Design Thinking: Needfinding and Empathy Session 3A

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the lecture notes on design thinking, empathy, and needfinding.

Design Thinking Process

A human-centered problem-solving approach used to understand user needs, define problems, generate ideas, and prototype/test solutions; it is iterative and includes empathy/define, ideate, prototype, and test.

Empathy

The intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of another's feelings, thoughts, or attitudes; in design thinking, a deep understanding of users gained by immersive research and dialogue.

Need

A physical, psychological, or cultural requirement of an individual or group that is missing or not met by current solutions; often expressed as verbs and activities that reveal motivations and emotions.

Insight

A conclusion drawn from evidence or observation that explains a user's need; Observation + Inference = Insight.

Observation

The act of noticing details about people, contexts, or environments to gather data for understanding user experiences.

Inference

Reasoning derived from observed data to interpret what is happening and what it means for users.

Immersion

Deeply engaging with the user’s experience to understand their feelings, thoughts, and needs.

Engage

Interact with users through conversations, storytelling, and participation to uncover feelings, beliefs, and needs.

Divergent Thinking

Generating a wide range of possible ideas and options without judging them yet.

Convergent Thinking

Narrowing down options to a focused set or single solution through evaluation and synthesis.

Problem Domain

The space of challenges and needs as understood through empathy; where the problem is defined.

Solution Domain

The space of potential designs and solutions that could address the identified needs.

Journey Map

A visual map of a user’s journey over time, showing touchpoints, emotions, and needs to identify opportunities for improvement.

Imposter Ethnographer

A designer role-playing as an ethnographer to collect rapid, in-depth empathy insights through field-like observation and interviews.

Beginner’s Mindset

A beginner’s approach of not judging, asking questions, being curious, finding patterns, and listening well (also called Shoshin).

Open-ended Questions

Questions that invite expansive responses rather than yes/no answers, used to elicit stories and details in interviews.

Interview Rules

Guidelines for interviewing: ask for examples; use open-ended questions; avoid binary or leading questions; limit questions to short length; capture the interview.

Design Challenge

The objective to create a less expensive, feasible solution under constraints (e.g., aiming for $300 instead of $20,000).

Neonatal Mortality

Death of newborns within the first 28 days of life; approximately 4 million deaths annually worldwide.

Low Birthweight

Birthweight below a threshold associated with higher neonatal risk; India has a large share of neonatal deaths.

Empathy to Insight

The process of translating empathic understanding of users into actionable insights for design.

Prototyping & Testing

Building low-fidelity models of a solution to test desirability, feasibility, and viability, accelerating learning.

Abstract vs Concrete

A design-thinking spectrum from abstract empathy concepts to concrete user observations and solutions; maps between problem and solution domains.

Innovation is a Process

Innovation is not a single event; it is an ongoing process framed by design thinking.

Need Framing Prompts

Prompts such as: What do you see? What is going on? What is the need? used to surface user needs.