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TheArtAndScienceOfCustomerEmpathyInDesi...|SCN

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SAPBusinessTrends

TheArtAndScienceOfCustomerEmpathyInDesign
Thinking
PostedbyKaanTurnaliinSAPBusinessTrendson19Mar201621:16:13
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Customercentricsolutionsdemandempathy.But,howwe
employthisprinciplewithindesignthinkingisascriticalif
notmoreaswhatwedointheprocess.

Certainslicescanbeeasilyrepeatedthatsthescience
part.However,noteverythingfitsneatlyintoatemplate.
Morethananythingelse,werelyonourcreativityto
accuratelyframeaproblemanddiscovertheattached
opportunity.Thatstheartofcustomerempathywithin
designthinking.

Inmyprevious post,Idiscussedthreefactorsthatare
criticalturningempathyintoanobsessionwhendeveloping
customercentric innovations.Iwanttoexpandonthis
topicandelaborateonhowitcanalsobeappliedtooureverydayworkaswell.
Customerempathyisnotinheritedorrepeateditscontinuouslylearned
Theunconditionalactofprojectingourselvesintoourcustomers(orusers)shoeshastobeunreserved.Empathy
worksonlyifweopenupournerveendingsandfeelwhatitisliketobeinanothersshoes.Oneofthekey
approachesisadoptingabeginner'smindsetthatfunctionsasaresetbuttonenablingustoexperienceaproductor
serviceasifit'sthefirsttimeweareusingit.

Inhumancentereddesign,weuseasetoftoolstoobserveandcommunicatewithpeopleandbetterunderstandtheir
journey.Empatheticlisteningandobservationareessentialduringtheentiredesignprocess:

Immersion:Placeourselvesinthefullexperiencethroughtheeyesoftheuser.
Observation:Carefullywatchandexaminewhatpeopleareactuallydoing.
Conversation:Accuratelycaptureconversationsandpersonalstories.

Allthreeapproachesrequirefocusandprecisionbecausetheytypicallyproducedifferentinsights.Tolearn,wemust
listenmorethanwetalk.Whenweobserve,wedisappear,ratherthaninterfere.Thereisnoroomforsharingour
opinionsorsellingthesolution.Wewantfacts.Ifwecantunderstandthewhybehindanexperienceorproblem,any
assumptionsaboutthewhatandhowbecomeskewedormisleading.
Ourknowledgeisthesourceofourbiassometimes
Indesign,whatweknowcanbejustasdetrimentalaswhatwedontknow.Oneofthebestexamplesofthisrealityis
seenintechnologyprojects.

Seniordeveloperscoopedupinalabcanproduceverysophisticatedcode.Theseteamsdevelopcustomerfacing
elementsbasedonabiasthatreflectstheirextensiveknowledgeofthetechnologywhileignoringstepsconsidered
minorfromtheirvantagepoint.However,theseminorstepsareindispensabletouserswhoarenotnecessarilytech
savvywhichmaymakeupthemajorityoftheircustomerbase.

Bysimplyleavingoutpartsthattheyconsiderobviouscorners,theseteamsmaynotobserveorattempttolivethe
experiencethroughtheeyesoftheactualusermissingoutontheopportunitytocreateawellrounded,customer
centricexperience.

Withdesignthinking,wealwaysinsistonseekinguntestedexperiencessowecancaptureunrefinedobservationsthat
framethedetailsoftheuserjourney.
Emosurancesinfluenceourperceptionofaproductorservice

Humanstendtoreacttoemotionalassurances( emosurances).Theyplayacrucialroleindesigningahuman

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centereduserexperienceespeciallytheuserinterface(UI).

Forexample,considertheexperiencewithadigitalprocessortransaction:
Howmanytimesdoyoufindyourselfinastateofuncertainty?
Doyouknowwhereyouareintheprocessorqueue?
Willyougetanalertwhenitscompleted?
Willyouabandonitbecauseyouareunsureofthenextstep?
Areyougivenanyvisualfeedback,suchasaprogressbar?
Ifthereisserviceinterruption,doyougetanotification?Isthemessageclearenoughthatitdoesnotrequire
furthertranslationtounderstandnextsteps?

Thescenariosareendlessandapplytoanyuserexperiencedigitaloranalog,onlineorinperson.Andeventhough
thesequestionsappearmechanicalandamatterofUI,tacklingtheseemosurancesproactivelyisatthecoreofthe
empathyprinciple.
BottomlineThetraditionalvaluepropositionofaproductorserviceisapromiseofparticularutilityvalue.IfyougetX,
youwillreceiveYasaresultofZ.

Thedesignthinkingvaluepropositionisapromiseofcorevalues:YouwanttogetXbecauseyoucareaboutYandZ
matterstoyou.

Theactualvalueoftheempathyprinciplecomesfromunderstandingourcustomers360degreeviewpoint,especially
theiremotionalattachments.Then,wecandeliveracompellingvaluepropositionthatguidesusalongtheinnovation
path.Thisapproachenablesaforwardthinkingmindsetthatfuelsaculturalshiftparamountfor competingon
designthinking.

StaytunedforthenextinstallmentoftheDesignThinkingthoughtleadershipseries!

ConnectwithmeonTwitte(@KaanTurnali),LinkedInandturnali.com

DESIGNTHINKINGSERIES
WhatisDesignThinking?| CompetingonDesignThinking|
|TheArt&ScienceofCustomerEmpathy

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Thispostfirstappearedonturnali.com

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Categories:Analytics,Cloud,Mobile,BigData,SalesandMarketing,FutureofWork/HR,Finance,SmallBusiness,Industries,
DigitalEconomy,UserExperience
Tags:innovation,technology,design_thinking,future_of_work,kaan_turnali,design_leadership

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