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Khandesh College Education Society's

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT, JALGAON

Affiliated to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University,

Maharashtra

FINAL YEAR B. TECH

COMPUTER ENGINEERING

DESIGN THINKINH

Code: BTCOE504
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Unit 2-Empathize

Design Thinking Phases

How to Emphasize

Role of Empathy In Design Thinking

Purpose of Empathy Maps

Things to Be Done Prior To Empathy Mapping

Creation of User Personas

Customer Journey Mapping

How Might We Questions.

Design Thinking Phases:

Design thinking is a problem-solving and innovation methodology that emphasizes human-

centered design, empathy, and iterative development. It typically consists of several phases or
stages that guide the process. While different variations of design thinking may have slightly
different phases, the following is a commonly used framework with five phases:

Empathize: This phase involves understanding and empathizing with the end-users or
customers you are designing for. It's about gaining deep insights into their needs, desires, and
pain points. Methods often used in this phase include interviews, observations, surveys, and
immersion in the user's environment. The goal is to develop a strong understanding of the
people you are designing for.

Define: In this phase, you synthesize the information gathered during the empathize stage to
define the problem or challenge you are trying to solve. It's about framing the problem in a
way that guides the design process. This step often involves creating personas, journey maps,
and problem statements that clarify the issues and opportunities.
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Ideate: Ideation is a creative brainstorming phase where you generate a wide range of
potential solutions to the defined problem. It encourages thinking outside the box and
embracing unconventional ideas. Techniques such as brainstorming sessions, mind mapping,
and sketching are commonly used to facilitate ideation. The goal is to generate a diverse set
of ideas without judgment.

Prototype: Once you have a collection of ideas, you move on to the prototyping phase. Here,
you create low-fidelity representations of your ideas to test and refine them. Prototypes can
be anything from paper sketches to digital mock-ups or physical models. The key is to create
something tangible that allows you to gather feedback and iterate quickly.

Test: In the testing phase, you gather feedback on your prototypes from actual users or
stakeholders. This feedback helps you evaluate the effectiveness of your solutions and make
improvements. Testing can be done through user testing sessions, surveys, and observations.
The goal is to identify what works and what doesn't and refine the design accordingly.

It's important to note that design thinking is not a strictly linear process. It's highly iterative,
and you may find yourself revisiting previous phases as you gain new insights or encounter
unexpected challenges. This iterative nature allows for continuous improvement and
refinement of your solutions.

Design thinking promotes a user-centric and collaborative approach to problem-solving,

making it a valuable methodology for tackling complex challenges and creating innovative
solutions.

How to Emphasize:

Emphasizing is a crucial phase in the design thinking process, and it involves gaining a deep
understanding of the needs, desires, and pain points of the end-users or customers you are
designing for. Here are some steps to effectively emphasize in the design thinking process:

1. Select Your Target Audience: Identify the specific group of people or users you
want to empathize with. Define the characteristics, demographics, and any relevant
information about this target audience. This step helps you narrow down your focus
and ensure you are empathizing with the right group.
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2. Conduct Research: Gather as much information as possible about your target

audience. This can involve a variety of research methods, including:

 Interviews: Conduct one-on-one interviews with users to understand their

experiences, challenges, and needs.

 Observations: Observe users in their natural environment to gain insights into

their behaviors and pain points.

 Surveys: Create surveys to collect quantitative data about user preferences and
opinions.

 Secondary Research: Review existing literature, market research, and relevant

data to supplement your primary research.

3. Practice Active Listening: During interviews and conversations with users, practice
active listening. This means giving them your full attention, asking open-ended
questions, and refraining from judgment or immediate problem-solving. Encourage
users to share their stories, emotions, and experiences.

4. Empathy Maps and Personas: Create empathy maps and user personas to synthesize
and document your findings. Empathy maps help you visually represent the thoughts,
feelings, and pain points of users, while personas are fictional characters that
represent different user segments. These tools make it easier to communicate and
share insights with your team.

5. Immerse Yourself: Whenever possible, immerse yourself in the user's environment.

Spend time where your users spend time, whether it's their workplace, home, or other
relevant settings. This firsthand experience can provide valuable context and insights.

6. Share Insights: After conducting your research and creating empathy maps or
personas, share your findings with your team or stakeholders. Encourage discussions
and brainstorming sessions to collectively analyze and interpret the data. This
collaborative approach ensures that everyone involved gains a shared understanding
of the user's perspective.

