Skill Maps

Stage 1: Empathize — See the World Through Users' Eyes

Empathy is the foundation of Design Thinking. Here we set aside all our assumptions and immerse ourselves in the real world of users. Our goal is to understand not what people say, but what they feel and why they behave that way.

Why is Empathy Critical?

Most design failures happen because teams create products for themselves, not for users. We think: " I'd want this feature, " forgetting that we're not the target audience.

Golden Rule: You are not the user. Your mom is not the user. The user is someone who actually faced the problem.

Research Methods for the Empathy Stage

1. In-Depth Interviews

This isn't a survey with checkboxes, but a live one-on-one conversation.

How to conduct:

  • Ask open-ended questions: " Tell me how you usually... " instead of " Do you use this? "
  • Dig deeper: Use the 5 Whys technique. Ask " Why? " at least 5 times in a row to get to the root cause.
  • Listen to pauses: Sometimes the most important insights come after silence.

Example:

  • Question: " Why don't you use mobile banking? "
  • Answer: " It's inconvenient. "
  • Why inconvenient? " There are too many buttons. "
  • Why is that a problem? " I'm afraid I'll press the wrong thing and lose money. "
  • Insight: The problem isn't the number of buttons, but the fear of making mistakes.

2. Observation (Shadowing / Contextual Inquiry)

Observe people in their natural environment. Don't ask " How do you do this? " , just watch.

Why it's important: People often don't realize their habits. They'll say: " I always read instructions, " but in reality—they immediately click " Next. "

Where to observe:

  • In the office (how employees use CRM)
  • At home (how grandma orders groceries online)
  • In stores (how shoppers choose products)

3. User Diaries (Diary Studies)

Ask users to record their experience over a week: what they did, what emotions they felt, where they stumbled.

Example task: " Every time you use a food delivery app, take a screenshot and write what you felt at that moment. "

4. Empathy Map

A visual tool that helps structure data.

Map sections:

  1. What do they see? (Environment, interfaces, people around)
  2. What do they hear? (Friends' advice, ads, colleagues' opinions)
  3. What do they think and feel? (Fears, hopes, dreams)
  4. What do they say and do? (Behavior, words, actions)
  5. Pains: What frustrates and scares them?
  6. Gains: What do they want to achieve?

Mistakes in the Empathy Stage

❌ Confirmation bias: You've already thought of a solution and are looking for confirmation, not truth. ❌ Leading questions: " You like this button, right? " ❌ Ignoring emotions: Focus only on facts ( " How many times a day do you do this? " ), not feelings.

Practical Example: Airbnb

In 2009, Airbnb was on the brink of bankruptcy. The founders decided to personally visit apartment hosts in New York. They saw that photos of properties were terrible—shot on phones, dark, blurry. They hired a photographer, made professional shots—and revenue doubled in a month.

Insight: The problem wasn't the platform, but content quality. This could only be learned through empathy.