Conduct empathy interviews to understand user experiences with technology¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

Empathy interviews are "open-ended conversations with a predetermined protocol" that help educators build relationships with learners and understand their needs and identities. For AI policy work, the deck states empathy interviews can help districts understand: 1) users' experiences with the technology, 2) the reasons users do or do not use a certain technology, and 3) how users feel technology will affect their quality of work. The approach draws on the Empathize Phase of the design process (Coenraad et al., 2021).

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Interviews follow a predetermined protocol in which an educator asks questions to support learners in achieving their goals and actively listens

Constraints¶

Target Learners¶

• K-12 learners
• educators
• community members

Target Learning Goals¶

• understanding learner needs and experiences with emerging technology to inform policy design

Related Strategies¶

• Using Empathy Interviews for Family Engagement
• Five-step empathy interview exercise for teachers designing inclusive computing pathways
• Design Thinking
• Start with Yourself (Identity Mapping)
• Conduct one-on-one empathy interviews with open-ended questions to uncover root causes of system challenges
• Use empathy interviews as a natural, informal conversation to uncover students' experiences, emotions, and unmet needs in mathematics learning
• Student-centred, first-person responsible use policy — the student-facing policy the interviews can inform

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Ruiz, P., Armstrong, A. L., Karim, S., Shell, A., Singmaster, H., Giang, M. (2024) Emerging Technology Acceptable Use Policy [Google slides]. Digital Promise. https://bit.ly/DPAUPLanguage