Design Thinking and Empathy Notes

Re-Cap of Design Thinking Concept

  • Design Thinking (DT) is a problem-solving approach that combines creativity, empathy, and analytical thinking to discover innovative and effective solutions to complex challenges.
  • It is a flexible, iterative process involving:
    • Identifying an unmet need or problem.
    • Gathering and analyzing information.
    • Generating ideas.
    • Prototyping.
    • Testing.
    • Implementing, and refining solutions.
  • DT can be applied in any discipline where creative and analytical thinking is required.
  • The goal of DT is to create solutions that are functional, practical, appealing, and desirable to the end-user.
  • DT is a human-centered approach that emphasizes empathy to meet the needs of the people who will use the solution.
  • DT embraces a culture of experimentation and continuous learning, promoting the principle of "Fail Fast & Learn Fast" to help organizations, entrepreneurs, and individuals find creative solutions to complex problems.

Understanding the Context of the Challenge with Empathy

  • To effectively use DT, it's essential to understand the context of the challenge with empathy.
  • This involves gathering information related to:
    • End-users.
    • Target groups.
    • Stakeholders.
  • This information is crucial for formulating solutions that are appealing, useful, and relevant to the target group and stakeholders.

Context Design

  • Context design involves understanding various factors:
    • Mental environment
    • Emotional environment
    • Technology
    • Culture
    • Social
  • It requires a 360-degree view to fully grasp the context.

Sociocultural Context

  • Sociocultural context refers to the immediate physical and social setting where people live.
  • It includes the culture in which the individual lives, receives education, and interacts with others.
  • Example: In America, summarizing spending is called “Spend Analysis,” while in India, it is called “Budget Analysis.”

Technological and Cultural Context

  • Technological Context:
    • Refers to the surrounding environment and factors that influence the development, use, and understanding of a particular technology.
    • It shapes how technology is perceived and applied within a given situation.
  • Cultural Context:
    • Culture shapes how people interpret information and interact with each other.
    • It includes elements like language, traditions, social norms, and religious practices within a specific community or society.

Environmental and Mental/Emotional Context

  • Environmental Context:
    • Encompasses both natural (e.g., climate, geography) and human-made (e.g., built environment, social structures) aspects.
  • Mental/Emotional Context:
    • Refers to the surrounding circumstances, situations, and personal factors that influence and give meaning to someone's thoughts and feelings at a particular moment.
    • It shapes how a person experiences and interprets their emotions, considering past experiences, current environment, and personal beliefs.

Context in Design

  • Context refers to the circumstances, background, or environment in which a person, thing, or idea exists or occurs.
  • Example:
    • Writing a letter to a friend involves a friendly, warm tone with less consideration of structured thoughts.
    • Writing an article for a newspaper requires considering the situation, facts, numbers, statements, and audience.
  • The crucial difference is the context within which you operate.
  • Good design considers the context of the product, audience, and business to create useful concepts/designs that suit how and where users are using them.

Importance of Context in Design

  • Context of use determines the purpose and function of a design.
  • Context grounds ideas in reality and makes nebulous problems tangible.
  • Context makes ideas less confusing and allows people to understand where a product/service fits into the world.
  • When designing and communicating ideas to non-designers, it’s crucial to paint a picture of the contextual environment to avoid unnecessary questions.
  • A customer’s satisfaction with a product/service depends on the context of its use.

Amazon's Experience in India

  • When Amazon launched in India in late 2018, they were surprised that users were not using their app/website.
  • Customers in India weren’t using the mobile site’s homepage to search for products.
  • Testing revealed that people in India associated the magnifying glass icon with a ping-pong paddle, not with the ‘Search’ button.
  • The solution was to add a search bar and write “Search” in Hindi.

