The Widening Empathy Gap

Senior researcher unpacks why design thinking might be distancing us from real people, plus a workshop to rethink how empathy actually works.

Parsim Kaushik, a senior researcher at LexisNexis with a background in consumer psychology, will challenge a core assumption in design: that our processes actually bring us closer to the people we're designing for. The talk unpacks how empathy becomes diluted when it's treated as a methodology rather than genuine, sustained engagement with real humans. You'll then move into a hands-on workshop to rethink what empathy practice could look like beyond the frameworks. The evening wraps with networking among Sydney's design and research community. This works well whether you're actively practising design thinking or just questioning whether your team's user research is skin-deep.