To really understand your customers, you need to immerse yourself in their world, understand what motivates them – their needs, wants and desires.

Understanding empathy is crucial to building a solution that your customers will desire and want to use.

The best way to understand your customers needs, desires, fears and opinions is to directly speak with them. Even better, spend a day walking in their shoes, understanding what motivates them and their pain-points.

Relying on verbatim feedback and commentary from friends, family, surveys or research online is simply not enough.

Speak with potential customers

Calling or meeting your customers to understand why they do the things they do will help you to create a solution that the customer actually needs or wants.

• Telephone: Call your customers asking them why they purchased your product or used your service.
• Interviews: Invite a small sample of customers for a one-on-one interview asking about their purchase behaviours, what motivates them to understand their fears and desires.
• Immersion: The best way to understand a customer is to immerse yourself in their lives or communities – you can see how they make decisions and gain deeper empathy.