Empathy: Your secret weapon in designing for the web

All material © THE WEB PSYCHOLOGIST LTD. 2013. No unauthorised reproduction or distribution. 1

@THEWEBPSYCH @THEWEBPSYCH @THEWEBPSYCH

THE WEB PSYCHOLOGIST @THEWEBPSYCH

EMPATHY

YOUR SECRET WEAPON IN DESIGNING FOR THE WEB

1  INTRODUCTION

2  ‘THREE SYSTEMS’ BRAIN

3  EMPATHY

4  GETTING ON THE SAME WAVELENGTH

5  FIVE STEPS: USE EMPATHY ONLINE

1  INTRODUCTION

3  EMPATHY

1  INTRODUCTION

3  EMPATHY

1  INTRODUCTION

3  EMPATHY

1  INTRODUCTION

3  EMPATHY

1 INTRODUCTION

THE WEB PSYCHOLOGIST @THEWEBPSYCH @THEWEBPSYCH

WEB PSYCHOLOGY

The empirical study of how online environments influence our attitudes and behaviours

“ ” @THEWEBPSYCH

user experience

cognitive psychology

neuroscience

cross-cultural psychology

WEB PSYCHOLOGY

neuro- aesthetics

social psychology

behavioural economics

IT’S ABOUT CONTEXT

PSYCHOLOGY INDIVIDUAL CULTURAL

3 SECRETS TO ONLINE SUCCESS

1  KNOW WHO YOU’RE TARGETING

2  COMMUNICATE PERSUASIVELY

3  SELL WITH INTEGRITY

2 ‘THREE SYSTEMS’ BRAIN

PRIMAL

•  COMMON TO ALL ANIMALS

•  BASIC VITAL FUNCTIONS

•  RISKY vs SAFE (FFF)

•  SEX

•  FOOD

PRIMAL

•  SEX

•  FOOD

PRIMAL

•  SEX

•  FOOD

PRIMAL

•  SEX

•  FOOD

PRIMAL

•  SEX

•  FOOD

PRIMAL

•  CUES FOR SEX

•  IMAGES OF FOOD

•  MOTION

•  CONTRAST & CONCRETE

•  END EXPERIENCES

•  SCARCITY

KEY POINTS

•  LIMBIC SYSTEM

•  ANCIENT & AUTOMATIC

•  AMYGDALA FEAR, RELEVANCE, TRUST

•  THALAMUS HAPPY, SAD, DISGUSTED

•  VTA DOPAMINE – RISK & REWARD

EMOTIONAL

•  EMPATHY

•  MIRROR NEURONS

•  PLEASURE & PAIN

•  BODY LANGUAGE

•  STORY-TELLING

KEY POINTS

•  UNIQUE TO HUMANS

•  HIGHER COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS

•  PLAN, ORGANISE, PROBLEM-SOLVE

•  SOCIAL LEARNING & INNOVATION

•  LANGUAGE, ABSTRACT THOUGHT

RATIONAL

•  ENABLE POST-RATIONALISATION

•  PRODUCT DEMONSTRATION

•  LISTING SPECS / PRODUCT BENEFITS

•  GIVE EVIDENCE THAT IT WORKS

•  BE THE AUTHORITY

KEY POINTS

3 EMPATHY

WHAT IS EMPATHY?

THE WEB PSYCHOLOGIST @THEWEBPSYCH “ ” Oxford Dic5onary

EMPATHY

The ability to understand and share the feelings of another

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

“ ”

Primitive emotional contagion is of critical importance in understanding human

cognition, emotion, and behavior

Ha:ield et al (2009)

MIRROR NEURONS

RizzolaB et al (1992)

Placed electrodes in ventral premotor cortex of macaques, to study neurons specialized in

control of hand and mouth actions… 10% mirror actions

MIRRORING

Credit: Evolu5on of Neonatal Imita5on. Gross L, PLoS Biology Vol. 4/9/2006, e311 doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0040311

MIND-READING

“ ” Ha:ield et al (2009)

Building block of human interaction -

assisting in “mind-reading” and allowing people to understand and to share

the feelings of others

EXPER MENT

Credit: iStockphoto / Thomas Perkins

Credit: Ray Tamarra / Ge\y Images

Credit: Unknown

EXPER MENT

Laird et al (1989)

What did you experience?