7. Define the Problem: Based on your empathetic insights, refine and define the
problem or challenge you are trying to address. Use the data and stories from your
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research to frame the problem statement in a way that resonates with the user's needs
and experiences.

8. Keep an Open Mind: Throughout the empathize phase, maintain an open and non-
judgmental mindset. Avoid making assumptions or jumping to conclusions. Be
willing to adapt and iterate your understanding of the user's perspective as you gather
more information.

9. Document Your Insights: Properly document all your research findings, insights,
and observations. This documentation will serve as a valuable reference throughout
the design thinking process and help you communicate your findings to others
effectively.

By emphasizing effectively, you set the foundation for a human-centered design process that
can lead to innovative and user-friendly solutions. Empathy is at the core of design thinking,
and it's essential for creating products, services, or solutions that truly meet the needs of your
users.

Role of Empathy in Design Thinking:

Empathy plays a central and foundational role in the design thinking process. It's the ability
to understand and share the feelings, thoughts, and experiences of others, particularly the end-
users or customers you are designing for. In the context of design thinking, empathy serves
several critical functions:

1. Understanding User Needs: Empathy is the cornerstone of design thinking because

it allows designers to gain a deep understanding of the needs, desires, and pain points
of the people they are designing for. By empathizing with users, designers can
uncover insights that go beyond surface-level preferences and get to the heart of what
truly matters to the users.

2. Human-Centered Design: Design thinking is inherently human-centered, and

empathy is what makes it so. It ensures that the design process starts with a focus on
the people who will ultimately use the product or service. This approach contrasts
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with traditional design processes that may prioritize technical or business

considerations over the user experience.

3. Problem Framing: Empathy helps in framing the problem correctly. When designers
empathize with users, they can articulate the problem or challenge in a way that
resonates with the users' experiences. This ensures that the problem is defined from
the user's perspective, which is crucial for generating relevant and effective solutions.

4. Inspiration for Ideation: Empathetic insights serve as a wellspring of inspiration

during the ideation phase of design thinking. When designers deeply understand the
users and their needs, they are better equipped to brainstorm creative and meaningful
solutions. Empathy encourages thinking beyond conventional boundaries.

5. User-Centric Prototyping and Testing: Throughout the prototyping and testing

phases, empathy guides the creation of prototypes that resonate with users. Designers
can put themselves in the shoes of the users and anticipate how they might interact
with the prototype. This leads to more effective testing and feedback collection.

6. Iterative Improvement: Empathy supports the iterative nature of design thinking.

Designers continuously gather feedback from users and use their empathetic
understanding to make iterative improvements. This feedback loop ensures that the
final solution aligns closely with user needs and preferences.

7. Enhanced Collaboration: Empathy fosters collaboration within multidisciplinary

teams. When team members empathize with each other and with users, they can
communicate more effectively and work together to solve complex problems.
Empathy helps build a shared understanding and sense of purpose.

8. Ethical Design: Empathy also has ethical implications in design. Designers who
empathize with users are more likely to consider ethical considerations and ensure
that their solutions are respectful, inclusive, and do not harm users in any way.

9. User Satisfaction and Loyalty: Ultimately, empathetic design leads to products,

services, or solutions that genuinely meet user needs and exceed their expectations.
This can result in higher user satisfaction, loyalty, and positive word-of-mouth, which
can benefit businesses and organizations.
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In summary, empathy is the driving force behind design thinking, ensuring that the entire
design process is focused on the user's perspective. It enables designers to create solutions
that are not just functional but also emotionally resonant and user-centric, leading to more
successful and innovative outcomes.

Purpose of Empathy Maps:

Empathy maps are a valuable tool in the design thinking and user-centered design processes.
They serve several important purposes in helping design teams gain a deeper understanding
of their users or customers:

1. Building Empathy: The primary purpose of empathy maps is to foster empathy

among design team members. They encourage designers to step into the shoes of
users and consider their perspectives, feelings, and experiences. By focusing on what
users think, see, hear, say, and do, empathy maps help designers connect with users
on a human level.

2. Visualizing User Insights: Empathy maps provide a visual representation of user

insights gathered through research and observation. They help translate raw data,
anecdotes, and interview findings into a clear and concise format that is easy to
understand and share within the team.

