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Empathy Interviews: How to Do Them and Why They Are Important (Summit 2021)
This session, presented by Community Design Partners at the 2021 Summit on Improvement in Education, introduces empathy interviews as a tool for understanding the perspective of others when doing improvement work. The session introduces approaches and mindsets for conducting empathy research as a core practice in human-centered continuous improvement.
One of the six core principles of improvement is to “make the work problem-specific and user-centered.” The empathy interview done right provides an opportunity for understanding the user perspective and operationalizing an equity lens. In practice, however, empathy interviews often get the same results as traditional interviews—opinions and feedback on narrow topics—instead of uncovering the real needs and perspectives of the user. In this session, participants will understand the importance of defining a clear purpose for empathy interviews and will learn how to select diverse interviewees, structure and conduct empathy interviews, and effectively analyze and use the interview data to inform improvement work. Presenters will introduce key mindsets and beliefs central to the use of empathy interviews as an anti-racist practice and will give participants ample time to practice, reflect, and discuss the use of empathy as a core component of human-centered continuous improvement.
