The best real-life example of empathy with the customers
Design is a practice and all the design methodologies are based on empathy. My team members, designers and non-designers always ask for the real life examples to demonstrate how the genuine empathy looks like and how can they understand its impact. So, I am writing about one of the best examples of a system showing empathy with the customers.
Before we converse further, please answer one question. Who has/had the world’s smallest postal address? Any guesses? Hint, everyone in India carries his photo in their wallet. It was Mahatma Gandhi. His followers didn’t posted letters addressing to him at: -
Shri Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Sabarmati Ashram, Ashram Road, Old Wadaj, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380027, India
They used to just write his name and post the letters: -
To, Respected Bapu / Gandhi ji / Mahatma ji.
The Indian post (under the British Raj) took the responsibility to keep a track of Mahatma’s location (he traveled frequently across the country) and to reroute all the letters to his current location.
This is a beautiful example of a system showing empathy. The Indian Post could have returned all the letters citing — ‘sender not found’ and could have pocketed their commissions. But they knew the emotional value of those letters. Men and women, under severe distress, used to pour their heart in those letters and found solace in Mahatma’s replies. The Indian Post empathized with their customers and kept rerouting tens of thousands of letters, across the country, for many decades. I salute them. This is an example of genuine empathy.
Do you have any examples of empathy and its impact? Please feel free to share in the comments.
