A Gallery of Our Favorite Things.
What makes something Empathic? App or apple peeler, website or Webster’s Dictionary, navigation button or navy blazer button, it’s got to be pleasing and rewarding to use. It’s got to invite you to play and make you want more. If it’s an everyday object it’s got to feel good and natural in your hand, like a Bic pen. If it’s something digital, it’s got to work intuitively, without you burning energy decoding it or guessing how to proceed, like the Google start page.
Empathic Design as an ideal was around well before the internet. Today, as digital designers, we draw inspiration from these timeless, appealing designs. Some have been around for decades, virtually unchanged, and there are good reasons for it – great Empathic Design almost always gets it right the first time.
Do you have a favorite Empathic Design icon you think we’ve missed? Tell the Institute.
