The Power of The Human Touch
👋 Hey UXers, runners, and running UXers — I have something to share that will hopefully bring you back to why you got into your craft in the first place. Whether you’re a marathon runner stuck in a rut or a UX Writer feeling burnt out, we all got into this crazy challenge for a reason.
Ah, the origin story. Let’s get into it:
The other day, I realized that running — yes like the thing you love and hate all at the same time — has really contributed to humankind’s survival and our evolution, at least in an anatomical sense. Our strong tailbones and glutes evolved over time as we continued to use the gift of running for survival. Even though we sit on our glutes for alarming periods of time each day, our buttocks actually evolved from moving! THE IRONY! Read Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. McDougall has done the research and has excellent evidence about why we have so much junk in the trunk.
Movement is an integral part of the human experience. We run into a loved one’s arms, we run from danger, and we run over hurdles — literally, we ignite our speed and lift off the ground to jump over stuff.
(Butt. Let’s move on for the sake of staying on track 🏃…)
👉🏽 A coffee in hand at my desk with my legs up after a deliciously slow morning jog, I was deep into my Twitter newsfeed to track down inspiration for my upcoming half marathon in Tucson, AZ. That’s when I came across the iconic 2012 story about the Kenyan runner Abel Mutai, and his unfortunate confusion towards the end of the race.
My brain lit up when I saw the post and I nearly spilled the coffee all over my favorite fall sweater as I abruptly stood up with an inspiring thought:
The signage was confusing and a runner almost didn’t finish — no win — a race but for a human voice? This sounds like a UX situation to me!
I love running. I love writing. I love UX.
💡 What do runners, writers, and UXers have in common?
Empathy.
Grit, methodologies, self-discipline, caffeine, creation — sure. We can agree these commonalities make sense.
However, this particular running story highlights the community part of running and writing: Empathy is what truly bridges the solitude of the runner or writer with the community.
👟 The 2012 warm, fuzzy running story: At a cross-country race in Burlada, Navarre, Spanish runner, Iván Fernández Anaya was a good distance behind Kenyan runner, Abel Mutai.
Iván, seeing Abel stop dead just before the finish line in confusion, read his puzzlement and yelled to Abel to keep running ahead. This ultimately pushed Abel forward to the finish line to take the win.
👉🏽 This small bit of running community goodness, just one of the many reasons I LOVE being part of the running community, exemplifies the power of the human touch (and maybe the need for a UXer to improve the marathon course design and signage, but that’s another story).
Iván showed the power of empathy; his GUIDING words helped push Abel over the finish line to win the race. Talk about human touch!
“It was a very good gesture of honesty,” says Iván. “A gesture of the kind that isn’t made anymore. Or rather, of the kind that has never been made. A gesture that I myself wouldn’t have made. I certainly would have taken advantage of it to win.”
💡 In the midst of competitive chaos, there is an opportunity for empathy and honesty — a moment of human touch. Let’s consider human touch next time we sit down to write/design or lace up our sneakers before a race.
Inserting a gesture of empathy into any moment when someone might be confused, frustrated, angry, or hopeless can be the bit of humanness they need to cross the finish line, complete the action, continue reading, finish the form, or buy the thing!
We aren’t in it to win it when we’re writing a message, crafting a button, or designing a user journey map. Keep. Empathy. On. The. Table.
Here’s a few ways to bring empathy into your UX designing or writing:
💡(1) Reframe “user experience” to “human experience”.
We’re all humans. Take Postel’s Law: designing good user experiences is designing good human experiences. Humans are prone to error and interact with interfaces the same way they interact with humans. Know your audience — HOOMANS!
Consider language, demographics, experience, etc. Expect the unexpected, and plan for it! We want to be thorough, direct, and robust in our design and writing decisions.
💡(2) Get curious.
Empathy means sharing the feelings of another person, or at least trying to!
Work your empathy muscle by exploring other people’s viewpoints and experiences and learn to accept them as part of a complex human experience.
Join new conversations, be more present in different environments, visit new places, and explore new ideas, systems, art, beliefs, sports, and anything that gets you out of your comfort zone.
💡(3) Write and design for accessibility.
Consider writing and designing with accessibility in mind.
There is an ever-growing interest in the UX community on accessibility — and resources are endless. For example, check out WCAG or jump into an informative human conversation on Content Rookie on designing and writing for a neurodivergent audience.
💡(4) Get to know your biases.
First, admit that we all have biases. You have biases. That’s part of the human condition.
Often without knowing it, we judge others or label them one way or another. To work on understanding your biases and how you might react vs. respond to someone consider:
· Taking a biases quiz.
· Applying honesty and presence in conversations and interactions.
· Checking your privilege.
· Making sure you’re asking and receiving feedback — and you fully hear it.
Check out Brad Stultz’s article on commonalities between writing and running! P.S. Brad, add in empathy!
If you like what you see here, wanna chat, or do an audit of UX oopsies in the running community just shoot a message to namasteforrunners@gmail.com!
Athletes! Come to yoga. We’re building a virtual community of running yogis — classes start up soon. Check out Namaste for Runners Yoga and Events here!