3. Summarizing User Personas: Empathy maps are often used in conjunction with user
personas. They condense the key information about a particular user segment or
persona into a single, visually appealing reference. This makes it easier to
communicate the persona's characteristics and needs to the entire team.

4. Focusing on Key Attributes: Empathy maps guide designers in identifying and

prioritizing key attributes, emotions, and behaviors that are relevant to the user's
experience. By highlighting these aspects, they help in pinpointing areas where design
improvements are needed.

5. Enhancing Collaboration: Empathy maps are collaborative tools that encourage

cross-functional teams to work together. Team members can collectively contribute
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their observations and insights to create a comprehensive map. This collaboration

ensures that multiple perspectives are considered.

6. Ideation and Brainstorming: Once an empathy map is created, it can serve as a

source of inspiration for ideation and brainstorming sessions. Designers can refer to
the map to generate creative ideas that directly address the identified user needs and
pain points.

7. Problem Framing: Empathy maps help in framing design challenges or problem

statements from a user's perspective. They ensure that the problems being addressed
are relevant and meaningful to the end-users, which is crucial for successful design
solutions.

8. User-Centric Prototyping: When creating prototypes, designers can refer to empathy

maps to ensure that the prototypes align with the user's thoughts, feelings, and actions.
This results in more user-centric and effective prototypes.

9. Iterative Design: As design iterations progress, empathy maps can be updated to

reflect new insights and changes in user behavior or needs. This iterative approach
ensures that the design remains aligned with evolving user requirements.

10. Communication: Empathy maps provide a concise and visually engaging way to
communicate user insights and persona information to stakeholders, clients, or team
members who may not have been directly involved in the research process. They
make it easier to convey the user's perspective.

In summary, empathy maps are a versatile tool that aids in understanding, visualizing, and
communicating user insights. They promote empathy, inform the design process, and help
ensure that design solutions are truly user-centered, resulting in products and services that
better meet the needs and expectations of users.

Things to Be Done Prior To Empathy Mapping:

Before creating an empathy map, it's essential to undertake several preparatory steps to
ensure that the mapping process is effective and based on reliable user insights. Here are the
things to be done prior to empathy mapping:
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1. Define the Problem or Challenge: Clearly articulate the problem or challenge you
are trying to address through the empathy mapping process. Having a well-defined
problem statement provides focus and context for your empathy mapping efforts.

2. Identify Target User Segments or Personas: Determine which user segments or

personas you want to empathize with. User segments can be based on demographics,
behaviors, or other relevant factors. Having a clear understanding of your target
audience helps in selecting appropriate research participants.

3. Conduct User Research: Prior to empathy mapping, gather user research data. This
may include interviews, surveys, observations, or any other methods that provide
insights into your target users' thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and pain points. The
quality of your empathy map depends on the richness of your research.

4. Create User Personas: Develop user personas that represent your target audience.
Personas are fictional characters that embody the characteristics and needs of specific
user segments. These personas will serve as a reference point when creating empathy
maps.

5. Collect and Organize Research Findings: Organize the research data you've
collected into a structured format. This could involve creating spreadsheets, affinity
diagrams, or thematic summaries of user insights. This step ensures that you have a
clear overview of your research before mapping.

6. Select Empathy Mapping Participants: Decide who will participate in the empathy
mapping session. Typically, it involves a cross-functional team that includes
designers, researchers, and stakeholders. Ensure that participants have access to the
user research data.

7. Prepare Materials: Gather the necessary materials for the empathy mapping session.
This may include large sheets of paper or digital tools for creating the empathy map,
sticky notes, markers, and any relevant user research artifacts, such as interview
transcripts or observation notes.

8. Set Up a Collaborative Environment: Arrange a collaborative and creative

workspace where the empathy mapping session will take place. Ensure that
participants can easily see and contribute to the mapping process.
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9. Establish Clear Objectives: Define the objectives of the empathy mapping session.
What specific insights or aspects of the user experience are you trying to capture?
Having clear goals helps keep the mapping process focused and productive.

10. Provide Context: Before starting the empathy mapping session, provide participants
with context regarding the problem, user personas, and the research data collected.
Ensure that everyone understands the purpose and scope of the mapping exercise.

11. Facilitate the Mapping Session: Appoint a facilitator who will guide the empathy
mapping session. The facilitator's role is to encourage open and empathetic discussion
among participants and ensure that the mapping process runs smoothly.

