Empathy Stage (9:45)
Empathizing with the people experiencing the problem, and researching the relevant details. NOT thinking about solutions!
Ethnographic research involves observing issues from the point of view of the subject of the study. Methods include interviews, observation, role-taking, desk research, surveys and focus groups.
Q&A with Special Guest, Subject Area Expert, Dr. Will Miller (30 minutes)
Activity 1 - Interviewing (15 minutes)
Pair up for interviews with the purpose of learning about the person you are interviewing and their views and experiences around the problem. Each person will take turns playing the part of the interviewer, five minute each. Approach the interview with the mind of a beginner, setting aside pre-conceived notions, and pretending to know nothing about the problem. Use post-its to note facts and insights relevant to the problem. Begin with the interviewee’s name (post-it #1), followed by insight about the interviewee’s personality, one per post-it. Set those aside, and start asking questions about the interviewee’s experience and insight regarding the design problem. After both people have served as interviewer and interviewee, if time allows, spend two minutes each asking deeper follow-up questions based on insights you gained.
15-Minute Break @ 10:30
Activity 2 - Affinity Map (25 minutes)
Pairs combine into groups of four (or three or five) and gather around a white board. Each person introduce the person you interviewed - sticking the intro post-its at the top of the board. Then begin sharing the insights you gained by sticking them on the board one at a time. As group members see correlation with their own insights, they should share their ideas sticking the post-it along side the one it is related to. As all members share their insights in a free form manner, clusters of post-its should begin to emerge on the board. When all post-its are on the board, circle and label the clusters. It is normal to have a few outliers. Those outliers might be the most significant insights! One’s that no one has ever considered. They might serve to unlock new and unique solutions later in the process.
Activity 3 - Empathy Map (15 minutes)
The Empathy Map provides a reference to insights about a persona representing your primary stakeholder. Consider an actual person for whom you are designing a solution - this will be a persona that your group will reference throughout the design process. Use a white board area to sketch the image shown here, providing just the large words for reference. Sketch your persona of on a post-it and give her or him a name. Stick the persona post-it at the center of your Empathy Map (see image). Have the group consider the questions on the Empathy map and write their insights on post-its, one per post-it, sticking the post-its in the appropriate locations. In relation to the design problem:
What does your persona Hear and See?
What does your persona Think and Feel?
What does your persona Say and Do?
What are pain points and positive aspects - gains.
Other Tools for Empathy
Stakeholder Map
A tool for identifying the primary stakeholder and all others impacted by the problem.
Context Map
A tool for analyzing environmental trends in the organization, in technology, in society, in users behavior and in the market that impact the problem.
Mind Map
A tool for organizing one’s thoughts about the problem, components, and connected concepts.
Journey Map
A tool for analyzing the primary stakeholder’s (or other stakeholders’) activities and interactions before, during, and after the point of the problem in time.