Designer's Cognitive Empathy and Emotional Empathy Measurement, a Need for Comprehensive Understanding of User

Abstract

Empathy is the crux of User centric design. User will be satisfied only when designer is capable of understanding the user needs in-toto. To understand the user completely, designer must have at least average cognitive and emotional empathy. Deficit in any one of the empathy in designer, will make him to empathize the user in wrong way. Thus there is need to test the cognitive empathy and emotional empathy of the designer by using Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale. This test will help to identify the empathy of the designer. Low cognitive and emotional empathy level needs specific training. This paper is focused only on the need for testing cognitive and emotional empathy so that designer will be fortified and overcome his deficit, for comprehensively understanding of the user.