12. Document the Empathy Map: During the session, document the key insights,
thoughts, feelings, actions, and pain points of the target users on the empathy map.
Use sticky notes, sketches, or digital tools to create a visual representation of these
insights.

By taking these preparatory steps, you can ensure that the empathy mapping process is well-
informed, organized, and productive. This, in turn, will lead to more accurate and valuable
insights that can inform your design thinking process and help you create user-centered
solutions.

Creation of User Personas:

User personas are fictional characters or representations of different segments of your target
audience. They help you understand your users' needs, behaviors, goals, and pain points on a
more personal and relatable level. Creating user personas involves several steps:

1. Gather User Research Data:

 Conduct user interviews, surveys, and observations to collect data about your
target audience.

 Look for commonalities, patterns, and themes in the data. Identify trends in
user demographics, behaviors, and preferences.

2. Segment Your Audience:

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 Divide your target audience into distinct segments or groups based on shared
characteristics or needs. Segmentation can be based on demographics (age,
gender, location), psychographics (lifestyle, values), or behavior (usage
patterns, goals).

3. Select Representative Participants:

 Choose a few individuals from each segment to create personas. These

individuals should be representative of the larger group they belong to.

 Ensure that your sample size is manageable, typically around 3-5 personas, to
keep the personas focused and useful.

4. Create Persona Names and Details:

 Give each persona a name to make them more relatable and memorable.

 Add details such as age, gender, job title, and other relevant demographic
information.

 Include information about their background, interests, hobbies, and personal

life to create a well-rounded persona.

5. Identify Goals and Needs:

 Describe the primary goals and objectives of each persona. What are they
trying to accomplish or solve by using your product or service?

 Identify their needs, pain points, and challenges related to their goals.

6. Detail Behaviors and Habits:

 Document typical behaviors and habits of each persona. How do they interact
with technology? What are their preferred communication channels?

 Consider their level of expertise or familiarity with your product or industry.

7. Include Quotes and Anecdotes:

 Use quotes or anecdotes from your research to add a human touch to your
personas. These quotes should reflect the persona's attitudes or frustrations.
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 For example, you might include a quote like, "I often feel overwhelmed by the
number of options available."

8. Create Visual Representations:

 Design or choose visual representations for each persona, such as photographs

or illustrations. These visuals make the personas more relatable and
recognizable.

 Ensure that the visual representation matches the persona's characteristics.

9. Summarize Key Information:

 Compile all the information about each persona into a concise and visually
appealing format. This could be a one-page document or a digital profile.

 Include a summary of their goals, needs, behaviors, and other relevant details.

10. Share and Socialize Personas:

 Share the user personas with your team, stakeholders, and anyone involved in
the product or service development process.

 Encourage discussions and feedback to ensure that everyone understands and

empathizes with the personas.

11. Use Personas in Decision-Making:

 Utilize the personas throughout the design and development process. Refer to
them when making design decisions, setting priorities, or evaluating features.

 Ask questions like, "How would Persona A react to this feature?" to ensure
user-centric decision-making.

12. Update and Iterate:

 User personas should not remain static. As you gather more data and insights
over time, update and refine your personas to reflect changing user needs and
behaviors.
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User personas are valuable tools for keeping the user at the center of your design and
development efforts. They help teams align their work with user needs and provide a
common reference point for making user-focused decisions.

Customer Journey Mapping:

Customer journey mapping is a valuable tool in the design thinking process, as it helps design
teams gain a deep understanding of the user's experience and needs throughout their
interaction with a product, service, or solution. Here's how customer journey mapping fits
into the design thinking framework:

1. Empathize (Understand the User):

 In the empathize phase of design thinking, the primary goal is to understand

the user's perspective and gather insights into their needs, challenges, and
emotions.

 Customer journey mapping is an effective way to visualize and document the

user's experience from their point of view. It helps teams empathize with users
by stepping into their shoes and seeing the journey through their eyes.

2. Define (Frame the Problem):

 Once the empathize phase is complete, the insights gained from the customer
journey map can be used to define the problem or challenge more effectively.

 The journey map highlights pain points, bottlenecks, and critical moments in
the user's experience, which can help frame the problem statement in a user-
centric way.

3. Ideate (Generate Ideas):

 During the ideation phase, design teams brainstorm creative solutions to

address the user's needs and pain points.