Contextual Inquiry

  • Contextual inquiry is a field data collection technique used to capture detailed information about how users interact with a product in their normal work environment.
  • This information is captured through observations of user behavior and conversations with the user while they work.
  • A key aspect is partnering with the user, letting their work and the issues they encounter guide the interview.
  • Key takeaways include learning:
    • What users actually do.
    • Why they do it that way.
    • Latent needs.
    • Desires.
    • Core values.

Contextual Inquiry in a Nutshell

  • Contextual inquiry is a research method based on user-centered design (USD) and is part of the contextual design methodology.
  • It does not involve setting people certain tasks; instead, users are observed while they work in their own environments, such as home, office, or elsewhere.
  • Steps:
    • Start with a primer: Informally introduce, build rapport.
    • Transition: Explicitly transition from the introduction to the contextual interview component.
    • Interview: Observe the participant and initiate discussion points as required (iterative, two-step process).
    • Conclude: Most inquiries conclude within a few hours, but some larger studies may take a day or two.

Importance of Empathy - Examples of Failures

  • Netflix & Qwikster:
    • Netflix operated its DVD and video streaming services on two separate websites without integration.
    • Users had to pay on both platforms, and reviews were posted on both platforms.
  • Airbnb:
    • Back in 2009, Airbnb's business was struggling due to low-quality photos.
    • Hiring a professional photographer led to a surge in demand, illustrating the impact of empathizing with user needs.

Empathy & Context Design

  • To address users' problems, it's important to set aside one’s own opinions and accept what one hears and sees.
  • Having empathy in design means understanding users:
    • Not just their needs.
    • Their constraints.
    • The context of their situation as a whole.

Importance of Empathy for Innovation

  • Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person.
  • It helps individuals and teams to better understand the needs, wants, and challenges of their customers, clients, and stakeholders.
  • Empathy allows teams to identify opportunities for innovation by understanding what problems people are facing and how they might be able to solve them.
  • It helps teams to design solutions that are more likely to be useful, relevant, and meaningful to the people they are intended to serve.
  • Empathy can foster a more collaborative and inclusive work environment, leading to more diverse and innovative ideas.
  • When team members feel heard and understood, they are more likely to be engaged and motivated to contribute their best ideas and efforts.

How to Boost Empathy for Innovation

  • Encourage open and honest communication: Encourage team members to share their thoughts, feelings, and ideas freely and openly to create a culture of trust and understanding.
  • Practice active listening: Encourage team members to actively listen to one another and seek to understand their perspective to build empathy and foster a more collaborative and inclusive work environment.
  • Encourage diversity: Having a diverse team can help to bring a range of perspectives and experiences to the table.
  • Foster a culture of empathy: Encourage team members to practice empathy in their daily interactions and encourage the use of empathy maps and other tools to better understand the needs and perspectives of customers and stakeholders.
  • Encourage collaboration: Encourage team members to work together and collaborate on projects, as this can help to foster a sense of community and support the sharing of ideas and perspectives.

User Research

  • Understanding Users requires consideration of factors such as:
    • Time
    • Tasks / Flow
    • Goals
    • Purpose/s
    • Desires
    • Knowledge
    • Experience
    • Capabilities
    • Needs
    • User's Computing Environment
    • User's Physical Environment
    • Limitations
    • Culture
    • Things

Empathize Methods

  • Assume a Beginner's Mindset
  • Photo- & Video-Based Observations
  • Personal Photo & Video Journals
  • Conduct Interviews with Empathy
  • Engage with Extreme Users
  • Root Cause-The Five Whys Method (Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?)
  • Journey Mapping Embrace Analogies
  • The What-How-Why Method (What? How? Why?)
  • Capture & Share Inspirational Stories

Wicked Problems

  • A wicked problem is a complex and multifaceted problem that is difficult to define and solve.
  • Wicked problems are characterized by:
    • A lack of clear understanding of the problem itself.
    • A lack of consensus on the best approach to solving it.
    • Involvement of a large number of stakeholders with conflicting interests and goals.
    • Long-term consequences that are difficult to predict.
  • Wicked problems are often found in areas such as public policy, urban planning, and social and environmental issues.
  • They require creative and innovative approaches to solve.

