Mom, I see You Angry at Me! Designing a Mobile Service for Parent-child Conflicts by In-situ Emotional Empathy

Abstract

While having a child is a real blessing, raising the child may require parents to continuously resolve day-to-day conflicts with their child. In this paper, we examine the possibility of a mobile service to help parents deal with the moment of conflict in a peaceful way. Through the consultation with five psychotherapists, we understand the presence and severity of parent-child conflicts in daily lives and the today's therapeutic practices. Based on the understanding, we propose the concept of I See You that enables the parents to instantly put themselves in the second-person's view, i.e., the child's view, at the moment of conflict. This aims to facilitate the parents to be aware of their own subtle and momentary nonverbal expressions, thereby to empathize with the emotion which the child may feel.