 The customer journey map serves as a reference point for ideation by

highlighting specific opportunities for improvement and innovation. Designers
can focus their ideation efforts on these key areas.
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4. Prototype (Build Solutions):

 In the prototype phase, design teams create low-fidelity representations of

their ideas to test and refine them.

 The insights from the journey map guide the development of prototypes,
ensuring that they directly address the pain points and challenges identified in
the user's journey.

5. Test (Gather Feedback):

 During the testing phase, prototypes are tested with actual users to gather
feedback and insights.

 The customer journey map helps designers and testers understand the context
in which users interact with the prototypes. This context is crucial for
interpreting feedback and making informed design decisions.

6. Iterate (Refine Solutions):

 Design thinking is an iterative process, and the customer journey map can be
updated and refined as new insights are gathered through testing and user
feedback.

 Iterations of the journey map help ensure that design solutions continue to
align with the evolving needs and expectations of users.

7. Implement (Put Solutions into Action):

 Once the design solutions have been tested and refined, they can be
implemented into the final product, service, or solution.

 The customer journey map can be used as a reference during implementation

to ensure that the user's experience remains a central focus.

8. Evaluate (Assess Impact):

 After the design solutions have been launched, the customer journey map can
be revisited to assess the impact of the changes on the user's experience.
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 Evaluation helps in measuring the success of the design and identifying any
areas that may still need improvement.

In summary, customer journey mapping is a powerful tool that complements each phase of
the design thinking process. It helps design teams empathize with users, define user-centric
problems, ideate innovative solutions, prototype effectively, gather user feedback, and
continuously iterate to create products, services, or solutions that truly meet user needs and
expectations.

How Might We Questions:

"How might we" (HMW) questions are a fundamental element of the design thinking process.
They are used to reframe challenges and problems in a more open, creative, and solution-
focused manner. HMW questions encourage brainstorming and ideation by shifting the focus
from problem statements to opportunities for innovation. Here's how to formulate and use
HMW questions in design thinking:

1. Identify the Problem or Challenge:

 Start by clearly defining the problem or challenge you want to address. This
problem statement should be specific and actionable.

2. Rephrase the Problem as a How Might We Question:

 Transform the problem statement into a "How might we" question. This
involves turning the problem into an open-ended question that invites creative
thinking. Begin with the phrase "How might we."

3. Make the Question User-Centric:

 Ensure that the HMW question is user-centric and focused on meeting the
needs of the people you are designing for. Consider the user's perspective
when framing the question.

4. Keep it Broad and Open:

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 Avoid narrowing down the question too early in the process. Keep it broad and
open to encourage a wide range of ideas and solutions. This is essential for the
ideation phase of design thinking.

5. Use Positive Language:

 Frame the HMW question in positive terms. Focus on what you want to
achieve or create, rather than what you want to avoid or fix. Positive language
inspires optimism and creativity.

6. Generate Multiple HMW Questions:

 Don't settle for a single HMW question. Generate multiple questions that
explore different aspects of the problem or different angles for potential
solutions. This can lead to richer ideation.

7. Prioritize and Select HMW Questions:

 Review the generated HMW questions and prioritize them based on relevance,
potential impact, and alignment with your project's goals. Select one or a few
questions to guide your ideation process.

Examples of How Might We Questions:

 Original Problem Statement: "Our website's checkout process is too complicated,

leading to a high cart abandonment rate."

 HMW Question: "How might we simplify the checkout process to reduce cart
abandonment and make it easier for customers to complete their purchases?"

 Original Problem Statement: "Our customers find it challenging to navigate our

mobile app and often complain about its usability."

 HMW Question: "How might we improve the usability of our mobile app to
make it more intuitive and user-friendly for our customers?"

 Original Problem Statement: "Our product's packaging is not environmentally

friendly, and we want to reduce our environmental impact."
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 HMW Question: "How might we redesign our product's packaging to

minimize waste and environmental impact while still effectively protecting the
product?"

 Original Problem Statement: "Our company struggles to retain top talent, and
employee turnover is high."

 HMW Question: "How might we create a workplace culture and environment

that attracts and retains top talent, reducing employee turnover?"

HMW questions serve as powerful catalysts for brainstorming and ideation in design
thinking. They invite teams to explore innovative solutions and generate creative ideas that
address real-world challenges in user-centered ways.