Knowledge Base Repository
In addition to research papers, the Design Society is developing several valuable resources for those interested in the study of design. These include a repository of PhD theses, a library of case studies and transcripts of design activities, and an archive of our newsletters. Please note that these resources are accessible exclusively to Design Society members.
THE IMPORTANCE OF EMPATHY IN IT PROJECTS: A CASE STUDY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GERMAN ELECTRONIC IDENTITY CARD
Köppen, Eva; Rauth, Ingo; Schnjakin, Maxim; Meinel, Christoph
Type:
Year:
2011
Editor:
Culley, S.J.; Hicks, B.J.; McAloone, T.C.; Howard, T.J. & Badke-Schaub, P.
Author:
Series:
ICED
Section:
Human Behaviour in Design
Page(s):
162-169
Abstract:
Although there is a great interest in user driven innovation, IT industry still shows a strong focus on technology driven innovation development. Understanding the perspective and social context of the user is also not part of a regular technical education. As a result, IT development has the tendency to concentrate on technical issues while missing the users’ actual needs. In our case study on the implementation of the electronic identity card (e-IC) in Germany, we explain how this overlook of the user causes serious project failures and product errors. We argue that the lack of user-centeredness is a direct result of the underestimated value of empathy and empathic knowledge within IT projects. Beyond that we regard empathy as the most important capability, which is being developed by design thinking. Design thinking is a user-centered and problem-solving approach. In this work we hypothesize, that the more active attention is paid to empathy throughout the project, the less likely are unfeasible products, increasing costs and avoidable time delays.
Keywords:
