n his November 2016 New Yorker article, Om Malik calls out the Silicon Valley juggernauts as a warning to all of us: “The lack of empathy in technology design isn’t because the people who write algorithms are heartless but perhaps because they lack the texture of reality outside the technology bubble.”[1]
But the onus isn’t just on the juggernauts of this era but on every one of us to understand and put into practice what empathy is – without it, we will fail to impact our products, our consumers and ultimately a world full of human lives with the potential we could.
Because every product, platform, service or offering will end with the consumer, empathy is the first crucial step in the development lifeline to delivering impact.
Failing to recognize actual humanity as central to what we do is an easy (and hidden) trap. We are surrounded by data and by technology and the temptation to forego the non-personable aspects that define people, the beings for which the ‘thing’ is being created, in favor of relying on our data and technology, is veiled as logical.
In this session, we will explore empathy as a concept, talk about why and where it belongs in the technology and product design space and how to help your teams develop and keep this skill central.
[1] http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/silicon-valley-has-an-empathy-vacuum
More details: https://confengine.com/agile-india-2017/proposal/3537/deliver-impact-with-empathy
Conference details: http://2017.agileindia.org/
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