3 How personas can help to create empathy

Person putting a sock with holes in the toe on his foot with pair of shoes in front of their feet
Empathy: walking a mile in someone else’s shoes

Empathy is about experiencing someone else’s feelings as if you were that person, and is a valuable way to gain insight into the behaviour of project beneficiaries. A popular phrase in some cultures is to ‘walk a mile in someone else’s shoes’. This isn’t meant literally, but is a metaphor for empathy.

The nature of a persona, presenting a rich picture of a person with a name and backstory, can help you to empathise with the feelings and motivations of the audience behind that image.

Activity 2

Timing: Allow around 25 minutes for this activity

Think about someone at work, either a colleague or one of your customers, partners, clients, beneficiaries etc.

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2 When and why to use personas

4 Creating personas