Empathy in Action: How Motivation and Empathic Engagement Shape Creative Processes in Human-Computer Interaction

As Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) continues to evolve, creativity has become a cornerstone for generating innovative and user-centered design solutions. Central to fostering this creativity is empathy, a core factor that enables designers to deeply understand and respond to users’ needs and perspectives. This qualitative study investigates how HCI professionals conceptualize and apply empathy in their routine work, with particular attention to its interaction with intrinsic and prosocial motivation throughout the creative processes. Using semi-structured interviews with 15 practitioners from diverse domains, thematic analysis was conducted to explore how empathy is embedded in their understanding of creativity and integrated into both theory and practice. Three overarching themes emerged, identifying real-life problems, enriching experiences, and creating greater value, each corresponding to distinct stages of the creative process. Participants described empathy as a dynamic link between themselves and users, with cognitive and affective components playing complementary roles across different phases of their work. These empathic engagements were found to synergize with intrinsic and prosocial motivation, fostering user-oriented creative solutions. The findings highlight how empathy and motivation jointly shape creativity in HCI practice, extending the Componential Model of Creativity. The study suggests the need for training programs that cultivate empathy and motivation as core competencies in HCI education and industry, thus reinforcing the creative process and human-centered design.