This session will describe a company-wide program to generate user empathy among one company's engineering workforce through direct user interaction. Attendees will learn about how the program was designed to address key challenges, the results achieved, and the lessons learned.

1. MOTIVATION THROUGH USER EMPATHY
Michael Kronthal (@mkronthal)
Sr. Director, User Experience Research
U X PA 2 0 1 4

2. user experience research @ Yahoo
make our products useful,
usable, and delightful by connecting
our teams with our users
@mkronthal

3. @mkronthal

4. Companies prosper when they tap
into a power that every one of us
already has – the ability to reach
outside ourselves and connect with
other people
“
”
empathy is important
Dev Patnaik
Wired to Care, 2009
@mkronthal

5. @mkronthal

6. @mkronthal

7. empathy = direct
observation
emotional
response+
@mkronthal

8. “researcher” roles
IN EMPATHY BUILDING

9. influence decisions
project teammatesresearcher
best possible
decision
data
empathy
@mkronthal

10. users project teammatesresearcher
researcher as “broker”
@mkronthal

11. @mkronthal

12. @mkronthal

13. users project teammatesresearcher
researcher as “diplomat”
@mkronthal

14. @mkronthal

15. @mkronthal

16. users project teammates
researcher
researcher as “facilitator”
@mkronthal

17. @mkronthal

18. @mkronthal

19. focus on the immediate project team
limited researcher resources/budget
remote observation/replay lacks emotional intensity
limitations of scale

20. motivating at scale

21. 2013 annual goal: user focus
Every engineer observes users of
their product (users they are not
related to), for 1 hour of active
use each quarter
“
”@mkronthal

22. RESEARCH LOVE-FEST!!!
@mkronthal

23. OR …
@mkronthal

24. @mkronthal

25. Every engineer observes users
of their product (users they are
not related to), for 1 hour of active
use each quarter
“
”
2013 annual goal: user focus
@mkronthal

26. Every engineer observes users
of their product (users they
are not related to), for 1 hour of
active use each quarter
“
”
2013 annual goal: user focus
@mkronthal

27. Every engineer observes users of
their product (users they are not
related to), for 1 hour of active
use each quarter
“
”
2013 annual goal: user focus
@mkronthal

28. Every engineer observes users of
their product (users they are not
related to), for 1 hour of active
use each quarter
“
”
2013 annual goal: user focus
@mkronthal

29. “project moccasin”
Yuser NightsD.I.Y
designed for distributed and
employee facing engineer teams
tips, templates, training posted to
intranet for engineers to use
designed for co-located consumer
facing engineer teams
users visit Yahoo for engineer-led
“listening” sessions
every engineer observes users of their
product for 1 hour of active use each quarter
Learning Management System records completion
@mkronthal

30. Yuser Nights - orientation
@mkronthal

31. Yuser Nights – building rapport
@mkronthal

32. Yuser Nights – listening session
@mkronthal

33. Yuser Nights – team debrief
@mkronthal

34. results
30 Yuser Nights worldwide
30% average engineer participation WW
80% consumer product engineer participation
Positive engineer feedback (average 4/5):
• Increased empathy with my users
• Helped identify opportunities to improve my product
• Was a good use of my time
Extended and expanded in 2014
@mkronthal

35. This is easily one of the best 2 hours spent in my job.
User night is the best way for gathering and interacting with real users
and gather real unbiased feedback!
It gave me a unique perspective into how users use Yahoo Mail and how
difficult new things were for them to discover and some of the most
common issues that impact them.
Sometimes we know things about our products, but its not until we see
our users struggle do we actually prioritize and act. It’s invaluable.
“
results
@mkronthal

36. lessons learned
Dedicated Team
@mkronthal

37. thank you to the team
Wako Takayama
Debbie Krysiak
Jack Griffin
Samantha Shaver
Rosie Cabreros
HC Lai
Sukhada Jog
John Hu
Joanne Locascio
Gary Moulton
Sajid Reshamwala
Sonja Yeh
Jihye Kim
Jennifer McNally
Mike Shebanek
Sarit Arora
Kingman Yu
Jose Villareal
Maria Stone
Shirin Sabahi
executive sponsors
Marissa Mayer
David Filo
Andrew Schulte
@mkronthal

38. lessons learned
Dedicated Team
Executive Sponsorship
User Recruiting Quality
Cross-functional Participation
Actioning Insights
@mkronthal

39. users project teammates
researcher
researcher as empathy designer
@mkronthal

40. We Are Hiring!
careers.yahoo.com
mkrontha@yahoo-inc.com
@mkronthal

41. Thank You!
careers.yahoo.com
mkrontha@yahoo-inc.com
@mkronthal