Empathize

Design Thinking Process

Design is not linear.

I utilize these design thinking principles with every digital problem.

Define

Ideate

Prototype

Test

Iterate

Empathize

How do we find out what is happening today?

As I put myself in the seat of all who are impacted, I begin defining personas and user journeys.

This method ensures a thorough evaluation that mitigates the risk of re-work.

Why do we need to find out what is happening today?

  • Learn which personas/archetype are impacted

  • Learn pain points

  • Learn needs

  • Learn about internal journeys

  • Learn about user journeys

  • Meeting with key stakeholders, SMEs, product and engineering allows us to understand the internal perception and impact of the current and future state.

    1. Identify and schedule SME test participants

    2. Build study

    3. Schedule tests

    4. Conduct tests

    5. Synthesize data

    6. Report findings

    1. Source and recruit customer test participants

    2. Build Study

    3. Determine method of testing and tools

    4. Conduct tests

    5. Synthesize data

    6. Report findings

  • I begin looking for trends in the data:

    • What does the event-based data tell us?

    • Where are we seeing user pathing?

    • What are the current key conversion indicators?

    • Is there any other customer data?

Define

Deliverables when empathizing and defining are complete:

Internal feedback and perception

Data analysis

Defined personas

Defined user flow

Defined user journeys

Synthesizing findings

Now that I know what is happening today, I build artifacts of personas, user flows and user journeys. If personas are already defined, I would refine what we know about the personas and use cases related to the feature.

Considerations when personas are not already defined:

  • Demographics

  • Customer type

  • What are the different use cases for each persona?

Putting the full picture together with user journeys, telling us:

  • What are their actions?

  • What are their goals?

  • What are they thinking?

  • What are they feeling?

User flows are mapped out to identify the different entry points, possible paths a user takes to complete a task and the different touch points we engage with each persona.

IDEATE

Next, I look at published research and competitive analysis to bring ideas to the table.

Looking at published UX Research from Nielsen Norman Group as well as Baymard Institute.

I would also look at the Information Architecture, if it makes sense for the problem.

PROTOTYPE

Taking ideas and putting pen to paper...or as the saying goes...

Low-fidelity or high-fidelity wireframes are created either in a collaborative white board setting or in a more formal presentation format. First shared with the project team and key stakeholders then presented to users for testing and feedback.

Iterate and Test

  • Testing informs us if the changes are meeting needs.

    Deliverables:

    Low or high fidelity wireframes

    Build study objectives and test script

    Determine method of testing and tools

  • Iterating upon previous solutions allows us to refine and get closer to ever changing needs.

    Deliverables and methods:

    Refine wireframes and prototypes

    Share revised with internal team

    Test revised with user groups