Build Things People Care About
How to get attention, engagement, and investment
Quick note: I’m co-producing a large-scale immersive experience that will go live in April. From now until then, Metaformative will be published biweekly.
One of the things you’ll hear me repeatedly say is that when it comes to building anything meaningful, you gotta tap into something people already care about or what they can’t afford to ignore. That’s how you get people’s attention, make an impact, win in the market, and build a strong brand, movement, platform, or product.
There is no way around this. People sign up for dating apps because they care about finding love and partnership. They buy anti-aging creams because they care about looking youthful. They opt into therapy because they care about their mental health or healing their relationship. People make money because they can’t afford not to care about their survival and financial security. They vote because they have to care about policies that impact them and their communities. They adopt a healthier diet because it’s the only way to prevent disease or chronic illness.
So, then, the big questions become:
What do people inherently care about?
What is it that people can’t afford to ignore?
How do we inspire and encourage people to care, or how do we help them realize that they can’t afford not to care?
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: This is a critical moment in history. It’s an inflection point where we define and design futures in an accelerated cycle of disruption. Periods of rapid change tend to create pressure cookers, which force decision-making, which in turn speeds up the process of transformation in such a way that it may feel like we’ve jumped into an entirely new timeline.
With transformation comes a shift in awareness.
We’re currently undergoing what many folks call a “collective awakening.” This is not the first, nor will it be the last. These awakenings are often the byproduct of more people caring about something or realizing that the (mental, physical, spiritual, financial, environmental) cost of not caring is too high. This increase in care is so powerful that it can be energetically felt before it’s more tangibly noted in the culture. Collective awakenings catalyze transformation on a mass scale, sometimes suddenly (COVID-19 pandemic) and other times unfolding slowly as more evidence is revealed (climate crisis movement). Whether coming face to face with our mortality or noticing the impacts of climate change in our own backyard, the truth has a way of alerting an immediate response.
When we care about something, two things happen: We notice and pay more attention to it, and as our care deepens, we invest more focus, energy, resources, and commitment. This applies to everything—relationships, companies, causes, hobbies, passions, personal health, finances.
The more we care, the more present we become, and that presence unlocks deeper insight, helping us discern whether to invest further. But it starts and ends with care—caring is what determines much of how we choose to spend our resources.
But care is complex. Sometimes, we do care but can’t afford the time, money or energy required to invest in something, or we don’t actually care but invest resources because we can, feel we have to, or doing so will benefit us in some strategic way (think of the rich throwing money at art).
What do people inherently care about?
People care about many things—impact, status, security, growth, freedom, love, belonging, faith, survival, and everything in between. But at the core, people buy, invest, and commit because something gets them closer to what they want. Your product sells not just because of its mission, vision, or founder story (although that helps) but because it moves people toward something they desire—saving time or money. Elevating their status, deepening their connections, or giving them a sense of control. People want solutions, but they also want meaning, pleasure, comfort, and power. Some invest for survival, others for self-expression, and some just want to be seen as good.
At the root of every decision—whether buying a product, joining a movement, or following a belief system—is the same question: Does this bring me closer to what I seek? Understanding that is the key to influence, impact, and building things that truly resonate.
I recently went to Othership, a wellness space that started in Toronto and expanded to NYC. The place was packed and full of energy—which was surprising for 5:30 PM on a weekend. At one point, I was sitting in the lounge post sauna (avoiding the cold plunge) and looking around, wondering, why are people here? Why did we choose to spend ourFriday night at a wellness space instead of anywhere else?
When Othership was in its research and prototyping phase, the sauna and cold plunge circuit were already becoming a thing in the wellness world, and going to spas as a social activity had been increasing in popularity in North America. But what most existing spaces were missing was an x factor—combining aesthetic and experience design in a way that makes 90 minutes at the spa feel like a spaceship for the senses—part sanctuary, part art installation, part bohemian dreamscape—where self-care feels like stepping into another dimension. When you’re there, you feel like you’re taking care of your health, connecting with others, and part of a cultural movement all at the same time.
If we break down how they merged wellness, community, and design through the lens of cultural relevance and what people care about, here’s what we find:
Wellness is top of mind. More people recognizing the need to prioritize their mental and physical health has led to a steady rise in wellness products and services over the past few decades.
We crave connection. As social creatures, we are wired for belonging. Emerging from lockdowns and adjusting to remote work realities, third spaces (that aren’t home or work) where we can unwind and be social have become more important than ever.
Good design matters. We may not consciously think about it, but we notice the effort, the detail, and the uniqueness of a brand and space. We care about the curation because it makes us feel a certain way.
That feeling, along with the tangible benefits, is what compels people to drive downtown, pay $20 for parking, and become a sweaty mess for an hour before work or dinner.
The thing to remember when bringing something into the world is that even if people care, asking for their time, money, and energy means competing—consciously or unconsciously—with every other way they could be spending those resources. A founder of a virtual academy once shared with me that when we invite people to an online program for a few hours each week, we’re not just asking them to show up—we’re asking them to choose it over the gym, Netflix, or a night hanging with friends.
