Empathy
The ability to see the world through other people’s eyes; to step into the shoes of other people and comprehend what they see, feel, and experience. Involves putting aside personal preconceived ideas and choosing to understand the ideas, thoughts, and needs of others instead.
Empathy involves understanding different perspectives from different target audiences (users). Users may differ through:
- the roles they play (profiles);
- different age groups with needs; and
- different interests.
# Why is empathy important to me?
In a world where people are unfortunately forced to be self-centred in some capacity, it’s important to remember to look out for the people around us. Empathy allows us to connect with one another in a non-superficial and extensive way; instead of just noting the presence of someone, we can share about how they feel, experience, and comprehend life in ways that may be different than us. We get to understand what it’s like to be human from another human.
I think empathy requires a little bit of selfllessness in the sense that we need to actively attempt to step out of our lives — the priviliges we have, the ideas that we’ve had been raised with, and assumptions we have — before we can fully understand someone. There’s something poetic to me about genuinely empathising with someone because you care for them.