Weaving empathy into people, process, and product
For the longest time, empathy was not a word to be used in the corporate workplace. But now more than ever, it is becoming apparent that empathy is a cornerstone for business.
I recall something a friend once told me. She was trying to explain how to use the laptop to her 70-year-old dad. At one point, she told him that the computer wouldn’t understand what he had done. He had to do it in a different way. The frustrated dad said, “I am 70. The computer must do what I say, not the other way around.”
This might sound like the rant of an annoyed man, but it really highlights how we must approach technology. In a human way. We build technology for humans. It goes without saying then, that the technology must adapt to humans and not expect humans to adapt.
When design is human-centric, the adoption rate is much high. WhatsApp is one of my favorite examples of a company that clearly put the human at the core of their design. It took me 3 minutes to understand everything about using the app. I have never once looked for help and I use it a lot.
What is empathetic design?
The design thinking process propagates ‘empathize’ as the first stage in any design project. Empathetic design gives importance to a user’s feelings about the product or what they are trying to do using the product.
A combination of thoughtful design and artificial intelligence (AI) is imperative for catering to today’s savvy users. As a customer uses the product, the product must understand usage patterns and adapt to suit that specific user. That is what intelligent and empathetic design must evolve towards.
How do we incorporate empathy into technology?
Going back to the people, process, product paradigm, empathy needs to be incorporated into each of these pillars to ensure a 360-degree approach. When you think about it, it seems obvious to approach empathetic thinking holistically. How can we design a product with empathy if our people are not trained to be empathetic or if the organization is not practicing empathy actively in all facets?
Here are some thoughts about how businesses can build products by incorporating empathy into their DNA.
People: Empathy begins at home. Leaders must approach employee management with empathy. Businesses must enable employees to share what is bothering them in a non-judgmental atmosphere. Especially now, in COVID times, working from home is taking its toll in ways that we cannot begin to understand. Support employees who complain about COVID fatigue. Listen to their problems and work towards creating an atmosphere of mutual trust and empathy.
Process: Someone told me a story about a company where employees had to clock in and out times every day. The process was introduced because they found a few employees playing truant and misusing the flexi-time option. The hardworking and honest employees were disgruntled because of this. They were paying the price for something that a tiny fraction of the employees was doing. When the organization reviewed their policy with empathy, they realized their policy was unfair to most of the employees who have never abused the process. This helped them reevaluate and ensure that processes were introduced to help and not bog down their employees. Regardless of what purpose a process is established for, it is people who will finally follow them. Establish processes with empathy. Think of how a process might impact employee morale.
Product: The product is the crux for a business. Product adoption by customers is the acid test of everything a business wants to achieve. Therefore, it is important for the product to be designed to draw in customers and keep them engaged. What better way to do this than to observe users as they go about their tasks? Incorporate deep customer studies into your product design. Become the customer. Think of your emotions and feelings if you had to use a similar product.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating. For example, if your business delivers security software, ensure it is first used effectively within your organization. Are your employees able to use it intuitively? Can they stand by the design and ease-of-use? In other words, are you eating your own dog food?
We are at the tip of the empathy iceberg
Businesses have barely scratched the surface of incorporating empathy into technology design. As the world moves rapidly towards digitalization, human-centric to person-centric design is going to be the differentiator. When I use a product, I want to perceive that it was made for me.
Consumers are tired of feeling lost because they could not figure out how to use a product. It is time to flip that perspective and design products that will morph and shift to suit usage patterns of consumers. No longer can products be designed in isolation. Products must fit into how a consumer lives instead of the other way around.
It is time to move towards empathetic technology design.
