Jonny Huck

Designing interactive systems to encourage empathy between users

An oft-cited criticism of our increasingly online world is that text based communications still dominate, offering limited opportunity for the development of empathy between users and possibly encouraging more critical and confrontational interactions. Whilst there are a wide range of design methods that enable designers to develop empathy for the potential users of their products or services, there are none aimed at helping designers to create systems that actively encourage the development of empathy between those users. In this research we discuss why we believe there is a need to design systems that facilitate empathy and how designers may approach such a challenge, using the example of a digital prayer candle system developed with a church community.

Supporting Empathy Through Embodiment in the Design of Interactive Systems

Whilst empathy is considered an essential component of what it means to be human, it is frequently absent as a design objective when creating modern communication systems. This paper presents an approach to designing for, as opposed to with, empathy using the example of two design interventions to create embodied rituals reflecting prayers and worries of individuals within a church community. The aim of these interventions is to facilitate conversation and support within the community, thus generating empathy between community members, and inciting prosocial behaviour through embodied cognition.

Visualising the flow of a local economy to encourage inter-community trading: adding bits to BARTER

In this research we present a visualisation to represent the flow of money between traders in the local economy. The aim is to use a rhetorical approach to persuasion such that it promotes inter-community local trading in such a way that it highlights community benefit over personal gain.

Designing for empathy in a church community

Whilst empathy is considered an essential component of what makes us human, it is arguably absent as a specific design element when creating modern communications. As such, this paper presents an approach to designing for empathy. We consider how design interventions related to a personal ritual within a church community may be extended and augmented in order to allow the concerns of individuals to be shared more widely between community members. It is intended that these interventions will promote conversation and support within the community, thus generating empathy.