DESIGN THINKING-VISUALIZATION

CHALLENGE AND SELECTION

I work at the position of content manager and my basic goal is to lead my team  to get a final, good, needful content prepared. But to get content to the point,  it’s very necessary to understand the customer and his needs properly. For this  task I use visualization as a tool. I think visualization in the form of empathy  maps,  experience  maps,  etc.,  can  be  a  game  changer  in  this

regard.  An empathy map is a collaborative visualization used to articulate  what we know about a particular type of user. It externalizes knowledge about  users in order to create a shared understanding of user needs, and aid in  decision making.

APPLICATION

First I divide my team of 8 members into groups of 2 and then ask them each  to give me an empathy map on the same customer. I often give them a time  frame. Also I instruct them to keep in mind the basic structure of the empathy  maps i.e., the four quadrants (Says, Thinks, Does, and Feels) of-course with the  customer in the middle.

The Says quadrant contains what the user says out loud in an interview or  some other usability study. The Thinks quadrant captures what the user is  thinking throughout the experience. Ask yourself (from the qualitative research  gathered): what occupies the user’s thoughts? What matters to the user? It is  possible to have the same content in both Says and Thinks. However, pay  special attention to what users think, but may not be willing to  vocalize. The Does quadrant encloses the actions the user takes. From the  research, what does the user physically do? How does the user go about doing  it? The Feels quadrant is the user’s emotional state, often represented as an  adjective plus a short sentence for context. Ask yourself: what worries the  user? What does the user get excited about? How does the user feel about the  experience?

Each group is free to access the data required for the mapping by any means  they  can  arrange  for  example   user  interviews, field  studies, diary

studies, listening sessions, or qualitative surveys. As soon as the groups are  ready with their individual maps, I call up a discussion session. Then each  group presents their maps and their view of the customer and his needs. We  have an evaluation of each point discussed under each heads. After a complete  reviewing activity I give my inferences from all the maps and also give a revised  final empathy map to follow for the content creation to my team.

INSIGHT & APPROACH

The basic insight which I get from this activity is that the final empathy map

gives the team a better understanding of the customer and his needs which in

turn helps them to create a better and specific content for the customer.  What

user or persona will you map? Will you map a persona or an individual user?

Converge to cluster and synthesize: In this step, the team moves through the

stickies on the board collaboratively and clusters similar notes that belong to the

same quadrant. Name your clusters with themes that represent each group (for

example, “validation from others” or “research”). Repeat themes in each

quadrant if necessary. The activity of clustering facilitates discussion and

alignment — the goal being to arrive at a shared understanding of your user by all

team members. Depending on the purpose of your empathy map, polish and

digitize the output accordingly. Be sure to include the user, any outstanding

questions, and the date and version number.

I found that visualization should be one of the starting steps for design thinking.

The other time I would also like to include the storytelling method along with the

visualization method so that my team can have a better understanding of the

requirements as well as they can also connect to the need in a much better way.


DESIGN THINKING - VISUALIZATION CHALLENGE AND SELECTION I work at the position of content manager and my basic goal is to lead my team to get a final , good , needful content prepared . But to get content to the point , it ’s very necessary to understand the customer and his needs properly . For this task I use visualization as a tool . I think visualization in the form of empathy maps , experience maps , etc . , can be a game changer in this regard . An empathy map is a collaborative visualization used to articulate what we know about a particular type of user . It externalizes knowledge about users in order to create a shared understanding of user needs , and aid in decision making . APPLICATION First I divide my team of 8 members into groups of 2 and then ask them each to give me an empathy map on the same customer . I often give them a time frame . Also I instruct them to keep in mind the basic structure of the empathy maps i.e. , the four quadrants ( Says , Thinks , Does , and Feels ) of - course with the customer in the middle . The Says quadrant contains what the user says out loud in an interview or some other usability study . The Thinks quadrant captures what the user is thinking throughout the experience . Ask yourself ( from the qualitative research gathered ): what occupies the user ’s thoughts ? What matters to the user ? It is possible to have the same content in both Says and Thinks . However , pay special attention to what users think , but may not be willing to vocalize . The Does quadrant encloses the actions the user takes . From the research , what does the user physically do ? How does the user go about doing it ? The Feels quadrant is the user ’s emotional state , often represented as an adjective plus a short sentence for context . Ask yourself : what worries the user ? What does the user get excited about ? How does the user feel about the experience ? Each group is free to access the data required for the mapping by any means they can arrange for example user interviews , field studies , diary studies , listening sessions , or qualitative surveys . As soon as the groups are ready with their individual maps , I call up a discussion session . Then each group presents their maps and their view of the customer and his needs . We have an evaluation of each point discussed under each heads . After a complete reviewing activity I give my inferences from all the maps and also give a revised final empathy map to follow for the content creation to my team . INSIGHT & APPROACH The basic insight which I get from this activity is that the final empathy map gives the team a better understanding of the customer and his needs which in turn helps them to create a better and specific content for the customer . What user or persona will you map ? Will you map a persona or an individual user ? Converge to cluster and synthesize : In this step , the team moves through the stickies on the board collaboratively and clusters similar notes that belong to the same quadrant . Name your clusters with themes that represent each group ( for example , “ validation from others ” or “ research ” ) . Repeat themes in each quadrant if necessary . The activity of clustering facilitates discussion and alignment — the goal being to arrive at a shared understanding of your user by all team members . Depending on the purpose of your empathy map , polish and digitize the output accordingly . Be sure to include the user , any outstanding questions , and the date and version number . I found that visualization should be one of the starting steps for design thinking . The other time I would also like to include the storytelling method along with the visualization method so that my team can have a better understanding of the requirements as well as they can also connect to the need in a much better way .