1. Marketing, Engineering,
Design…Empathy?
How being more humane helps you win
Fitzgerald Steele, Jr.
Director of Marketing
Integrated DNA Technologies

2. @fjsteele #empathyFTW

3. A little bit about me

4. I speak many languages.

5. Let’s play a game!

6. 10 Positive Emotions of MMTW
• Joy
• Relief
• Love
• Surprise
• Pride
• Curiosity
• Excitement
• Awe and Wonder
• Contentment
• Creativity
* Blatently “reused” from Jane McGonigal’s TED Talk

7. Marketing, Engineering,
Design…Empathy?
How being more humane helps you win
Fitzgerald Steele, Jr.
Director of Marketing
Integrated DNA Technologies

11. When Marketing, Engineering,
and Design Work Together…

17. And When They Don’t…

19. So why isn’t every product and
service awesome?

20. “I used to think projects were 80% people stuff,
20% technology. Now I think it’s like 90% people
stuff…”
-- Robert Torres

21. One example:
Hostility Attribution Bias*
* Google-able phrase

22. em·pa·thy
1) the ability to understand and share the feelings
of another.
2) understanding and fully comprehending
another’s feelings
3) the action of understanding, being aware of,
being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the
feelings, thoughts, and experience of another

23. Yes, I’ll help!
No, thanks
Threshhold of
Action
This is similar to BJ Fogg’s Behavior Change Model

24. Empathy Circuit Training
For Marketers, Engineers, Designers

25. Empathy For…
• Customers
• Colleagues
• Community

26. CUSTOMER EMPATHY
Getting Into Their World, Understanding Their Journey

27. Customer Personas*

28. Customer Journey Maps*

29. COLLEAGUE EMPATHY
Finding Common Ground, Building Together

30. Always
Be
Constructing…
Externalize Your Thinking,
Create Boundary Objects*

31. Always
Be
Constructive

32. Positive Psychology
Positive Teams Accomplish More*
Positive-to-Negative Ratio Marriage*
3-1 Positivity Ratio*

33. Appreciative Inquiry*
• …It is founded on the simple assumption that
human systems – teams, organizations and
people – move in the direction of what they
study, what they focus on and what they talk
about with regularity.
Positive images inspire positive action.

34. Let’s Try An Appreciative Interview
• Partner with the person next to you.
• You’re going to interview them for 5 minutes,
asking the two questions I’m about to share
with you.
• Then, you will switch roles. The interviewer
will become the interviewee.
• Be curious, interested. Feel free to explore,
delve, and go wherever the conversation takes
you.

35. Tell me about one of the most significant and
satisfying accomplishments or events you have
experienced as a student…a time when you felt like
you were working at your best on something fun or
interesting or engaging:
– When was it
– Was anyone else involved
– What did you do that made this occasion so
memorable
– How did you feel as you approached the event?
During? How did you feel when it was over?

36. COMMUNITY EMPATHY
Engaging in the World Around You

40. How Do You Better Relate With
Others?
Your
Specialty,
25%
Everything
Else, 75%

41. Think About Engaging, Empathizing With People At
Lower Levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs*…OR…

42. Consider Upping Your
Zombie Apocalypse Relevant Skills

43. Empathy for others around you…
You and
Your
World
Customers
Colleagues
Community

44. …will help you expand your
world.
Your New
World

45. Empathy is the key to expanding the
area in which you can influence
…hopefully in a positive way
The whole talk
in less than 140
characters…
Tweet that!

46. @fjsteele #empathyFTW