Stake Holder Mapping

  • Stakeholders: Cafeteria Staff, Students, Principal, Teachers, and nearby Super Market.
  • Example: Defining and tackling the challenge of getting students to eat a healthy lunch in the school cafeteria.

Stake Holder Mapping - Cafeteria Challenge

  • Students/Cafeteria Staff: Key Stakeholders
  • Teachers & Principal: Interested Parties (need to be informed)
  • Super Market: Spectators

Personas - Empathy and Innovation

  • Personas are fictional characters that represent the needs, behaviors, and goals of a specific group of users or customers.
  • Creating personas can be a helpful tool for boosting empathy and innovation in an organization because it allows teams to better understand and relate to the needs and perspectives of their customers.
  • By creating personas, teams can identify common needs and challenges that users face and use this information to inform product development and marketing strategies.
  • Personas can help teams to create more targeted and relevant solutions by considering the specific needs and challenges of different user groups.

Example Persona

  • Evelyn: Account Executive
    • Demographics: 24 years old, single, from Los Angeles, CA, USA
    • Goals: Spend more time outdoors, make time for friends, volunteer, practice mindfulness
    • Frustrations: Limited parks, LA traffic, expensive dining options
  • Clark Andrews
    • AGE 26
    • Occupation Software Developer
    • Status Single
    • Location San Jose, CA
    • Motivations: Incentive, Fear, Achievement, Growth, Power, Social
      *Goals
      *To cut down on unhealthy eating and drinking habits
      *To Measure multiple aspects of life more scientifically

Customer Interview - Gaining Empathy

  • Prepare your questions:
    • What are you trying to accomplish?
    • What challenges or problems do you face when trying to accomplish that?
    • How do you currently solve those challenges or problems?
    • What are your goals and motivations?
  • Choose your participants: Select a diverse group of customers to interview.
  • Set up the interview: Conduct interviews in person, over the phone, or via video conference.
  • Conduct the interview: Listen actively and ask follow-up questions to get a deeper understanding.
  • Analyze the data: Review your notes and any recordings to identify patterns and insights.

Empathy Interviews - Norms

  • Be curious and take a learning stance.
  • Listen more than you speak.
  • Be fully present, without distractions.
  • Don't challenge, correct, or interrupt.
  • Express gratitude.
  • Direct the conversation, but don't "lead the witness."
  • Ask "why?"
  • Encourage stories. Prompt users to share specific experiences rather than generalizations.
  • Pay attention to nonverbal clues. Be aware of body language and emotions.
  • Don't be afraid of silence.
  • Be prepared to capture data. Always interview in pairs. If this is not possible, bring a recording device.

Types of Questions

  • Closed questions
  • Open-ended questions
  • Check perspectives
  • Share experiences & perspectives
  • Turbo questions
  • Give depth & meaning to experiences

Empathy Map

  • An empathy map is a tool used to help understand and empathize with the perspective of a particular person or group of people.
  • It can be used to better understand the needs, goals, desires, and pain points of a target audience, and to identify potential solutions that might address those needs.
  • To use an empathy map, you’ll need to gather information about the person or group you’re trying to empathize with. This might involve conducting interviews or surveys, or simply observing and taking notes about their behaviors and actions.
  • Review your notes, pictures, audio, and video from your research/fieldwork and fill out each of the four quadrants while defining and synthesizing.
    • What did the user SAY? Write down significant quotes and keywords that the user said.
    • What did the user DO? Describe which actions and behaviors you noticed or insert pictures or drawings.
    • What did the user THINK? Dig deeper. What do you think that your user might be thinking? What are their motivations, their goals, their needs, their desires? What does this tell you about their beliefs?
    • How did the user FEEL? What emotions might your user be feeling? Take into account subtle cues like body language and their choice of words and tone of voice.

