Every designer works in an entirely different way to each other; some of you may like to work independently, some of you may already collaborate on pretty much every project that lands in your lap.
Practical Empathy (opens in new tab) is a new book that aims to teach you about empathy and how you can apply it to your work for improved creativity and collaboration.
"It's aimed at helping you establish an empathetic mindset that you can drop into for certain moments to better study, understand, and dig into the thinking of the people you support," explains author Indi Young (opens in new tab). "If you can understand different perspectives more clearly, then you're less likely to keep offering support that is well-suited to your own definition of the context.
"You're more likely to support people differently, intentionally, and even more intimately, because you understand each person. When a person feels understood, the lines of communication, cooperation, and energy all open up. Success stories come from that."
With beautiful illustrations throughout, the book focuses on your creative mind-set and teaches you techniques for a better approach to your own work. "My research work with clients was increasingly hinging upon the light-bulb moments team members were having as they learned to stop processing what they were hearing from customers real-time and instead settle in to listen and dig deeper," continues Young.
"The value of listening is not evident at first glance, especially not in profit-driven or results-oriented cultures. You end up asking much better questions about meaning and intent. You slide right past "needs" into what is really driving a person."
Does 'Practical Empathy: For Collaboration and Creativity in Your Work' sound right up your street? Well, lucky for you, Rosenfeld are offering 20% off for Creative Bloq readers! Just enter: CREATIVEBLOQ at the checkout.
Liked this? Read these!
- How learning people skills can be like gaining a superpower (opens in new tab)
- 6 ways designers and developers can work better together (opens in new tab)
- We need to talk about developers and depression (opens in new tab)
