Empath Collective Responsive Website and Mobile App
Empath Collective is a tool to help kids learn about empathy. The importance of this project was developed as a product for social good Emotional intelligence is one of the skills that children will need in the future as technology becomes more prominent in society. Direct face-to-face interactions versus virtual interactions will make a huge difference in how children learn to communicate with each other and how to be aware of their own feelings.
The Problem
Empathy is the ability to recognize, respond to, and even “feel” the feelings of others. Users are concerned with their children’s emotional development and wellbeing. Studies show that the limited interactions children have with each other —as the dependence on technology increases—is directly connected to a lack of empathy towards others.
The Solution
Empath Collective was created to help children ages 2-17 develop an awareness and understanding of empathy. These social skills and thus our feelings of empathy, motivate us towards social action and engagement. Simply put, when we understand one another, the more respect we have for each other, which leads to a more peaceful and collaborative society.
Project Summary
I conducted interviews and created empathy maps to understand the users and their needs. A primary group identified through research was parents who had at least 1 to 2 children.
This group also identified the need for there to be a variety of different kinds of activities for parents and their children to do together.
The Empath Collective App makes the process of helping children learn about empathy easier for parents. It enables children to learn about emotional intelligence at an early age and allows them to collaborate with their parents on maintaining their emotional well-being.
Working on the app and the responsive variations for the website and tablet platforms from ideation to conception showed me the importance of empathizing with the user and putting their needs first. I also learned that retesting iterations and usability studies are important parts of the process in making sure the app behaves as expected as a useful tool.
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about my work on the Empath Collective App! If you’d like to see the full prototype, click the link below.