From Empathy to Care: A Feminist Care Ethics Perspective on Long-Term Researcher–Participant Relations

Emotion Work in Experience-Centered Design

“…We find however, that while many researchers use ECD approaches in their work, and are thus likely to experience emotional responses that may need care [37], there is scant mainstream discussion that has explicitly detailed this element of our design and research practice. For example, while [29] provide a detailed introduction to the 'emotional tensions' inherent to undertaking experience-centred ethnography with people with dementia and offers a beautifully rich account of her fieldwork, she does not explicitly describe her own emotional tensions she encountered in undertaking this work.…”

“…Researchers as a result have produced a range of accounts of the ethical flexibility required to work in these complex settings [30]. These include guidance on how to engage more deeply with the ethical responsibility of working in sensitive or complex areas [11], ethical reflections on developing participant-researcher relationships [37]; the micro-ethics entailed in participatory design research [35]; through to the importance of managing the expectations of participants when engaging with new technologies [39]. Many of these recommendations are linked to an increased sensitivity to the emotional experiences and needs of the participants, and ways of treating these individuals and their participation with respect.…”

“…Many of these recommendations are linked to an increased sensitivity to the emotional experiences and needs of the participants, and ways of treating these individuals and their participation with respect. But, still in these accounts the emotional experiences of the researchers (with the exception of [37]), the ways in which our research practices might impact on our emotions, our own sense of identity and competence are noticeably lacking.…”

“…638] and still be objective? In Toombs et al [37] discussion of "care ethics" in long-term collaborations, the authors introduce the researcher role as "friend, validator, caregiver and -importantly in this case -care receiver and vulnerable other". Such a turn in how we understand our professional relationships within ECD seems necessary if we are to be honest about how these relationships begin, and develop over the span of a ECD project.…”

“…In turn this then leads to impoverished supervision practices and ill-prepared design researchers, particularly since some types of emotion work can have negative implications for wellbeing [20]. Encouragingly, we find a few papers in HCI and IxD discourse which have begun to identify the emotional challenges of undertaking "experience-centred" design research [37,41], particularly within sensitive areas [28]. We contribute to this dialogue by providing a substantive account and analysis of emotion work as it relates to ECD, and through critical reflection identify challenges to the practices of ECD.…”