The more we can blend activities, causes, goals and desires that people care about, the easier we make it for them to opt in.
When you understand why someone would choose your offering over everything else competing for their attention, it fundamentally shifts how you create and bring it to market. Sometimes, bringing together multiple points of care into one offering creates a product people can’t resist. Other times—like when you’re selling sparkling water—you have to go beyond tapping into care and culture and make it clear why your product deserves more of their attention and investment than the rest.
It’s more straightforward to think about things people inherently care about, but what about the things they can’t afford to not care about?
The challenge with things we can’t afford to ignore is that they often feel less noticeable, obvious, or urgent. Consuming less cholesterol may not seem important until we’re confronted with a health scare. Saving money may not be a priority until we have to navigate loss of income or a financial emergency. Building sustainable systems into our business will get deprioritized until we reach a point where we can no longer manage the chaos. Not sharing our truth with a partner or friend may be avoided until the discomfort overpowers the fear of conflict.
Changing habits that are fuelling the climate crisis doesn’t feel pressing until our neighbourhood is on fire. Taking initiative and engaging in our communities feels optional until we recognize that we need each other to fight against threats to democracy.
Foresight isn’t our greatest strength. When we don’t yet realize that we can’t afford not to care, it’s easy to dismiss the issue as someone else’s responsibility. It feels improbable, too distant to be relevant, or too abstract to factor into our daily lives and decisions. Until the consequences knock on our door, we often struggle to grasp the urgency.
This leads us to the question: How do we inspire and encourage people to care, or how do we help them realize that they can’t afford not to care?
Social scientists would tell you that care is shaped by social conditioning and collective experiences—people care more when they see others caring. Behavioural economists would argue that care is driven by incentives, urgency, and the fear of loss—people act when the cost of inaction feels too high. Artists would say that care is about resonance—when something makes us feel deeply, we can’t ignore it. Entrepreneurs would tell you that care is about solving problems—people invest in things that make their lives easier, better, or more exciting. Politicians would say that care is about power and perception—people engage when an issue feels personal, urgent, or tied to their identity. The truth is, all of these are right. What people care about—and how much they’re willing to invest—depends on what moves them, what threatens them, and what they believe will bring them closer to what they want.
Why people care and how we can inspire care feels like an ongoing research and discovery process that continues to evolve as we evolve—our consciousness, the state of the planet, science, technology, culture, the economy, and politics. The information and narratives we consume, the knowledge we acquire, and the evidence we perceive are continuously shifting and shaping our values, our worldviews, and what we choose to prioritize and advocate for. We may not be fully aware of these subtle changes, but they are happening and are often apparent only when we zoom out and look at the decisions we’ve made over time.
We care about what we value, and our values are shaped by our lived experiences, identities, and the information we absorb. Inspiring care—or helping people realize they can’t afford not to—requires more than just presenting facts. It’s about storytelling, connecting the dots, and doing the foresight work that most people don’t have the time, capacity, or willingness to do. But information alone isn’t enough. If it were, reading a report or watching a documentary would immediately change our actions (not saying it never happens—I stopped eating octopus after watching My Octopus Teacher).
The key to inspiring people to care—whether about their health, their community, a war in another country, or a future that feels far, far away—is emotion. People have to feel something deeply, something they can’t shake, forget, escape, or dismiss. An imprint that’s potent, personal, and undeniable. But feeling isn’t enough. Real change happens when people have the opportunity to act—to try, practice, and engage. Art and storytelling are powerful catalysts, but we often need tangible, sensory experiences to fully grasp and believe in what’s possible or to confront the reality of a problem. Transformation happens when knowledge moves from the abstract to the visceral—when what we know, feel, and think is put into motion.
We change the world and our lives by directing our attention toward specific things. Before we invest resources, we focus our awareness. As this focus intensifies, our level of care increases, determining how we respond and how quickly we act.
Whether you’re selling a product or starting a movement, inspiring people to care is at the core of engagement. Care isn’t binary—it’s a dial that gets turned up or down based on how much something aligns with someone’s values and how likely it is to get them closer to what they want. Inspiring care starts with our care. It shows up in everything—from our branding and the experiences we create to our storytelling and the features we design. It’s evident in how we respond to feedback and fulfill our promises. Care breeds care. The more we care, the more they care, and the more they inspire others to care.
The essence of engaging people and driving change depends not just on understanding what people inherently care about but also on tapping into the urgency of what they can’t afford to ignore. Weaving care into the things we produce and aligning our creations with the deep-seated needs and desires of those we’re hoping to serve will not only solve problems but also build trust, inspire innovation, and strengthen the collective spirit. The deeper our work resonates with what people value and the prevailing cultural zeitgeist, the greater its impact. Why would someone care? Why should someone care? These are questions to be asking before putting anything out into the world. We have to approach care as a currency that has the power to make seismic shifts. Because the reality is, it’s the only thing that ever has.