Empathy:
2 : the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner; also : the capacity for this.  Link >>

Empathy.

When’s the last time you heard someone use that word?  I think the only time I hear it anymore is when someone is trying to politely refuse you something: “We at megabigcorporation certainly empathize with the issues leading to your request, but unfortunately cannot carry it out for the following non-customer centric reasons...”

The question, issue, problem of a site that lacks empathy for it’s visitors is striking me again today, after seeing a local start-up church make alot of effort to become “known” in the area by sponsoring a large event with rides, games, giveaways, etc.  Included in the promo piece for this event was the URL of their site.  Their domain redirects to a hosted blog service, which is a great way for a start-up church to get on the web - quick, inexpensive, easy to update, etc. 

So far, so good.

Visiting the site, however, was a huge let-down.  The newest post is 6 weeks old.  There is nothing about the big event they put on - neither in promoting it or in following up with anyone who might have attended.  There is no basic description of the church, or why it’s starting up.  I get the pastor’s name, but no background information on him. I’m invited to call the pastor to setup a time to hear more about “the vision” of the church.

The site fails to empathize with me - it answers few questions I’d have if I were considering attending.  This area (West Michigan) is rich with churches - which can be a newcomers nightmare in sorting out.  Even if you limit your options to a geographic location and general denomination, it might still take you a year to visit all the candidates.

This is a perpetual puzzle to me - where is the empathy in web design and content creation / management?

In the web development world the closest we get is the phrase “user centered”:

User Centered Design:
UCD is a highly structured, comprehensive product development methodology driven by: (1) clearly specified, task-oriented business objectives, and (2) recognition of user needs, limitations and preferences. Information collected using UCD analysis is scientifically applied in the design, testing, and implementation of products and services. When rigorously applied, a UCD approach meets both user needs and the business objectives of the sponsoring organization. Link >>

But that definition feels scientifically cold to me, and I think it falls short of the real issue - the need for site designers and managers to have empathy for other people - especially their users.  Jeffrey Zeldman wonders where the content and usability are and Keith Robinson agrees that designers don’t seem to care much about content.  I think what they’re actually seeing is a lack of empathy.

So here’s my thought.  Maybe instead of talking about a user centered design process, I’ll talk about it as a “empathetic design process”, defined this way:

Empathetic Design:
Empathetic Design understands, is aware of, is sensitive to, and vicariously experiences the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner.

The big questions this raises, of course, is can empathy be taught?.  I’m not sure I know the answer to that one.

Any ideas?