Welcome to
The Design Tree!
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In this phase, the empathizing phase our goal is to get to know our persona, our users, and our customers to understand who they are and their ethnography.
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In the Defining Problem phase, we wish to define our user needs and validate our persona and their problem.
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In the digital story phase, we will visualize our persona and the critical emotions surrounding their problem.
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In the Collaborative Ideation phase, we want to use our digital story as a prompt and engage our team in a brainstorming session.
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In the Prototyping phase, we will select the best solution from the Ideation phase. Our goal is to expand upon our idea and transform it into a workable prototype.
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In the Testing phase, our goal is to validate our solution. Through a series of conversations, we can test our prototype and gauge if our solution is meeting the needs of our persona.
Step 1. Create a digital story a simulation of your customer story.
The Empathizing Persona
Humanize the story of your customer. Document your customer as they move through time experiencing aspirations, frustrations, and finding the motivation to continue. Our digital story will help us explore and understand our customer and craft the ideal solution that fits seamlessly within their human story.
Step 2. Define then add the problem to the digital story a simulation of your customer story.
Defining Problem Statement
Reflect on your research and observations and your unique persona's timeline, discover where the persona encounters the problem, document events that precede, and proceed the persona's frustration. Then define the problem.
Step 3. Create your digital story a simulation of your customer story then validate it with design thinking.
Digital Storytelling
Use the information from your Empathizing Persona and Defining Problem Statement to create a digital story which is a simulation of your customer story. With a digital story, you can engage your team, in dynamic brainstorming sessions and perform other design-thinking strategies.
Group Size: 4-10
Materials Needed: Print Digital Storytelling page, Pens, - Markers and Post-its
Duration: 30-120 mins
Digital Storytelling
Digital Storytelling Customer Story Part 1. Example
With a digital story we can visualize our persona and the critical emotions surrounding their problem. In the first part of the digital story we will describe our persona and how their frustration may motivate them to find a solution. This crucial part of our digital story which defines the persona and their problem will be used as powerful prompt for ideation, prototyping and testing. Giving us insights into how to solve the user problem but also the guidance to ask the right questions to validate our assumptions. The second part of the digital story we will illustrate the details of our solution, how it works and the expected outcome.This powerful visualization will document the persona, their problem and our solution making it easier to refine our solution and create unrivaled user experience.
Design Thinking Plan
Create a list of design thinking stategies you can perform to validate your digital story and develop, and test your solution.
User Participant Group
After creating your digital story organize a user participant group. A user participant group is a collection of people who mirror the persona found in your digital story. Use your user participant group to validate or invalidate your digital story.
Step 2.
Empathizing Tools
Use the following empathizing tools to understand the experiences, needs, perspectives of your customer and to validate the story found in your digital story.
Validation Map
Use a Validation Map to understand the perspectives of the persona found in the digital story. Validation Maps help us craft solutions that are sensible to the needs, emotions, and perspectives of our target demographic.
AEIOU
Use AEIOU to understand the variety of pressures or constraints on your target demographic. Understanding the Activities, Environment, Interactions, Objects, and Users will allow us to craft solutions that account for constraints and design for the needs of our target demographic.
Digital Story Map
Use a Digital Story Map to create a visual representation of the customer's interactions and experiences with a product or service over time. A Digital Story Map helps us to understand how our target demographic will experience our solution.
Persona Validation Survey
Use a Persona Validation Survey to validate our representation of those experiencing the problem found in the digital story. Personas help us craft solutions that align with our target demographic.
Peers Observing Peers
Use Peers Observing Peers to observe those experiencing the problem. Peers Observing Peers provides us with an observational framework to analyze behavior and draw conclusions that will help us craft the ideal solution.
Interview for Empathy
Use to understand users' perspectives, needs, and emotions through meaningful conversations. An Interview for empathy helps us validate our persona problem and increase our understanding of their need for a solution.
Explorative Interview
Use to gain new insights, ideas, and perspectives about those experiencing the problem. An Exploratory Interview helps us to understand our target demographic so we can address their needs through our solution.