Empathy in Internet services or why the cart is “mine” and not “your”
An article on empathy as a concept in general and applied to Internet projects. What is it, what affects it and how it affects the business results.
I'll start from the end.
What gives empathy?
')
What is empathy?
This is the ability to look at a situation or an object through the eyes of another person, to model his own emotions and behavior in his head. Some scientists write that animals do not own empathy and only man is capable of its manifestation.
I can not argue about this, this is a complex psychological concept that requires higher consciousness.
Examples of empathy in life
A good teacher reads lectures, trying to give material as it will be clear to students. A strong boxer predicts how an opponent will behave, trying to get mentally in his place.
Examples in business
Steve Jobs made a lot of good products, he showed that he cares about users. He showed that he is his (in jeans and a t-shirt). Apple buyers appreciated this, they had a great empathy for both the brand itself and its creator.
And now, when the new Apple models have flaws, adherents forgive them, including for this reason.
The opposite situation, the loud start of the new film search by Yandex.
The creators of the service decided, hypothetically, that the new functions would be liked by the users. Did not try to present themselves at the site of regular visitors. Otherwise, they would not be cut off the ratings and other functions that people have used for years. The result is known to all. The active audience of the site did not forgive them and made a rollback to the old version.
Difference from sympathy
Empathy involves empathy with the service, that is, a sense of ownership and the absence of serious distance. Sympathy is just an attraction, it can be to any site.
The emergence of empathy, in turn, is associated with the process of emotional contact and this happens only in some cases.
Building a site / application with empathy
Let's look at what influences empathy, how you can add this moment when creating or changing a site.
1) Textbook "my basket"
If we call the basket, personal account and other places of the site with the word "mine", then we we turn the situation from the opposition "we (the site) - you (its visitor)" to the interaction to achieve a common goal.
In addition, a person feels that he has his own corner, his own space, this adds to his comfort and tranquility.
Therefore, I personally advocate that the basket should be mine!
Example: In Wildberrys the basket is “mine”, in Yulmarth “your”. As we know, the first company recently bypassed the second in terms of turnover.
2) Building interfaces with UX
The phrase, everyone should do services with usability and user experience. Yes, everyone should, but not everyone does. The larger the company, the harder this simple idea to implement.
But this is exactly the work with empathy in full and maximum. In this case, the shoemaker method in their boots helps a lot. Use the service you do yourself. And competing in parallel.
3) Personalization
If we already know what gender a person is, his name and other data, then we can refer to him more personally.
4) Regional versions
Special mention is the account of the city from which the person comes to the site. In addition to the inscription in the terms of delivery, it is good to indicate the city next to the phone number and in other places on the site.
5) human language
Human, close to everyday speech language strongly affects the emotional perception of the service. Example - Yandex for an error in the browser writes "Oh, we have something broke."
6) Do not take the user for a fool
It would seem that the task of any service to be clear to everyone. But in this desire, you can overdo it and cause an unpleasant feeling - when they communicate with you as with a child or anecdotal blonde.
Examples: section on the site how to use it with screenshots.
7) Do not abuse the attention
By these is meant an extra reminder of yourself, sending out beyond measure other fine moments when the user begins to feel that he is being used.
Examples: The TASS website offers push notifications during the first (and possibly only) visit, and Technosila sends letters with advertisements without delivering the first purchase (the first reaction is what the hell?).
8) Do not give up those services and functions that people use.
Even if they are a minority and it requires support costs. People can get used to them, then they will not understand such a step.
Examples: deleting an RSS reader in Google Play and searching blogs on Yandex.
9) Giving people something just like that, without benefit.
To increase empathy, you can make a gift from the company. Today we have a good mood and we give a gift to everyone who has been with us for more than 3 years. This can be a bonus to the account, postcard, transfer to a higher rate. What is important is the fact that people thought about it and did it disinterestedly.
Example: In the “Meloman” holding, gifts were distributed in social networks.
10) Forgive the user flaws and errors
Incorrectly make a purchase? Mixed up the goods? Not a problem, on this account we have a special section, which describes how to proceed. Everything is worked out and will not cause you any difficulties.
Examples: In Ozone, a cancellation of an order is made out in your personal account with one click and without loss. The Yoox site immediately in the package gives a printed form for return and full instructions.
What shows the level of user empathy to the site:
Each service has its own indicators, but if major changes are visible in the dynamics, this is a reason to think.
Ongoing mutual process
When a service really cares about its visitors (thinks like them), it causes an emotional rapprochement. Those, in turn, show empathy for their part - they think that people are on the other side of the screen. And so on, the process is ongoing.
This can be compared with karma when its vessel is filled with positive emotions and emptied with negative ones.
All good empathy!
PS Empathy is one of the points of assessing the productivity of sites, about which I once wrote on Habré .
I'll start from the end.
What gives empathy?
