Reconnect. Empathy mapping in the era of COVID-19

Abstract

In this paper, we present an exploratory study conducted during the first-year product design course at the University of Palermo aimed at developing a new version of the empathy map (Empathy Map 5 Senses - EM5S) after the COVID-19 outbreak. The research had two main goals: focus freshmen students’ attention on senses that have been temporarily excluded because of social distancing and masks, and collect data about the importance of every single purpose and how their presence changes the quality of familiar experiences such as commuting to work, working, having lunches and dinners, having fun and taking care of themselves. From the first sample of 210 EM5S, data shows the different roles of the five senses, and interesting patterns emerged in particular according to sight, touch, and smell senses. The research is still ongoing to process another 600 EM5S, and it’s open to contributions from other scholars working in the human-centered design field.