differences of thought. Those with physical disabilities may not be able to do in the same way others can.

So several of the questions presented in the map above don’t work for people with disabilities:

Insert empathy into your empathy maps.

“What do they see? — is an insensitive question to ask of a person who is blind or has low vision. Rather the question might be, “What do they perceive?” or a focus on what they hear.

“What do they say?” — won’t work as a question for people who are mute. One might better ask, “How and what do they communicate outwardly?

“What do they do?” — is a question to be treated with sensitivity as a person with physical disabilities doesn’t do things the same way but the sentiment and wording of the question are not unreasonable. In our breakout group in the workshop we discussed a 10yr old boy who, because of cerebral palsy, has trouble putting his pants on and must rely on his mother. This makes him feel frustrated and “babyish.” A banal activity to us, is a trial for him.

“What do they hear?” — isn’t a question you can ask a deaf person. Rather, the question might be posed as “How do they receive information?”

“What do they think?” — is also a question to be asked with sensitivity. The question itself is ok to ask, but those participating should be aware that neurodiversity is so broad and deep that the question has numerous potential pitfalls.

Over on Twitter, Cheryl Platz (@funnygodmother) points out that pain, as we use it in the context of digital product development, is an abstract. I would say, an irritation — as in, “it is irritating when a page doesn’t load quickly.” People with disabilities feel real pain. Physical pain and emotional pain. This pain can be a constant for them and could hinder their lives substantially. Rather, we can ask, “What obstacles do you overcome?” as it relates to both the specific problem we are trying to solve and the person’s disability.

The very good lesson I learned from the presentation in this workshop is:

Have enough empathy for your audience to create variations of your frameworks whose language is inclusive. Put some empathy in your empathy maps.