“Remarkable things can happen when empathy for others plays a key role in problem-solving. In today’s global marketplace, companies are being asked to design for increasingly diverse users, cultures, and environments” (Battarbee, Fulton Suri, and Gibbs Howard 1). IDEO.

Empathy: The capacity to place oneself in another’s frame of reference.

When solving problems and designing solutions, it is imperative to anticipate how products and services will work with different types of people.  Evident in the quote above from IDEO’s essay Empathy on the Edge, you need to think about how different people will receive solutions.  It is crucial to practice empathy; you must step outside of your ego and assume others.  

Reminiscent of the design process is watching a film.  Inherently in film, the viewer assumes multiple egos.  The theatre is a sacred place in which you exist as a viewer in a seat with popcorn, but you also assume the ego of the camera, the protagonist, and other characters.  These new egos overpower your own ego that sits in the theatre.  Similarly, you assume multiple egos when ideating solutions.  

Our first major project, “Hello, Neighbour”, in short, is an effort to connect the Alexander business community and the social housing residence community across the street.  The pervasive narrative is that Alexander Street in the Downtown Eastside divides two different types of people.  It is a dichotomy of business people and social housing residents.  Evidently, this project involves stakeholders from various backgrounds.  The team kept in mind how people would receive our proposed solutions.  We anticipated how others would receive and interact with our solution.  We created experience maps of the various stakeholders such as business people and social housing residents.  We exerted effort and focused on how others would receive and interact with our solution.  We are providing a solution and experience for others.

After a presentation to the advisory council on May 18th, Kiri of the Local Economic Development Lab, asked us where we existed in our solution.  She said that we missed a key stakeholder in the experience; we missed ourselves!

In a process that is embedded with empathetic methodologies, we forgot about ourselves.  We need to indulge in our own egos more!  We need to think about ourselves and act in self-interest.  This solution we are offering is not only for others.  We are not only the creators of this project, but we are also participants of this story.  

In a social project that is much different than business projects, we must realize that we are a part of the experience.  We are not removed from our solution.  

In the analogy of the movie theatre, we as Railyarders need to balance our multiple egos.  We need to look down and enjoy the popcorn too.

-Hugh