Behavior Design & Empathy

Why "behavior design and empathy" are important for success of any business?

My previous blog post about "user experience in every day living" sparked several ideas in my mind. Most importantly,  it emphasized the "cause-result behavior". Notice, The Internet of Things (IoT) and use of innovation to connect experiences at home, in your car, etc,  is gaining momentum these days, especially, after Google's acquisition of Nest, Inc. User experience is no longer restricted to mere on-screen products. It extends above and beyond this arena. UX is now part of our everyday life. 

Design is meant to empower people, motivate them to make 'good decisions', and ensure ultimate satisfaction.

So now you're thinking, 'how does "behavior design and empathy" fit this philosophy?' 
User Experience is not just great design and functionality, but it is an intrinsic part of human behavior and what we call "empathy". (Many would argue that empathy does not always exist in humans these days. But that's a whole different topic of discussion). How a user interacts with a particular product, and how the product influences human behavior and human psychology are extremely important factors for consideration. When you start thinking of these factors, the science of psychology and cognition come to surface.

For instance: I purchased an iTunes gift card online. My mom is an avid gamer. Every month she purchases x-number of games. Her favorite genre is the hidden object games. Her experience on an iOS tablet involves friction-less in-game purchases for power-ups and help options. In the above scenario, my mom (the user) is already motivated to play mobile games because that contributes to a medium of entertainment. (These brain stimulating games are particularly addictive!). Cause or motivation exists. Her mental energy and time are both fully utilized and she achieves her saturation for the day by playing a few episodes or turns. 
ENTERTAINMENT/STIMULATING GAMES (motivation) + SEARCH FOR NEW/EXISTING GENRES + PLAY/PURCHASES (action/result) = HAPPINESS (end-goal satisfaction)

Another example: 
I was planning to sign up at the YMCA to avail of their pool services. I always wanted to include swimming in my daily workout routine. My motivation already existed. But I needed new swimwear, some goggles, a cap, etc. (hey, there is nothing wrong in looking cool while at the pool!) I wasn't sure where the right kind of swimwear would be available. I browsed online for few mins. I am too lazy to make an in-store purchase. So I stay persistent and continue my search online. Finally, I get frustrated and continue looking on several sites.  However, these items online are expensive. I still click on the "buy button". I do procrastinate for few mins, and then again try to look up the size chart just to make sure the measurements fit. At that point, I was so exhausted by the process, that I did indulge in an impulsive purchase. 
My experience here wasn't seamless. Took a long time to make a decision. Motivation existed > impulse lead to > action. 

When you design a product that motivates a user, touches their lives in one form or the other, initiates action and result in the form of a purchase, a tap, or a click, you know you have made great progress.

Continuity and retention are then based on seamless experience and customer satisfaction. 
Take a look at any m-commerce (mobile commerce) app on your iOS or Android devices. Designing products with minimum friction is the best technique. Why? You motivate the user with easy-to-use intuitive interfaces, and initiate motivation-cause-effect-result. Result being completion of final purchase or the action. Let me rephrase my previous sentence to "motivation-cause-action".

Take for example: Amazon does a great job in initiating purchase, or influencing human behavior through seamless interaction and minimal friction called "one-click purchase". There is no room for procrastination. One-click and your item sale is in process.

A product that solves problems, and is easy-to-use will not only gain traction but will inspire the user to have product loyalty, which in turn, triggers user retention. What you just established is a common bond - between the product and the customer (user). 

Cognition in humans is powerful and can be influenced with great product experiences. Same is with human behavior. This behavior can be changed by providing better experiences, better results and a unique customer satisfaction approach. Educating a user is important, but there is a fine line between re-inventing the wheel and enhancing user experience. This is where "design rules" take priority. 

Design rules are important and the end 'actions' of a user can be defined best based on these rules. Which means design rules are based on human psychology - how people think, perceive, learn and reason or even interact with products and what determines their final course of action. 
All these behaviors are based on cognitive psychology, which plays a key role in determining the basis of human interaction. This helps us explore "human computer interaction". 

What matters to one user may not matter to another. But how many clicks or taps a user has to make to initiate the final course of action is a fairly consistent behavior change. In my opinion, seamless minimal friction interfaces and experiences are always preferable. Do I really want to indulge in mindless clicking? The answer is NO.

Designing to influence behavior change, to create good results, good decisions is the real essence of behavior design. Empathize with the user. Think like a user, and you will sure make a difference. Make a good difference!