PROVOKING EMOTIONS

Laird et al (1989)

If you adopt certain facial expressions, you’re more likely to feel the

associated emotion

PROVOKING EMOTIONS

1  ANGER

2  FEAR

3  HAPPINESS

4  DISGUST

5  SURPRISE

6  SADNESS

Laird et al (1989)

PROVOKING EMOTIONS

1  ANGER

2  FEAR

3  HAPPINESS

4  DISGUST

5  SURPRISE

6  SADNESS

Laird et al (1989)

PROVOKING EMOTIONS

1  ANGER

2  FEAR

3  HAPPINESS

4  DISGUST

5  SURPRISE

6  SADNESS

Laird et al (1989)

PROVOKING EMOTIONS

1  ANGER

2  FEAR

3  HAPPINESS

4  DISGUST

5  SURPRISE

6  SADNESS

Laird et al (1989)

PROVOKING EMOTIONS

1  ANGER

2  FEAR

3  HAPPINESS

4  DISGUST

5  SURPRISE

6  SADNESS

Laird et al (1989)

PROVOKING EMOTIONS

1  ANGER

2  FEAR

3  HAPPINESS

4  DISGUST

5  SURPRISE

6  SADNESS

Laird et al (1989)

Credit: Adrianne Galla5n (2012) h\p://www.globalanimal.org/2013/08/08/secret-‐to-‐animal-‐happiness-‐gallery/71985/laughing-‐seal-‐on-‐beach/

CHANGES IN STATE

“ ”

Viewing emotional facial expressions elicits changes in emotional state

Wild et al (2001)

ADVERT

Lynx TV: Premature Perspira5on ad (2010) h\p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZQUljMZ7aE

Fail Blog Nut Shots (2012) h\p://ow.ly/q99xI

WEBSITE

h\p://www.marieforleo.com/

h\p://next.co.uk

4 GETTING ON THE SAME WAVELENGTH

The tendency to automatically mimic

and synchronize expressions, vocalizations, postures, and movements with those of

another person's and, consequently, to converge emotionally

EMOTIONAL CONTAGION

EXAMPLE

Friedman et al (1980)

Credit: iStockPhoto

Communication is one act, in which the

brain of the communicator, and the brain of the listeners are trying to be coupled,

and merging as one

NEURAL COUPLING

STORYTELLING

Credit: Nathalie Nahai / Webs Of Influence (2012)

John Lewis Christmas Advert (2012) h\p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N8axp9nHNU

EXAMPLE

5 FIVE STEPS: USE EMPATHY ONLINE

PROFILE YOUR AUDIENCE

•  AGE

•  GENDER

•  LANGUAGE

•  INTERESTS

•  CLOTHES

•  BODY LANGUAGE

CHOOSE STATE TO ELICIT

•  ANGER

•  FEAR

•  HAPPINESS

•  DISGUST

•  SURPRISE

•  SADNESS

DESIGN A NARRATIVE THEY

CAN RELATE TO

(THE HERO’S JOURNEY)

CHOOSE YOUR MEDIUM

•  VIDEO

•  TEXT

•  IMAGE

ANALYSE YOUR RESULTS

•  CONVERSIONS

•  VIEWS / LIKES

•  CLICK-THROUGHS

•  SHARES / EMBEDS

REFERENCES 1  Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J. T., & Rapson, R. L. (1994). Emotional contagion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

2  Hatfield, E., Rapson, R. L., & Le, Y. L. (2009). Emotional contagion and empathy. In J. Decety & W. Ickes (Eds.), The Social neuroscience of Empathy. Cambridge, MA: MIT.

3  Di Pellegrino, G., Fadiga, L., Fogassi, L., Gallese, V., & Rizzolatti, G (1992). Understanding motor events: a neurophysiological study. Experimental Brain Research, 91, pp. 176-180.

4  Laird, J. D., Cuniff, M., Sheehan, K., Shulman, D., & Strum, G. (1989). Emotion specific effects of facial expressions on memory for life events. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 4, pp. 87-98.

5  Wild, B., Erb, M., & Bartels, M. (2001). Are emotions contagious? Evoked emotions while viewing emotionally expressive faces: Quality, quantity, time course and gender differences. Psychiatry Research, 102(2), pp. 109-124.

6  Fail Blog Nut Shots (2012). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apVZCG5zAxw&feature=c4-overview&list=UUONQ53-nTMwqiRhj3sRaiAQ

7  Friedman, H. S., Prince, L. M., Riggio, R. E., & Dimatteo, M. R. (1980). Understanding and assessing nonverbal expressiveness: The affective communication test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, pp. 333-351.

THANK YOU!

FREE MINI-COURSE:

INSTITUTE OF WEB PSYCHOLOGY .COM

Empathy: Your secret weapon in designing for the web

Design

A Weapon Secret

[Webinar] Secret weapon: similar web’s API

Social Media Secret Weapon

Uncle Miltie's Secret Weapon

The secret weapon of Children’s Ministry

Meditation: Startup's Secret Weapon

The Secret Weapon of Evernote

"Secret Weapon" by Kevin D. Freeman

PEO: A Business Owner's Secret Weapon

Business Architecture: Strategy Execution’s Secret Weapon

Creativity Is A Leader's Secret Weapon (Colour)

MENTORS: A YOUNG ENTREPRENUR’S SECRET WEAPON

The Ultimate Secret Weapon of Successful Startups

UserTesting eBook CRO Secret Weapon

Are you a ‘ SECRET ’ weapon?

Top Secret Weapon

Ufo s Nazi Secret Weapon

Life Insurers' Secret Weapon: Behavioral Economics

Diversity: Change Management's Secret Weapon - ACMP 2014

JSON Schema: Your API's Secret Weapon