Understanding User Needs

One thing we learned from the previous section is that you should be creating a gain or fixing a pain for your target user. Inherent in this is that you have a user whose needs you understand. So, let's spend some time in this section double-checking that you do understand your user needs.

…But first, let’s briefly recap what you learned about the concept of Design Thinking from the Product Management and Design class.

Design Thinking: A Refresher

📺 Watch this video introduction to Design Thinking from IDEO, one of its pioneers

In their paper, Understanding Innovation: Design Thinking, Christoph Meinel and Harry Leifer of the Hasso-Plattner-Institute of Design at Stanford University (d.school) describe four principles of design thinking:

• The human rule: design is social in nature — problems must be solved in a way that satisfies human needs and acknowledges the human elements in all technologies.

• The ambiguity rule: ambiguity is inevitable — experiment at the limits of our knowledge, the limits of our ability to control events, and the freedom to see things in a different light.

• The re-design rule: all design is re-design — technology and social circumstances are constantly evolving. We need to understand how our human needs were met in the past.

• The tangibility rule: making ideas tangible facilitates communication — this directly refers to creating prototypes.

📺 Watch this video to understand the design thinking process

The video describes five stages of design thinking, which are:

• Empathize: research your user's needs to better understand the problem you are trying to solve.
• Define: with the information gathered from research, define or state the problem
• Ideate: generate many potential ideas that might solve the problem and look for alternative solutions
• Prototype: experiment with various solutions. Create inexpensive prototypes that you can share with users
• Test: rigorously test prototypes and use the results to refine your problem statement and/or solutions

Here is a summary of the key tools and obstacles for each stage of design thinking that are mentioned in the video.

Looking at the five stages of the design thinking process, it is clear that understanding user needs is squarely in the "Empathize" stage, so let's spend some more time exploring user empathy.

Understanding Empathy

📺 Watch the following video to learn more about best practices in user research, especially when interviewing users.

As mentioned in the video, three ways to carry out user research are:

• Ask: Conduct interviews with users, focusing on their personal experiences, feelings, and motivations rather than just their opinions on a product or service. Ask open-ended questions that encourage storytelling and active listening to understand their perspective.
• Look: Spend time observing users in their natural environment where they would interact with your product or service. This method allows you to see firsthand how they behave, which can provide insights that users might not articulate in an interview.
• Try: Immerse yourself in the user’s environment and context to get a firsthand understanding of their challenges and needs.

Ask - Talking to Users

This isn't about just throwing questions at people and hoping for the best. It's about having real conversations. Think of it like chatting with a friend over coffee, where you're genuinely interested in their stories and feelings. You'll need to come up with some killer open-ended questions that get them talking. Then, listen. Really listen. Let them lead the conversation, and you might be surprised by what you learn.

Process

1 - Preparation

• Define your research objectives: Know what you want to learn from the interviews. Develop a discussion guide: List open-ended questions that encourage users to share their experiences and feelings. You should brainstorm questions first, then identify themes and order them around those themes so that the interview flows more logically and naturally.
• Recruit participants: Choose participants who represent your target users. Diversity in perspectives can enrich insights.

2 - Conducting Interviews

• Build rapport: Start with light, non-intrusive questions to make the participant feel comfortable.
• Listen actively: Pay close attention, acknowledge their answers, and use non-verbal cues to show engagement.
• Encourage storytelling: Prompt participants to share specific stories or instances related to their experiences.
• Explore emotions: Delve deeper into their emotional responses to understand not just what they did but also how they felt.
• Take Notes: Make sure you take copious notes so that you have a record of what was said.

3 - Post-Interview

• Debrief: Synthesize your notes to identify key insights and interesting quotes immediately after the interview while memories are fresh.
• Analyze findings: Look for patterns, insights, and quotes that align with your research objectives.
• Share insights: Present your findings to your team, using direct quotes to convey the user's voice and perspective.

Look - Observing Users

This is where you observe users in their natural habitat to understand their context and challenges. You're not there to interfere; just watch and learn. Take note of what they do, how they do it, and any challenges they face. It's about capturing the real, unscripted user experience that goes beyond what people may tell you in an interview.

Process

1 - Planning

• Define objectives: Know what behaviors, interactions, or phenomena you want to observe.
• Choose locations: Identify places where users naturally interact with your product or service. Or where they might be demonstrating/facing the problem that you are trying to solve.
• Obtain permissions: Ensure you have the right to observe in chosen locations, respecting privacy and ethical considerations.

2 - Observing

• Try to blend in: Observe without interfering with natural behaviors.
• Take detailed notes: Record observations, behaviors, interactions, and any environmental factors that might influence behavior.
• Capture the context: Note the physical, social, and emotional context to provide a comprehensive understanding of the observed behaviors.

3 - Analysis

• Identify patterns: Look for recurring behaviors or interactions that may indicate underlying needs or pain points.
• Contextualize findings: Relate observations to the broader context of the user’s experience.
• Share insights: Present your findings using photos, videos, or diagrams to illustrate key observations while respecting privacy and confidentiality.

Try - Becoming the User

This is where you get your hands dirty. Dive into your users' world and experience what they experience. Use the product, walk a mile in their shoes, and embrace their challenges and frustrations. It's one thing to hear about or observe something; it's another to live it. Keep a diary of your adventures and emotions throughout this process. This firsthand insight is gold when it comes to understanding the user journey and making your project resonate on a deeper level.

Process

1 - Preparation

• Define the scope: Decide on specific aspects of the user experience you want to immerse yourself in.
• Set objectives: Know what you want to learn or achieve through immersion.

2 - Immersion

• Engage authentically: Participate in activities or use the product as your users would. Avoid going through the motions superficially.
• Document the experience: Keep a journal or diary to record your observations, thoughts, and feelings throughout the process.
• Reflect: Pay attention to challenges, surprises, and any emotional responses you have.

3 - Analysis

• Reflect on your experience: Identify key takeaways, challenges, and insights that emerged during immersion.
• Relate to user needs: Consider how your experiences align with or differ from what you've learned about your users through other research methods.
• Share insights: Present your findings to your team, highlighting how the immersion experience provided a deeper understanding of the user’s perspective.

You may have noticed that the final part of each research approach involves sharing your insights. There are a couple of ways that you can share what you have learned from your users. One powerful way is through the creation of an empathy map.

Creating An Empathy Map

An empathy map is a powerful tool for synthesizing user research so that you can gain deeper insights into your user's thoughts and feelings. It helps you empathize with users, guiding more user-centered product development and services. An empathy map is typically divided into four quadrants ("Says," "Thinks," "Does," and "Feels"), with each representing different aspects of the user's experience.

📺 Watch the following video to learn more about creating an empathy map

One of your assignments for this week will be to turn your user insights notes into an empathy map. For this assignment, you can use any tool your team is comfortable with (e.g., Figjam, Excalidraw, Miro) to present your final empathy map.

📺 Watch the following video on the Define stage of the design thinking process to learn about additional techniques that you can use to synthesize what you've learned about the user.