Dig Until You Feel How Bad They Feel
Inspired by Nan Yu episode
Nan Yu's empathy lesson—dig until you feel how bad they feel—works for user research and toddler cup meltdowns.
Nan Yu teaches product people: dig until you feel how bad they feel. Not intellectually understand it. Actually feel it in your body. You haven't understood the problem until it makes you uncomfortable.
Your toddler is screaming about the wrong color cup. You're thinking it's just a cup. But you're wrong, because to them it's not a cup—it's the fact that nothing in their entire life goes the way they want it to. They can't pick their clothes. They can't pick their food. They can't even pick their own bedtime. And now the cup is blue instead of red, and that's it, that's the breaking point, that's where it all falls apart.
Dig until you feel how bad they feel. The cup meltdown isn't about the cup. It's about being three years old in a world designed by giants who won't let you touch the thermostat. Keep asking why until the problem makes you want to cry too. Then you'll understand.
