I remember my first design thinking workshop so vividly. The instructor was giving an analogy of what design thinking was. He showed a picture of the most trendy coffeemaker at the time. He said that design thinking was not about building the bells and whistles of the latest and greatest coffeemaker. He then showed a slide of a lady smelling the aroma of coffee and simply enjoying that experience. He said this is what design thinking is about. This analogy totally changed my outlook and mindset on design. As Tim Brown, the former CEO of IDEO put, “Empathy is at the heart of design. Without the understanding of what others see, feel, and experience, design is a pointless task.” Sometimes we are so caught up building that latest feature or trying to fit in one more story into that sprint, we forget to connect with our users to know what they are really feeling. I love to work with people to understand their problems. Whether I am working on a product or coaching a designer, my passion is to empathize with people to deliver that warm feeling and aroma of coffee I smelled during that workshop. I think Maya Angelou’s quote sums it all up. 

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

- Maya Angelou