Empathy Research Methods for Design Thinking

As the first part of the Design Thinking Process, empathy is crucial for setting goals and ensuring that the final product will satisfy users. Employing empathy requires connecting with the users and understanding their experience: what do they want, what do they like, what problems do they have.

There are many methods to gather this user information. The right one depends on the specific situation and multiple may be used at various points in the process. Here are some of the overall types.

1. Storyboarding

A simple place to get started with understanding the user experience is creating storyboards. Storyboards are a series of images laid out to explain a process step-by-step. By showing how a user would walk through an interaction with a product or service, the team can get an idea of what areas may cause trouble or what may be missing. They also see what the experience is intended to be like.

Dayana Mayfield’s article Guide to Storyboards for Design Thinking states that “By aligning around the user journey, organizations will save a lot of money when it comes time to move onto the next phases of design thinking, such as UX design, prototyping, product validation, and development” (Mayfield).

Storyboards focus on the essentials of the user journey, the general concepts of what should happen at each part. Because of this, the visuals do not have to be complicated. As long as they communicate the idea, even the simplest drawings can form an effective storyboard.

Simple stick figure storyboard, credit Osama Abdelnaser

Through these basic drawings, everyone can comprehend the user's journey from start to end and how the product helps them accomplish their goals.

2. Observing

A way to learn more about customers is observing people actually using the product or service.

What/How/Why

In this method, a researcher goes to the environment in which the product/service is used and quietly observes what people are doing, how they are doing it, and why they are.

According to Ale Wiecek’s article 9 Best Empathic Research Methods To Help You Dig Deeper & Truly Understand Your Customer, “The ‘why’ is very important because it started giving us information about their behaviour and either validating some of our early assumptions or crafting new hypothesis: were there artefacts in the environment that were causing them to behave that way? Was it because the way this company has addressed the experience, or was it because they were doing this as a personal preference?” (Wiecek).

With these thoughts in mind, the team can delve into what they saw and explore the questions they gained.

Shadowing

Shadowing is a more involved observation method that requires the researcher to immerse themselves in the environment. They watch how various workers and customers interact and how different processes function, focusing on a specific aspect of the system.

3. Interviewing

A great way to understand the user’s perspective is by asking the user themself.

Empathic Interviews

An empathic interview is styled like a basic one-on-one interview where the researcher will ask open-ended questions to learn about the user’s thoughts, preferences, and experiences.

Wiecek says, “This is where the Five Whys come in. When you get answer by an interviewee, don’t settle for the first response — go deeper into the answer by asking a total of five ‘whys’” (Wiecek).

By using these five “why” questions, the researcher can follow a train of thought to its core, discovering the fundamental reason behind the response. This provides valuable feedback that the team can use to address the specific issue.

4. Mapping

Empathy maps are a visual tool created to understand a particular user.

A basic empathy map has sections for what the user says, what they think about, their actions, and their feelings. Together, these form a whole character or persona of someone who may look to your product to fulfill their needs.

Other maps include "pain" and "gain" sections that describe obstacles the person faces and ideas they hope to fulfill. These present opportunities to help the user overcome their challenges or achieve their goals with the product or service.

Importance of Empathy

No matter what method is used, the key objective is connecting with users to truly understand what they need and want from a product. When designers know their audience well, they can build solutions that effectively improve their experience and make a lasting difference in their lives.