Turning insight into impact

Empathetic design is the philosophy and practice of crafting products that respect the human experience. Going beyond the “tick in the box” approach that often plagues busy project teams and off-the-shelf copycat products, empathetic design draws from insights into the broader context in which people may operate, seeking to engage users with the promise of a genuinely positive outcome.

The digital space has reached a saturation point of ultra-processed content and media. As AI slop, SEO fodder, user-hostile conversion funnels, and the continued enshittification of consumer platforms continue to proliferate, we’ll increasingly realise the value of unique, insightful connections that foster meaningful and memorable results.

Lived experience is not universal, nor is caring about it a virtue signal. Empathy in design is about remembering there are real people on the other side of those analytics reports. It’s about respecting the users you create for.

Layers of Experience

At Humaan, we build our understanding of experience in layers.

Layer 1: Utility

Design at its most pure: giving the user what they want. On paper, this looks like the same old functional specs and workflow diagrams you’d find anywhere. But in practice, we craft nuanced and functional user journeys around challenges unique to the world in which our audience operates.

Layer 2: Usability

The Usability layer focuses on making our desired functionality intuitive and straightforward for the user – this is what most people think of when they hear the word “design”. Within our methodology, this encompasses a multidisciplinary blend of aesthetics, accessibility, interface engineering, interaction design, user psychology, and a deep understanding of digital technologies, all focused on providing the best experience across the widest range of user devices.

Layer 3: Engagement

Engagement is bespoke and considerate, and built on purposeful design thinking. Delivering something sticky, memorable or shareworthy comes first from understanding who you’re engaging with, knowing what their needs, expectations and limitations are, and then translating this to a product that achieves the desired goal.

Empathy takes many forms

In planning, empathy takes shape in the discovery of and immersion in audience perspective. Planning activities include experience and journey mapping, user validation, interviews, and persona development. Here, the how matters just as much (if not more than) the what, since it’s possible to perform planning tasks without empathy or perspective-taking.

In design, an empathetic approach comes out in the quality of the aesthetics (eg. brand context, symbolism), accessibility considerations (eg. cognitive, sensory, physical), and contextual parameters (eg. device variability, access environment). As a baseline, good design pays attention to all of these factors, combining them holistically to create a more robust product.

In development, insights into how users engage with various technologies allows us to build with purpose. Starting from strong fundamentals about both user needs and technical capabilities, we can adapt our approach to new complexities and concerns as they arise.

In writing, we remain thoughtful about how a user receives our content. Effective communication is highly dependent on context, requiring a good narrative flow and a sensible awareness of what users are thinking and feeling at any given stage of their journey.

The value proposition is real

Empathy-based work builds resilient, forward-thinking products. Through relatability and genuine human connection, it promotes stronger engagement and leads to better outcomes. The work might take longer or cost more, but both the value proposition and subsequent results are hard to argue with.

The biggest trap most project teams fall into is guessing or assuming things about the people they create for. Building something that truly meets your users where they are, and working with them towards a meaningful and satisfying end, isn’t a box to tick. There are no shortcuts. Empathetic design is a practice that must always be applied deliberately, and with care.