To Empathize Is Magical
World-renowned magician Jamy Ian Swiss gave an excellent 25-minute presentation at Gel 2009. In addition to some tricks (which were fabulous), he shared some amazing insights that he's learned as a magician, which also apply to anyone who is interacting with end users or customers.
Empathy has to do with knowing the mind of another person. All magicians know that magic occurs only in the spectator's mind...if anything you create has any sort of end user in mind...then theory of mind is important to you too.
Swiss has found that magic happens in the minds of those watching, and he's spent years understanding what people expect and how they respond—theory of mind.
Usability is a brand attribute. Good design is a brand attribute. And all of it requires empathy. All of it requires getting out beyond the thing and understanding what the human experience is at the other end.
I love that last part: "it requires getting out beyond the thing and understanding what the human experience is at the other end." Empathy is all about listening, about understanding, about perspective. It's about getting into other people's minds and seeing what they see. And it's certainly useful for a lot more than just magic!
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