Recently, during a review, Brother Cong mentioned that many of our product managers tend to think from their own perspective rather than from the user's point of view when considering products. This mindset may result in products failing to truly meet user needs.
Last time, Teacher Liang Ning mentioned that Pony Ma can quickly switch to the user's perspective within seconds. Zhang Yiming often emphasizes "a smaller ego." In his book *The Twelve Rules for Product Managers*, Yu Jun also mentions that one should always look at problems from the user's perspective.
However, why is it still so difficult for us to truly empathize with users when making products? This note explores the reasons behind this phenomenon and attempts to find solutions.
Cognitive Egocentrism (Epistemic Egocentrism, EE)
It is a cognitive bias, referring to the difficulty individuals have in setting aside their own knowledge, beliefs, or perspectives when considering others' viewpoints. In other words, people often assume that others share the same information they have, or interpret things in ways similar to themselves, even when this is not the case. EE is a universally present cognitive phenomenon among humans, influencing individuals of all age groups and having profound implications for developmental psychology and human judgment capabilities.
Key characteristics
Difficulty ignoring privileged information：
Individuals struggle to disregard information that only they know and that others cannot access. It leads to an overestimation of the transparency of one's own thoughts, assuming that others understand them as clearly as they do themselves.
Exists in all age groups：
: Due to the underdeveloped ability to switch perspectives, children often exhibit a strong tendency towards egocentrism. : Even mature individuals may display EE when making quick judgments or under high cognitive load.
Impact on communication and social interaction：
Assuming others share one's own knowledge or interpretation can easily lead to misunderstandings. EE hinders the development of effective cooperation and empathy, impacting social and professional environments.
Manifestations in human judgment
The curse of knowledge：
Once you know something, it's hard to imagine not knowing it, making it difficult to accurately predict others' understanding. This leads to overconfidence in communication and teaching, assuming others can grasp concepts that are obvious to oneself.
Egocentric bias in decision-making：
Prioritizing one's own opinions while ignoring others' perspectives, affecting team decision-making and negotiations. In conflict resolution, failing to appreciate others' viewpoints hinders finding solutions acceptable to both parties.
Social Projection：
Projecting one's own beliefs and feelings onto others, assuming non-existent similarities. Leads to misunderstandings of others' actions and intentions.
Methods to Alleviate
Active Perspective Switching：
Consciously consider others' perspectives and reduce egocentric bias. Ask questions and seek feedback to enhance understanding of others' knowledge and feelings. Improve communication skills：
Express clearly, avoid unnecessary assumptions, and ensure accurate information transmission. Prevent misunderstandings by clarifying and restating others' statements. Cultivate empathy：
Empathy involves not only understanding but also feeling the experiences of others. Enhance empathy through mindfulness practice and emotional intelligence training.
Egocentrism in developmental psychology
In the early stages of development, a child's self-concept has not yet been clearly separated from the environment, and the boundary between "me" and "not me" is blurred.
Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development
Sensorimotor stage (birth to approximately 2 years)：
: Infants do not understand that objects still exist when out of sight, indicating unclear boundaries between self and environment. ：By interacting with the environment, infants gradually distinguish themselves from the external world, but early experiences are undifferentiated.
Preoperational stage (approximately 2 to 7 years)：
：Children are unable to think from others' perspectives and assume that others share their own thoughts and feelings. ：Children cannot understand that the doll's perspective is different from their own, highlighting egocentric thinking.
Development of Theory of Mind
：Children begin to develop "Theory of Mind," recognizing that others have different thoughts and feelings, cultivating empathy and the ability to see things from another's perspective. ：Successfully completing such tasks marks the beginning of children's understanding of others' false or unrealistic beliefs, and the start of the transformation of egocentric thinking.
Theory of Mind from an Evolutionary Psychology Perspective
The human ability to infer the intentions and cognition of others, known as "Theory of Mind," has existed for a long time in evolutionary history. Studies show that the larger the neocortex of primates, the bigger and more complex their social groups are. Monkeys can recognize and remember the appearance and voice of each member of the group, paying attention to relationships between individuals.
Fruit-eating primates, due to their high foraging efficiency, have more time to invest in social interactions and status competition. Evolutionary pressures have shifted from physical competition to mental and social strategy competition. Larger brains enable primates to use "political" means to enhance their status. Theory of Mind is crucial here, allowing the inference of others' thoughts and intentions, and the formulation of effective social strategies.
(granular prefrontal cortex, gPFC) plays a key role in this process:
tasks are highly active: such as evaluating one's own personality traits, reflecting on emotions, intentions, and self-concepts. This region is responsible for projecting one's intentions, feelings, and thoughts into simulations of past or future scenarios.
When damaged, it affects not only the real-world self-recognition but also the imagined self-projection. For instance, some patients may develop mirror neuron syndrome, failing to recognize themselves in the mirror and insisting that the person in the mirror is not them.
also show obstacles: difficulty in identifying others' emotions, lack of empathy, inability to distinguish lies from jokes, ignoring social impoliteness, inability to think from others' perspectives, and even difficulty in deceiving others.
The understanding of which often influences each other and supports a shared cognitive system. Recognizing this point is crucial for maintaining the rational objectivity of judgment and decision-making.
Discussion of "Anatta" (No-Self) from the Perspective of Buddhism
"Anatta" (No-Self) in Buddhism is one of the core concepts. The book I recently read, "Why Buddhism is True," delves deeply into the issue of "no-self."
When you truly and profoundly experience "anatta" (no-self), you will have a more comprehensive understanding of this concept. The relationship between your "consciousness" and the things you usually consider as part of "consciousness" (feelings, thoughts, etc.) will change. Once you realize that these things are all "not-self," the relationship between your "consciousness" and them becomes more like observation rather than entanglement, thereby freeing your "consciousness." At this point, the "you"—as described in Buddha's first teaching on "anatta" (no-self)—is this liberated "consciousness."
"No-Self" (not-self) is a higher level of thinking that transcends the distinction between "me" and "not me." By transcending self-consciousness and thinking at a higher dimension, one can not only understand others more deeply but also gain a clearer understanding of oneself.
Conclusion: Create better products from the user's perspective
Egocentrism is deeply rooted in the psychological and physiological structure of humans, but it is not insurmountable. As product managers, only by摆脱ing the mindset of self-centeredness can we truly start from the user's perspective and design products that meet user needs. By actively shifting perspectives, cultivating empathy, and drawing on the Buddhist concept of "no-self," we can transcend our own limitations, more accurately understand users, and create more valuable products.