Empathy Jam

The Empathy Jam is a day-long user research & design hackathon that gets attendees out and talking to New Yorkers, then coming back and designing solutions for them.

Our mission is to make NYC feel like a more connected, supported, and caring place, while spreading the goodness of the user-centered design & problem-solving process!

This year, we are exploring how we can better support our fellow New Yorkers in the area of personal health and safety.

What is an Empathy Jam?
Think about it. We’ve all felt the effect of missing empathy in our lives, here in New York City and across our nation. Even with hundreds or thousands around us each day, we often don’t connect, and we miss the chance to succeed with one another. ​ Calling developers, researchers, designers, product people, civic activists, prototypers, data heads, and leaders of NYC! Are you looking for a way to make a difference and have fun doing it? Join us!

Come to the Empathy Jam, a research and design event that brings NYC’s residents together to collaborate on new ways to feel connected, supported, and excited about creating our city's future.

Who Should Attend? ​​
UX professionals, designers, researchers, developers, prototypers, data heads, civic hackers, leaders. We will be creating small pods of people with skills that complement one another, for maximum learning.

What will the day be like? 
We will present a set of challenge areas at the beginning of the day. Groups of attendees will spend the day working through the phases of research, design, and testing, on a solution to their chosen challenge area, before presenting their learnings to a panel of judges.

• 9am: Breakfast & Kickoff / Challenges Announced
• Morning Session - Research
• 12:30pm: Lunch
• Afternoon Session - Design & Test
• 5pm: Dinner
• Presentations & winners announced.

Light meals will be provided. Exact schedule may change.

With prizes from:

• Sketch
• Zeplin
• Rosenfeld Media
• A Book Apart
• Echo Design
• Loop11

What will we make? 
At the end of the Empathy Jam, together we will have created empathy-driven solutions to specific city-living challenges.

I still dont't get it. Can you tell me more? 
An Empathy Jam is kind of like a Hackathon, but it focuses on a UX process instead of a development process. User experience research & design is all about creating empathy, so together we're going to use UX methods on a city's users: its residents. We envision a future where New Yorkers of every background feel like they live in a city filled with teammates who have their backs — from fellow commuters on the subway, to police, and beyond.

Can’t wait to see you there!

Attendees may hear from major Empathy Jam sponsors (at the Platinum or Premium levels) after the event. We hand-select sponsors at this level to be sure the content they send will be relevant to you.

Takeaways

• Learn or practice User Experience Design methods
• Learn how empathy can connect you with those around you (fellow residents, and your government leaders!)
• Build something that has lasting impact​

We’ve heard leaders ask whether the tech world is solving the wrong problems with their innovations. We say, let’s collaborate to solve the right problems. Let’s gather and connect to show how empathy can be a powerful tool for creating impactful solutions. Let’s lead together.