Meta-study Exploring the Impact of Empathy on the Interactions Between Software Developers and End Users

Empathy is an understudied human aspect in the domain of software engineering. This project was aimed at investigating how empathy impacts the interactions between software developers and end users. Software developers are typically young technology-centric males, while end users are often a diverse group of people with differing values, needs and expectations. Do these differences have an impact on the way developers and end users interact? Do developers find it difficult to empathise with diverse end users and thus understand their needs?

We used a case study - the development of a smart-goal-setting extension for the AskPCOS ehealth app - to observe and analyse the interactions between a team of six IT students and a group of four female end users and their ability to mutually empathise during solution design and usability testing.

Data collection, analysis and interpretation followed a Grounded Theory approach based on the collection of qualitative and quantitative data from both developers and end users. The Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy (QCAE) was used as a quantitative instrument to monitor the self-reported level of empathy of each participant during the project. Qualitative data was collected in the form of visual and verbal empathy-related clues through observations of seven usability testing sessions. A final semi-structured interview with each participant at the end of the project provided insights into how participants reflected on the responses, actions and behaviours of other participants during the usability testing sessions.

This project is now in its final stages. We currently work on the completion of the analysis of the data and the synthesis of initial insights. Our goal is to report our findings with a scientific paper.

Project Lead

Hashini Gunatilake (PhD Candidate)

Project Team

FIT4002 student team