Eyes Wide on Empathy
As a graduate student navigating the messy, rewarding world of empathy research, I’ve learned that understanding people means more than collecting data, it requires truly stepping into their experiences, their frustrations, and their unspoken hopes. Here are four methods that help us do just that: Ask What–How–Why, Photo & Video Journals, Empathy Mapping, and Laddering Interviews. Each one offers a distinct lens for uncovering empathy in practical, grounded ways.
1. Ask What–How–Why
This deceptively simple trio of questions—What? How? Why?—guides researchers from concrete observations toward deeper motivations. “What” anchors us in facts: what happened, what actions occurred. “How” invites us to consider manner and context, how was the action carried out, were emotions visible in facial expression or effort. “Why” prompts us to hypothesize motivations and emotional drivers, opening avenues for follow-up validation.
Use-case example: You're observing someone attempting to navigate an unfamiliar website. You note what buttons they click, how hesitantly they proceed, and why they may feel confused. These are things like unclear labels or unfamiliar iconography. Researchers can then circle back and test these hypotheses with targeted follow-up questions.
The “What–How–Why” framework, grounds us in what we can actually observe while nudging us to think about the motivations behind those actions. Watching someone repeatedly navigate a website the long way around might initially look like indecision, but when we ask why, we begin to uncover whether it’s confusion, distrust, or simply habit. This gradual questioning helps us move beyond surface-level assumptions and toward a more nuanced understanding of intent.
2. Photo & Video Journals
Olivia Arthur Diana bathing in her Islamic swimsuit at Durrat Al Arous. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 2009. *Reproduced from a 6x4 machine print © Olivia Arthur | Magnum Photos
Empathy isn’t always verbal, it’s stubborn, visual, emotional. Photo and video studies involve asking users to document their experiences, either naturally or within structured sessions. This multimedia approach helps unearth subtle cues, gestures, surroundings, emotional context that words alone can’t convey.
Use-case example: Imagine asking caregivers to record parts of their day taking care of elderly relatives. Reviewing those recordings might reveal stress triggers, like rushed mornings or cluttered spaces that wouldn’t come up in an interview. These rich artifacts spark empathy because they reflect lived realities.
Photo and video journals extend that sense of depth by pulling us into the lived realities of participants. Rather than relying on them to recall experiences in an interview, we see those moments unfold in real time. As Tom and David Kelley emphasize, empathy often emerges through immersion, when researchers get as close as possible to what users are actually living. These visual records act as reminders that people’s lives rarely play out in neat, linear ways, and that design needs to respond to that complexity.
3. Empathy Mapping
When you’ve interviewed a few users or collected field notes, empathy maps let teams visualize what users say, think, do, and feel. Typically laid out in four quadrants with a user or persona at the center, this approach externalizes insights and highlights gaps in understanding.
Why it matters: Empathy maps help align researchers and teammates around a shared, human-centered picture. You might cluster insights from several users to form personas or simply use the map as a discussion tool.
Example: In a study of commuters, the “Says” quadrant might include quotes like “I hate waiting”, the “Thinks” quadrant might capture worries about delays, “Does” include checking the transit app repeatedly, and “Feels” might reflect anxious irritation.
Once insights have been gathered, empathy mapping helps transform raw observations into something a team can collectively work with. By charting what people say, think, do, and feel, researchers start to see connections and gaps more clearly. The exercise is not just about organizing data but also about prompting conversations. A map heavy on behaviors but light on emotions, for instance, signals that something is missing and pushes the team to return to the field with sharper questions (Nielsen Norman Group). In that way, the map itself becomes an empathy-building tool, aligning different perspectives around a shared understanding of the user.
4. Laddering (In-Depth Interviews)
Laddering or the ladder interview technique guides a simple initial answer up through layers of “why” to uncover deeper values and motivations. It’s like peeling an onion: you keep asking “why?” until you reach the user’s core belief or emotional foundation.
Use-case example: If someone says they chose a study space because it’s “quiet,” you might ask why “quiet” matters. Their answers might eventually surface values like personal control, focus, or respect for mental rest. Suddenly you’re unlocking emotional drivers, not just surface-level preferences.
Laddering interviews bring yet another layer, drawing out the deeper values that often remain hidden behind everyday choices. By patiently following up each answer with another “why,” we begin to see how small preferences connect to larger beliefs. A student who insists on studying in the library might initially cite quiet, but as the questions continue, they reveal that the library represents a place where they feel focused and in control. In moments like this, empathy research shifts from observing what people do to uncovering who they are and what they value most.
Why These Methods Matter
What stands out about these methods is the way they each open different windows into human experience while also working together to create a fuller picture.
Taken together, these methods remind us that empathy is less about collecting facts and more about cultivating curiosity. They encourage us to look beyond what is said, to notice the context surrounding every action, and to challenge the assumptions we bring into our work. In practice, that means staying open, reflective, and willing to dig deeper. Qualities that lie at the heart of truly human-centered research.
Putting It All Together
Here’s how you might combine them in a real-world research scenario:
Start with footage: Ask participants to record short video snippets of their routine around the product or experience you're studying.
Observe using What–How–Why: Note what they do, how they react, and hypothesize why.
Conduct a laddering interview: Dive deeper into one or two behaviors, keep asking “why?” to uncover underlying values or frustrations.
Synthesize with an empathy map: Map quotes, observations, emotions, and behaviors across multiple participants to spot patterns and gaps.
