Rory Sutherland Archives

The Empathy Gap

November 11, 2019November 11, 2019 Cameron D. Norman 1522 Views behavioural economics, design research, design thinking, empathy, Jon Kolko, marketing, neuroscience, perception, psychology, Remembrance Day, research, Rory Sutherland, service design

Empathy is considered to be at the bedrock of good design. But what if how we’re thinking about empathy is

innovation

Strangling Innovation

October 31, 2019October 31, 2019 Cameron D. Norman 854 Views behavioural economics, design, ecosystem, marketing, Rory Sutherland, service design

Not even the best innovation team can escape bad systems. Without looking at your systems, innovation might just get suffocated.

psychology systems thinking

Marketing Metaphors of Meaning in Complexity

July 17, 2012July 17, 2012 Cameron D. Norman 894 Views Bruce Mau, complexity, Dave Snowden, design, design thinking, empathy, marketing, metaphor, narrative, public health, public policy, Rory Sutherland, storytelling, systems change, systems thinking, TED, tobacco control

Marketing is largely about identity and stories about identity. Marketers want to influence what you do (choose, use, purchase, etc..) and how you experience what you do when you do it. To do this, they know the importance of design and the stories to accompany that design. Design, when done well, is partly about creating empathy with those who are to benefit from the products of design and the best products out there are ones that apply empathy and guide behaviour at the same time. Storytelling is the vehicle that links them together.

design health psychology

Contemplating Better Public Health: Perspective is Everything

May 31, 2012January 8, 2013 Cameron D. Norman 1326 Views cigarette use, contemplative inquiry, design, health promotion, mental health, mindfulness, perception, public health, Rory Sutherland, tobacco control

How might we apply the lessons from cigarette use to mental health promotion? How might we design programs, spaces, places, and social conventions that promote the quiet contemplative acts that come from taking that cigarette break and offer potentially great value to tobacco users without creating harmful effects for others?

Engaging design, complexity and imagining the systems that influence them both might yield considerable insight into how we manage other public health problems and how we might better promote mental health in the protection of physical well-being.