This document discusses the importance of empathy in building great products. It defines empathy as understanding and being sensitive to another person's feelings and experiences without those feelings being explicitly communicated. It states that empathy is important for building the right product because it allows product builders to understand users and themselves. It recommends conducting user research through methods like analytics, observation and immersion to truly understand users. Empathy helps ensure usability and prevents angry customers, while also creating psychological safety and feedback within teams to build the product right.

1. The importance of
empathy
in building great products
@e_mulholland

3. I’m going to talk through:
• Why is empathy important?
• What is empathy?
• Build the right thing
• Build the thing right

4. Products have
end users
Why is empathy
important in
building
products?
Products are
built by people
Build the
right thing
Build the thing
the right way

5. “the ac:on of understanding,
being aware of, being sensi:ve to,
and vicariously experiencing the
feelings, thoughts, and
experience of another … without
having the feelings, thoughts, and
experience fully communicated in
an objec:vely explicit manner”
Empathy

6. Build the right thing
• Understand yourself
• Understand your users

7. User Research
• What & Why
• Analy:cs
• Engagement
• Observa:on
• Immersion
• Dogfooding

8. Your user & your
product
• Personas
• Empathy maps / Journey
maps

9. Lack of empathy…
• Poor usability at best
• Really p*ssed off
customers
• Failure at worst

10. And how does empathy help with
teams?
Build the thing right

11. Build the thing right
• Understand yourself
• Understand your team
mates
• Psychological safety
• Feedback con:nuously

12. Build the RIGHT THING
Build the THING RIGHT

13. Thank you J