Now that we have had a run down of the process, let's work with a basic example.
Now you have noticed that not many teens have been coming to your local library. Let's see what we can do to fix that.
Empathy
We are going to start by interviewing three people. One is a parent. One is a teen. And one is the librarian.
Transcript 1 - A Parent
(greetings and such, also a bit of talking on the library and how they are doing)
Me - (Icebreaker) You said you have a child, do you find them going to the library nowadays?
Parent - Well no, not really. She used to love coming here when she was little but as she got older, it seemed like she lost her interest. All she cares about now is her phone and friends. Seeing how they do not like to go to the library, neither does she.
Me - So you are saying that she doesn't really like going to the library anymore, and part of it could be influenced by her friends?
Parent - Yes, that's right.
Me - (Grand Tour) When you last brought your daughter to the library, what did you guys do?
Parent - Well, I mostly looked through books while she was on her phone the whole time, chatting to someone online I assume. We do not go to the library much anymore, I usually go by myself. I think the last time we went was a few months ago.
Me - When you went to the library regularly, when she was younger, what would you say that you did differently?
Parent - Well for one thing she wasn't on her phone, or more accurately didn't have a phone to be on. And we would look through books, she would pick out some with interesting covers and read them. We also did quite a lot of the children's activities that the library offered such as colouring, playing games and others.
Me - (Dig Deeper) That seems nice, what is your favorite part about the experience?
Parent - Bonding over books is definitely a great one, another would be the activities the library hosted. I just remember reading out books to her. It would be great if we could do something like that again.
Me - (Magic Wand) If you could wave a magic wand at the library then what would you change?
Parent - I think that I would introduce laptops into the library, as I know that it is quite an old library and some technology would be a great way to attract teens. Also some activities for teens as most of the events the library hosts are for children or adults.
(Ending thank-you and parting pleasantries)
Transcript 2 - A Teen
(greetings and such, talk a bit about their own life before bringing it to the main subject)
Me - (Icebreaker) So what are some of your thoughts on the library?
Teen - I mean it is a good place, but it is very boring as well. Most of the books are old and outdated and even the fiction isn't that fun. They never have any of the new releases. Honestly, the old books are ones that nobody has ever even heard of. You can't even find them on Goodreads!
Me - So do you think if that was fixed, you would be interested in coming to the library?
Teen - I guess, probably.
Me - (Grand Tour) So what do you tend to do when you do visit the library?
Teen - Mostly text on my phone I guess. Sometimes I also look at articles online but the small text hurts my eyes. If I forgot my phone I just wander around until Mom's finished whatever she was doing.
Me - (Dig Deeper) Would you say there was any particular time you did enjoy the library though?
Teen - I am not sure. I guess when I was little? But mostly I never go and if I do I don't do much anyways?
Me - (Magic Wand) Alright, If you could wave a magic wand at the library then what would you change?
Teen - I am not sure. I guess that I would add some new books and probably graphic novels too. The library doesn't have any of those.
(Ending thank-you and parting pleasantries)
Transcript 3 - A Librarian
(greetings and such, talk about how they are and their work in the library)
Me - (Icebreaker) Many kids and adults come over, but do you tend to find teens hanging out in the library, selecting books or conducting study sessions.
Librarian - No actually, now that you have mentioned it.
Me - And why do you think that is?
Librarian - Not quite so sure actually, we do have a large selection of books available, even for teens. But nowadays it does seem like they are glued to screens more.
Me - (Grand Tour) That sure is one thing. Would you mind walking me through your experience in the library?
Librarian - Don't mind at all, but unlike others I do work here so mine would be quite different.
Me - That's not a problem. I would just love to hear your insight on things.
Librarian - Alright, so when I come in I sort through the return and borrow books, as well as just gleam though the shelves and make sure books are in the correct section. If I have time I will sort out the order beforehand as well. There is also a lot of manual work of logging in the books and keeping track of them. The computer system doesn't work so it all has to be done by hand.
Me - (Dig Deeper) And how do you find that experience to be?
Librarian - Quite tedious actually, and there is also room for human error so I have to spend extra time making sure that it is done properly. But I would say aside from that, I do quite enjoy my work. I get to read lots of books as well and after-hours I organise with the music on which is quite fun.
Me - (Magic Wand) Organizing with music sure sounds meditative. If you could wave a magic wand at the library then what would you change?
Librarian - Most definitely the computers, it would save my time and hand cramps.
(Ending thank-you and parting pleasantries)
Key Points of Area
Now, we visit the library and find that indeed, whilst it has many great and appealing titles, most are old and not targeted towards teens. There is also a small cluster of computers that do not seem like they have been put to use in a long time. The library also contains books that have lots of words and very few visuals inside aside from the children's books. That would make it quite hard for dyslexic people. You also noticed that the library is located in a corner easy for people to miss.
Define
Now that we have a rough overview of the library and its users, let's move on to what exactly we are going to solve.
I met a parent
I was surprised to realize that whilst they loved coming to the library, their child did not.
I wonder if this means that they are struggling to figure out how to engage their teen with something that is not related to screen.
It seems like he/she needs a way to encorage their teen to come to the library and interact with their enviorment.
I met a teen.
I was surprised to realize that they do not enjoy going to the library as much anymore.
I wonder if this means that they have lost interest in the library and what it has to offer.
It seems like he/she/they needs a way to come to the library and find interesting things to read or do.
I met a librarian.
I was surprised to realize that they log all books manually.
I wonder if this means that they are not as happy with their work as usual.
It seems like he/she/they needs a way to log in all the books without it taking as much time or effort.
After a brainstorming session, we could conclude on this HMW:
How might we encourage teens to visit and engage in the library?
We could also add:
How might we use technology to enhance people's experience in the library?
Final Note
Please do remember that this is just a very simple example to help solidify the idea and see a general use case. When you do empathise, do try to conduct around 20 min interviews and do an in-depth dive into your user so that you can fully and properly connect with them. The same applies to the defined stage as well. Make sure to add more depth and ideas before moving on.
We have cleared the first part - finding and getting insight on the problem.
In the next part we will work on solving the problem.
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