Adopt the Perspective of a Designer
Our relationships with other human beings are essential, and this is what we must tap into to adopt an empathetic approach.
This is step 1 of IDEO's design thinking method.
Designers are empathetic when:
they position themselves as observers.
they analyze the interactions between individuals and their environment.
they decipher the problems or difficulties that arise from these interactions.
This allows them to turn an obstacle into an opportunity: to innovate by responding to a need.
Here are the qualities to work on to strengthen your ability to empathize:
Listening: to understand and gather needs.
Observing: to analyze a given environment and detect the mechanisms at play.
Attention to detail: to figure out what works well and what works poorly or not at all.
Humility: to decenter yourself and recenter on others.
Impartiality: to overcome prejudices, biases, and/or preconceived notions.
Resilience (or tolerance for failure): to admit mistakes, accept constructive criticism and negative feedback, bounce back by proposing a better solution.
Try to apply these principles as much as possible on a daily basis, and you might just see that you get much better at problem-solving and providing creative solutions!
Prepare Your Research
To understand others’ needs, there is no better method than, well, meeting with others!
Before meeting your potential users, take note of:
what you already know on the subject.
what you would like more information on.
Next, identify several types of people who could help you better understand the problem.
Example: Suppose you are working on a project related to retirement, but you’re not retired yet, and have no idea how any of it works.
You absolutely must immerse yourself in everything retirement and step into the shoes of all the stakeholders involved. For example, you could:
go to a retirement home and meet the staff.
interview retired people to understand their expectations and fears.
study the administrative procedures that need to be done in order to retire.
ask questions to people who work in pension-related fields to get an in-depth understanding of their jobs and the difficulties they face.
etc.
Carry Out Field Observation
Field observation involves two main techniques:
Fly on the wall.
Shadowing.
Using the Fly on the Wall Technique
How does this work?
When they don’t notice us, the people we are observing mostly act as they usually do. We can therefore analyze a situation, and what poses problems for the people we are observing on a daily basis without unduly influencing them.
If people know they are being observed or listened to, they risk acting differently and presenting you with a distorted view of their reality. They could knowingly or unknowingly erase problems and situations that would be important for you to notice.
Shadowing
Coming back to the example of retirement, this would consist, for example, of following a staff member at a retirement home for one whole day, from the time they arrive at their place of work to the moment they finish their duties for the day.
While we’re shadowing them, they would explain exactly how they do each task they do throughout the day. We would also be their shadow at meetings, during their lunch, and coffee breaks, in order to participate in what they experience on a daily basis and listen in on the conversations they have with their colleagues. This type of informal sharing is often fertile ground for learning experiences.
Conduct a User Interview
In addition to field observation, you can take a more formal interview-based approach.
This technique is more time-consuming than the others and is best done face-to-face so that you can pick up on verbal and non-verbal cues (facial expressions, body language, etc.), which also speak volumes.
The goal of this exercise is to get the interviewees to speak, and then to let them speak as much as possible.
So, what questions should you ask them to do that—and how?
Excellent question!
Asking questions that will provide precise and useful answers for a project is more of an art than an exact science.
Best Practice # 1: Ask Open-Ended Questions
Asking closed “yes” or “no” questions won’t get you very far!
Instead, ask open-ended questions that invite people to elaborate:
"How do you feel when…?"
"What motivates you to…?"
Best Practice # 2: Ask Questions With Time Markers
If you don't ask specific questions, you won't get specific answers.
I'm sure if I ask you:
"On average, how many hours do you work out per week?"
And then:
"Last week, how many hours did you spend working out?"
You wouldn't give me the same answer.
In the first case, you might say something like "three hours" because that's a goal you set for yourself. This is what you would ideally like to be doing.
In the second case, you are "forced" to be more honest because the question anchors you in reality. You might give me a much more detailed answer, like: "Well, normally, I would like to do three hours a week, but last week I couldn't because I was traveling/my children were sick/I lost my gym membership card/I went out the night before…" etc. which, in the end, will provide me with a lot more information because it tells me about your needs and your constraints.
These are the kinds of answers you should aim for in an interview: they will allow you to formulate your problem in the right way and develop a project with high added value.
Best Practice #3: Give Your Interviewee Time to Respond
When asking a question, don’t be afraid to leave a few moments of silence. The participant might need a few seconds before giving their answer, and they might even add extra information if you wait a few seconds after they’ve finished.
