Abstract
This paper considers the semantic function and rhetorical roles the terms “empathy” and “care” carry through the context of user experience design. By considering feminist formulations of the ethics of care, we situate a compassionate moral orientation of “care” to better interrogate implementations of the concept of “empathy” in the design of information systems. We suggest the latter term borrows on the emotive connotations of the former, while not elucidating the same moral commitment to individual contexts, relationality, and personal well-being. Empathy thus is granted a more quantifiable legitimacy than care in professional design contexts, while simultaneously reducing agency of and potential benefits to product end-users. This ideological distinction highlights the ardent need for purposeful value sensitive design processes, and focuses on the seductive illusion that simple evocation of empathy means information systems can align with the interests of human beings.
Keywords
ethics of care; ux; information systems; empathy
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.1197
Citation
Kravchenko, E., and Doty, P. (2024) Questioning empathy as care in human-computer interaction design, in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.1197
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Questioning empathy as care in human-computer interaction design
This paper considers the semantic function and rhetorical roles the terms “empathy” and “care” carry through the context of user experience design. By considering feminist formulations of the ethics of care, we situate a compassionate moral orientation of “care” to better interrogate implementations of the concept of “empathy” in the design of information systems. We suggest the latter term borrows on the emotive connotations of the former, while not elucidating the same moral commitment to individual contexts, relationality, and personal well-being. Empathy thus is granted a more quantifiable legitimacy than care in professional design contexts, while simultaneously reducing agency of and potential benefits to product end-users. This ideological distinction highlights the ardent need for purposeful value sensitive design processes, and focuses on the seductive illusion that simple evocation of empathy means information systems can align with the interests of human beings.