Empathy Map - Quadrants

  • SAY: What are some quotes and defining words your user said?
  • THINK: What might your user be thinking? What does this tell you about his or her beliefs?
  • DO: What actions and behaviors did you notice?
  • FEEL: What emotions might your subject be feeling?

Synthesize Insights

  • An “Insight” is the realization that can help you solve your current design challenge.
  • Look to synthesize significant insights, especially from contradictions between two user attributes. It can be found within one quadrant or in two different quadrants.
  • You can also synthesize insights by asking yourself: “Why?” when you notice strange, tense, or surprising behavior.
  • Write down your insights.

Synthesize User Needs

  • Synthesize the user’s needs based on your Empathy Map. This will help you to define your design challenge.
  • Needs are verbs, i.e., activities and desires.
  • Needs are not nouns, which will instead lead you to define solutions.
  • Identify needs directly from the user traits you noted.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

  • Use the American psychologist Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to help you understand and define the underlying needs of your users.
  • In 1943, Maslow published his paper “A Theory of Human Motivation”—in which he proposed that human needs form a hierarchy that can be visualized in the shape of a pyramid.
  • The largest, most fundamental physiological level of needs features at the bottom, and the need for self-actualization sits at the top. Maslow suggested that humans must first fulfill their most basic physiological needs, such as to eat and sleep, before they fulfill higher-level needs such as safety, love, esteem and finally self-actualization. When a lower level of need is not fulfilled, it is technically possible to be fulfilled at a higher level.
  • Consult all five layers in Maslow’s pyramid to help you identify user needs from your empathy map and start to define which needs your user is primarily focused on fulfilling.
  • This will enable you to reflect on how your product or service can help fulfill some of those needs and, ultimately, define your design challenge.

CONTEXT DESIGN DELTA Example

  • Exploring Canvas using VALU MAP

Ways to Write a Problem Statement

  • Space saturation and group (All observations from Empathize phase at one place), group as per themes, patterns, & user needs.
  • The four Ws (With all your findings from the empathize phase in one place, ask yourself the four Ws: Who, what, where, and why?)

The Five Whys

  • Example:
    • Why is she not eating healthily? → She orders takeaway everyday.
    • Why does she order takeaway everyday? → Her fridge and cupboards are empty.
    • Why are the fridge and cupboards empty? → She hasn’t been grocery shopping in over a week.
    • Why hasn’t she been grocery shopping? → She doesn’t have time to go to the supermarket.
    • Why doesn’t she have time? → She works long hours and is exhausted.

Formulating a Clear Starting Challenge

  • What is the target audience or group for whom you are solving the problem? (In the school cafeteria example, this is students at the high school)
  • Is there any specific situation or context in which the problem occurs according to you? (In the school cafeteria example, this is during breaks, particularly the lunch break)
  • Are you seeking an improvement or an innovation to address the problem? (In the school cafeteria example, they are looking for a whole new cafeteria concept, so innovation is necessary)
  • What are the boundaries of the project, including time and budget constraint? (In the school cafeteria example, this includes a €10,000€10,000 budget and a one-year timeline)
  • Formulate a clear starting challenge for your project. (In the school cafeteria example, this is: "How might we innovate the cafeteria service at a high school to encourage more students to use it during breaks, particularly the lunch break, without resorting to serving unhealthy snacks, within a budget of €10,000€10,000 and a timeline of one year?")

Problem Statement - User and Research Perspectives

  • From the user’s perspective: “I am a young working professional trying to eat healthily, but I’m struggling because I work long hours and don’t always have time to go grocery shopping and prepare my meals. This makes me feel frustrated and bad about myself.”
  • From a user research perspective: “Busy working professionals need an easy, time-efficient way to eat healthily because they often work long hours and don’t have time to shop and meal prep.”
  • Based on the four Ws—who, what, where, and why: “Our young working professional struggles to eat healthily during the week because they are working long hours. Our solution should deliver a quick and easy way for them to procure ingredients and prepare healthy meals that they can carry to work.”