The greatest innovations address our deepest needs, and creative empathy is the key to discovering them. And while empathy seems like magic, it’s more like a muscle. We can train and develop it.
Whether we’re writing a play, designing a product, or building a business, The Creative Empathy Field Guide provides a simple toolkit for applying empathy to our creative process.
It examines core concepts and covers practical techniques to facilitate empathy in ourselves and teams. The guide features real-life examples and concludes with strategies to avoid common empathy pitfalls.

Table of Contents
Part One: Creative Empathy & Its Benefits
- Chapter 1: Understanding Human Experience
- Chapter 2: Product-Market Fit
- Chapter 3: Sustainable Innovation
Part Two: How Creative Empathy Works
- Chapter 4: The Empathic Design Process
- Chapter 5: The Eindhoven Empathy Model
Part Three: Increasing Empathic Ability
- Chapter 6: Develop Your Emotional Vocabulary
- Chapter 7: Practice Mindfulness
- Chapter 8: Train as An Actor
- Chapter 9: Experience Life Fully
Part Four: Increasing Proximity
- Chapter 10: Get Out of The Office
- Chapter 11: Simulate People’s Context
- Chapter 12: Eat Your Own Dog Food
- Chapter 13: Play the Role
- Chapter 14: Become Your Customer
Part Five: Creative Empathy for Teams
- Chapter 15: Nurture Psychological Safety
- Chapter 16: Create Relatable Characters
- Chapter 17: Tell Compelling Stories
- Chapter 18: Include Your Team
- Chapter 19: Hire Your Customer
Part Six: Final Thoughts
- Chapter 20: Empathy Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
- Chapter 21: Go Forth and Create
Creative Empathy

Creative Empathy is a process-agnostic toolkit for connecting with people’s deepest needs in any creative project.