In this increasingly complicated world, it’s hard enough delivering a useful product, much less one that someone really loves.

Modern startups have proven that industry disruption is possible by focusing not on adding features or improving sales, but on providing deep, meaningful engagement with the people who use their products or services. This engagement is achieved by delivering simple products that have a soul: the products feel less like manufactured artifacts and more like good friends.

The key is empathy-driven design thinking, using a process of storytelling and iteration, with results that provoke emotion, change behavior, and create deep engagement.

Here, Jon Kolko, VP of product innovation and design at MyEdu, and founder and director of Austin Center for Design, presents a repeatable, teachable set of steps from his new book, for identifying lucrative opportunities, designing for innovation, and producing products that have deep, meaningful emotional engagement.