Where to Start
The main task of designers is to give the user a product or service that functions effectively and provides a positive user experience. Though it may seem to be a very basic, simple task so many businesses and companies still fall short of executing it properly. Why is that?
One potential answer to this question is that those businesses and companies are not conducting empathy research. Empathy research can be defined as a process that, “…involves observing, engaging, and empathizing with the people you are designing for in order to understand their experiences and motivations, as well as immersing yourself in their physical environment in order to have a deeper personal understanding of the issues, needs, and challenges involved” (“Design Thinking: Getting Started With Empathy”). Having this understanding of your users or customers enables you, as a designer, to improve their overall experience with the product or service that you are designing for them. You can identify their needs that need to be met, their frustrations and successes that they experience, and the goals that they are trying to reach by using your product.
Author Ale Wiecek explains, “You need to thoroughly understand your customer’s perspectives, feelings, and needs, in order to design an experience for them that meets their goals.” But where do you start? What is the first step to take? Let me explain.
Prior to diving into any empathy research, it is important to identify what stage your project development is at and what information you and your team are trying to collect. By bringing these factors into perspective, it simplifies the process of identifying which research methods could be the most helpful. Though the internet could provide you with a plethora of examples of empathy research methods, I’ll be outlining three within this article: Shadowing, Empathic Interviews & The Five Why’s Method, and the Love Letter/Breakup Information Method.
Shadowing
Following in your user’s footsteps as they use your product or service allows you to observe the exact process that they go through when interacting with it. “Shadowing is a qualitative research technique conducted on a small scale where the researcher acts as an observer. In shadowing, researchers observe real-life situations of a research subject or participant for a set period of time. For this set period, the researcher does not interfere with the participant to avoid the research subject deviating from their natural behavior under the scenario or circumstance” (“Shadowing”). Shadowing provides insights into environmental factors when the user interacts with the products, as well as real-time examples of pain points and frustrations that could be improved upon.
For example, if you were trying to find out how a college student interacts with their Blackboard site, it is likely that you would spend a day with them to observe these interactions. As an observer, you would follow your user around in their natural habitat, and set off to the side without interfering. But be sure to make note of how, why, and when the student opens their Blackboard. Additionally, jotting down any pain points, frustrations, and successes will also provide insight to you and your team.
Simply speaking, shadowing is one of the most basic forms of empathy research. While maintaining a low profile, observe your user in their natural habitat as they interact with your product. By doing so, it can provide you and your team with genuine information on your user’s experience.
Empathic Interviews & The Five Whys Method
With this method, it is time to channel your inner toddler! (You know you have one). The key to this research method is to dive deeper into your user’s responses. Ask them why! When they answer you, ask them why again! (See what I mean about that inner toddler part?). Ale Wiecek explains, “When you get an answer from an interviewee, don’t settle for the first response — go deeper into the answer by asking a total of five ‘whys.” Through this interview deep dive, you are requiring your interviewee to consider things about their experience that they may have not even thought of or realized before. This can provide you and your team with profound insights that may not have been discovered otherwise.
For example, if you were to sit down to interview a user it is likely that you would have a set of questions that you plan to ask. The interview would proceed as normal until your user answers your questions. Chances are, they will likely give you a very surface-level answer that first comes to mind. This is where you dive deeper. Ask them why aiming to make them give you a more detailed answer into why they feel the way that they do. The goal is to get them thinking deeper than surface-level. The answers that you are looking for are often deeper down.
Adding the five whys method to your interviews gives you and your team more insight into why a user thinks and feels a certain way. By gaining this information, you are able to identify the true underlying pain points and improve upon them for a better overall product or service.
Love Letter/Breakup Information
Yes, this is exactly what it sounds like. With this research method, your users would write a love letter and/or breakup letter to your product or service. Though this may seem like nonsense, your user will identify all of the aspects of your product as well as the aspects that they hate. Because it is a low-stress method, the users are more likely to be more open with their responses and truly explain their frustrations and successes in detail. Ale Wiecek explains, “It’s a personal letter written to a product that often reveals profound insights about what people value and expect from the objects in their everyday life.” Something about a love letter or breakup letter provides an avenue for users to be vulnerable and explain their feelings in a way that makes sense to them.
This method would typically be utilized after a user interacts with a product or service and has some experience with it. The idea is to get the user to sit down and write a love letter and/or breakup letter to the product. Ask them to be as specific and descriptive as possible. For example, if you are designing for a Roku product, you would identify users that have experience with said product. Ask those users to write these letters as if they have had a relationship with the product. After reading the letters, you may gain insight that you may not have yet discovered.
This method is very low-stress and low-stakes and is simple for your users to execute. Though it may seem trivial, users may be able to truly connect and express their emotions in ways they may not have been previously able to.
Identifying What Works For You
It is important to identify the empathy research methods that work best for your team and your product goals. Identifying these methods and executing them properly can provide your team with valuable insights that you may not have gathered without them. Do your own research, and find what methods work best for you!
Sources
https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/design-thinking-getting-started-with-empathy
CRyder Design 
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