Empathy in #ProductDesign

I just read Jon Kolko' s thought provoking insight on empathy with customers. I am summerizing my key take aways here: 

• It's not enough to recognize a pattern. You have to actually FEEL like the individual user. Share the anxieties and feelings which are experienced by the user. 

• While complete empathy cannot be achieved, pursuit of empathy is a key. 

• Empathy is specific: Its a feeling of what its like to BE the SPECIFIC USER

• As a user, FEELING drives every single product decision we are making 

So, are you ready to get as specific as you can, for your product?

Content Strategy: Mind the tone

When it comes to offering solutions in the form of an online marketplace, we need to realize, that the voice and the tone of your product is: of paramount importance. We need to put a structure in place to identify the relationships between tone of the product and the ambition of the customer.

This can be simplified by a simple example. As a patient when I walk inside a doctor's cabin, I could be anyone of the following patient types

1) Those who are aware of what they want, are sure of the treatment they are receiving and their primary concern probably is the cost and the insurance issues involved. I would like the doctor to be able to suggest me honestly the various options available and give me a feeling that he is my well-wisher when it comes out to designing the most cost effective plan.

I want him to be a co-traveler in this discussion journey, a friend.

A complex listing page of Amazon with 15,000 products and a precise price filter is an example.

2) I am a patient who is unwell, unsure about what's going on. I want the doctor here to be confident about telling me what I should be doing, narrow down the options which I have.
Here, I want him to be the GUIDE of my journey. I want him to tell me what I want.


iPhone is an example. These products taught us what WE want.


Customer's purpose needs to be identified clearly, this shall then drive the content on the page.

Are you speaking in the right tone?

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What does your blog stand for?

As a startup, the question of whether one could blog always haunts the minds. More specifically, what will be the role of the blog? Is it a tool to create awareness? Is it a tool to generate traffic? The focus could be more on content, OR; focus could entirely be on driving the sales.

What will you do?

With experience in B2B marketing with a fortune 500 oil company and blogging for last 7 years, My answer is clear: Inspire and become a thought leader in your domain.

Blog is a long term tool. It's like that old inn which you always pass by on your way but you know it will always be there when you really need to cool your heels and have a drink.

It's reliable. It exudes trust.

Your blog has to create value for your reader. This is the key to every successful blog. Add value and Share your learning.

Best sharing happens when there is no expectation of a return.

Once you establish reliability and become a thought leader in your domain, you automatically generate awareness. Awareness then results in increase in traffic. Once increase in traffic is achieved, sales can be driven with ease.

Idea is to build a relationship, of sharing and giving. Not grabbing the client.

TL; DR

Blog>>Though Leader>>Inspire>>Awareness>>Increase in traffic>>Drive Sales>>Ninja Dance
KeyWords : Add value and Share

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Forward March

As a B2B professional in a fortune 500 firm, every single review meet followed the age old maxim: Compare the current performance with the historical.

I am learning Google Analytics and dealing with extensive data analysis.It's the same here, the option to compare the current figures with the similar period in the past, appears by default.

My masters in public policy is now in its second year. Critical data such as poverty alleviation and carbon footprints is analysed thoroughly using tools such as regressions, data modelling and big data analysis. Again, the comparison is with the figures from the past.

What is this fixation with the historical?

Most of the problems we face can be traced back to (pun intended) our incompleteness with the past.

Coming specifically to sales performance analysis in B2B marketing, it is a problem which needs to address these two basic questions:

1. Current performance and value in the market
2. Strategy to grow in the future

Once the problem has been broken down, we can see that both the components are not really connected with the "Past" 

• The comparison has to be with Industry trends and competitor performance. Even when it comes to competitor analysis, firms mistakenly assume that the only competitors they have are the firms which match their size. In today's times, that is obvious. What needs to be done, apart from measuring up competitor's from our own size, is to look for small ones who are registering a High growth rate in the industry: What is the strategy they are using? Is there a segment which has completely been missed in our scanners?

• We need to realize the crucial word here: "Future". Comparing with past figures and then devising a strategy is a way to undermine the current position and temperament of the customer. We need to analyse our capabilities, resources and commitment, and come up with a forecast for the "coming" month/Qtr. This process has to be in a feedback loop so that the comparison with forecast and performance on ground happens on a weekly basis.While we need to strive hard to achieve the figure initially quoted, we need to also readjust the targets if the shift from forecast is questionable, but not the efforts and commitment. 

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