If the person you’re interviewing gives a short answer and doesn’t seem to be going to add anything else, you can rephrase the question or repeat their answer to prompt them to add more detail.
You can also ask questions based on their answer, for example:
What do you mean by…?
How does that make you feel…?
Best Practice #4: Ask for Personal Experiences
It’s the participant’s views we want to hear!
As well as questions like:
Can you tell me about the last time...?
You can also ask questions such as the following, especially at the end of the interview:
Is there a topic you would have liked to talk about that I haven't mentioned?
Is there a question I forgot to ask you?
Or:
What would the best possible experience you could have with this product or service be like?
If you had a magic wand, what great features would you add to this product or service?
Best Practice #5: Take It Step by Step
Following this structure will help you conduct user interviews in a smooth, natural way:
Introduction + explanation
Introductory questions
Questions about what’s expected from the experience (before)
Questions about the experience itself (during)
Questions reflecting on the experience (after)
Conclusion + further comments
Let's take the example of someone who works as a learning designer and wants to create an online course.
1. Start by Explaining the Purpose of the Interview
Explain what you’re doing, and above all, reassure the person you’re interviewing that there are no wrong answers.
Examples:
"Thank you for participating!
In order to organize my project, I’d like to know more about what you expect from an online course. There is no right or wrong answer to the questions I’m going to ask you. Try to answer as naturally as possible, and try not to tailor your responses to what you think I want to hear: I want to know your opinion. So, let me know what’s going on in your head as you hear these questions. Feel free to say whatever comes to mind. I'm interested in knowing more about your story and experiences.
I'll be taking notes during this interview so I can check them later.
Is that all OK with you?
First of all, can you tell me about yourself and what you do?"
2. Ask a Few General Questions to Find Out More About the Participant
Examples:
When was the last time you took an online course?
For you, what’s the purpose of taking an online course?
What influenced your choice to take an online course?
What topics make you want to take for an online course?
These are good introductory questions.
3. Ask questions About What the Participant Expects From the Experience (Before)
At this stage, ask questions about your interviewee’s motivations for participating in a certain experience—in this case, signing up for an online course.
Examples:
What criteria make an online course interesting to you?
What would make you absolutely want to take this course? Or avoid it at all costs?
How do you keep up to date with the skills you need to acquire?
What do you find enjoyable in an online course? What do you find frustrating?
The last time you signed up for a course, did anyone encourage you to do so (e.g., friends or family), or was the decision entirely your own?
4. Ask Questions About the Experience Itself (During)
You can then ask questions about a user's experience with the product or service.
Examples:
In the past month, how many hours have you spent taking an online course?
The last time you felt truly “in the zone” in a class, what time of the day was it? How long did it last?
What did you find enjoyable or frustrating?
Can you tell me about what you were doing while taking this course?
What do you think about when you take an online course?
5. Ask Questions to Reflect on the Experience (After)
Examples:
How did you feel right after completing the course?
How do you keep track of all the courses you’ve taken?
Can you tell me about your favorite online course? What made it great?
Can you tell me about a course you had to take but didn’t enjoy? What were your feelings about it?
How about a course you didn’t have to take or even need to take, but that you enjoyed?
6. End the Interview With Questions That Expand on the Topic
To sum it all up, don't forget to talk about topics that you can't necessarily anticipate.
Examples:
Imagine a tool that could create your ideal online learning experience—what would it look like, and how would it work?
What could improve your overall online education experience?
I’ve asked you a lot of questions, but is there anything you’d like to ask me? Or anything else you’d like to share with me?
Let’s Recap!
The first stage of design thinking is crucial to establish an empathetic connection with the people that a project will impact and understand what they expect, what barriers there are, etc.
There are several ways to achieve this, but the most common are field observation and user interviews.
Field observation can be done discreetly, without intervening (the fly on the wall technique) or in a more involved fashion (shadowing) by following a person closely for one day (or longer) to understand all the subtleties of their situation.
You can interview different stakeholders involved in your project with the help of a user interview guide.
To get answers that you can use, try to ask open-ended questions, use time markers, give your interviewee enough time to answer, and ask about personal experiences.
Structure the interview in a way that allows you to gradually dig deeper into the topic.
You’ve collected a lot of information for your project, and it’s now time to sort through it all and work out what it means. In the next chapter, we’ll explore step 2 of the design process: defining the problem.