')
- increases loyalty to the brand, its memorability,
- reduces demands on errors, as a result: fewer complaints, returns and negative feedback,
- more one-time buyers are converted to permanent,
- improves communication and understanding of each other.
What is empathy?
This is the ability to look at a situation or an object through the eyes of another person, to model his own emotions and behavior in his head. Some scientists write that animals do not own empathy and only man is capable of its manifestation.
I can not argue about this, this is a complex psychological concept that requires higher consciousness.
Examples of empathy in life
A good teacher reads lectures, trying to give material as it will be clear to students. A strong boxer predicts how an opponent will behave, trying to get mentally in his place.
Examples in business
Steve Jobs made a lot of good products, he showed that he cares about users. He showed that he is his (in jeans and a t-shirt). Apple buyers appreciated this, they had a great empathy for both the brand itself and its creator.
And now, when the new Apple models have flaws, adherents forgive them, including for this reason.
The opposite situation, the loud start of the new film search by Yandex.
The creators of the service decided, hypothetically, that the new functions would be liked by the users. Did not try to present themselves at the site of regular visitors. Otherwise, they would not be cut off the ratings and other functions that people have used for years. The result is known to all. The active audience of the site did not forgive them and made a rollback to the old version.
Difference from sympathy
Empathy involves empathy with the service, that is, a sense of ownership and the absence of serious distance. Sympathy is just an attraction, it can be to any site.
The emergence of empathy, in turn, is associated with the process of emotional contact and this happens only in some cases.
Building a site / application with empathy
Let's look at what influences empathy, how you can add this moment when creating or changing a site.
1) Textbook "my basket"
If we call the basket, personal account and other places of the site with the word "mine", then we we turn the situation from the opposition "we (the site) - you (its visitor)" to the interaction to achieve a common goal.
In addition, a person feels that he has his own corner, his own space, this adds to his comfort and tranquility.
Therefore, I personally advocate that the basket should be mine!
Example: In Wildberrys the basket is “mine”, in Yulmarth “your”. As we know, the first company recently bypassed the second in terms of turnover.
2) Building interfaces with UX
The phrase, everyone should do services with usability and user experience. Yes, everyone should, but not everyone does. The larger the company, the harder this simple idea to implement.
But this is exactly the work with empathy in full and maximum. In this case, the shoemaker method in their boots helps a lot. Use the service you do yourself. And competing in parallel.
3) Personalization
If we already know what gender a person is, his name and other data, then we can refer to him more personally.
4) Regional versions
Special mention is the account of the city from which the person comes to the site. In addition to the inscription in the terms of delivery, it is good to indicate the city next to the phone number and in other places on the site.
5) human language
Human, close to everyday speech language strongly affects the emotional perception of the service. Example - Yandex for an error in the browser writes "Oh, we have something broke."
6) Do not take the user for a fool
It would seem that the task of any service to be clear to everyone. But in this desire, you can overdo it and cause an unpleasant feeling - when they communicate with you as with a child or anecdotal blonde.
Examples: section on the site how to use it with screenshots.
7) Do not abuse the attention
By these is meant an extra reminder of yourself, sending out beyond measure other fine moments when the user begins to feel that he is being used.
Examples: The TASS website offers push notifications during the first (and possibly only) visit, and Technosila sends letters with advertisements without delivering the first purchase (the first reaction is what the hell?).
8) Do not give up those services and functions that people use.
Even if they are a minority and it requires support costs. People can get used to them, then they will not understand such a step.
Examples: deleting an RSS reader in Google Play and searching blogs on Yandex.
9) Giving people something just like that, without benefit.
To increase empathy, you can make a gift from the company. Today we have a good mood and we give a gift to everyone who has been with us for more than 3 years. This can be a bonus to the account, postcard, transfer to a higher rate. What is important is the fact that people thought about it and did it disinterestedly.
Example: In the “Meloman” holding, gifts were distributed in social networks.
10) Forgive the user flaws and errors
Incorrectly make a purchase? Mixed up the goods? Not a problem, on this account we have a special section, which describes how to proceed. Everything is worked out and will not cause you any difficulties.
Examples: In Ozone, a cancellation of an order is made out in your personal account with one click and without loss. The Yoox site immediately in the package gives a printed form for return and full instructions.
What shows the level of user empathy to the site:
- The percentage of e-mails sent to spam;
- Percentage of users with ad blocking;
- The percentage of respondents to polls;
- How many people leave comments after purchase on their own initiative;
- In which tone and how often complaints are received about the service and staff.
Each service has its own indicators, but if major changes are visible in the dynamics, this is a reason to think.
Ongoing mutual process
When a service really cares about its visitors (thinks like them), it causes an emotional rapprochement. Those, in turn, show empathy for their part - they think that people are on the other side of the screen. And so on, the process is ongoing.
This can be compared with karma when its vessel is filled with positive emotions and emptied with negative ones.
All good empathy!
PS Empathy is one of the points of assessing the productivity of sites, about which I once wrote on Habré .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/318990/
All Articles