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EMPATHY FIELDWORK GUIDE
MAE 4341/5340
freely adapted from Empathy Fieldguide (d.school – Hasso Plattner – Institute of Design at Stanford)
Redesign students’ experience so that they don’t just get by but thrive
Empathy Fieldwork in the pre-set environment:
Contact users that you know (directly or indirectly) and establish a way to gather emotional data from them (zoom or in
person). For example you might want to set up a zoom meeting with a family that you know, a friend from high school
that you haven’t seen in a long time, etc… Please remember that the target user should be a student in the
demographic that you picked, but engaging with a bigger group of people (ex. the entire family, classmates, etc…)
might help you understand the dynamic with the other users at play (parents, friends, etc…). Zoom will make it possible
for you to “engage” (interview) with users who live far away, and “observe” them at the same time in their environment
(house, school, etc…). When possible you can/should also do this in person.
Empathy Fieldwork in the random environment:
Besides the pre-set environment, you might want to gather emotional data with users that you don’t know and that you
randomly meet.
If you are already doing a chore or activity (examples: you are at the grocery store, at the park, in the classroom, you
are walking on campus,…), you might want to use that opportunity to “immerse” (record your own experience of doing
that chore/activity) and “observe” (record others’ experience of doing that chore/activity). You can certainly also
“engage” (interview) in the random environment. If you simply assume a detective mind-set in your everyday life, you are
always ready to capture unexpected empathy episodes that can be very insightful.
Empathy Fieldwork in the internet environment:
You can also “observe” target users just by browsing the internet (videos and pictures). There is so much internet material
to “observe” according to our methodology. Via YouTube you can virtually visit a classroom, spend a few hours with a
family, attend a prom, or a college event. Take snap shots of what you observed on internet. The visual will be later used
for unpacking and sharing.
(C) Sirietta Simoncini - 2023
The empathy will consist of:
Immersion: Experience what your users experience.
Observation: View users in context.
Engagement: Interview users.
You all should experience all 3 modes.
Robert Plutchik’s emotion wheel
This is YOUR experience of YOU as user in the environment (whether it is home, a park, a
classroom, a bus stop, a store, the gym, etc…).
You are putting yourself in the shoes of the user. You are pretending to be the user.
Of course if you are in the same demographic you picked (ex. you are a college student
and you picked college students) then this process will be more natural. If you are not in
the same demographic (ex. you picked highschoolers), then you will have to re-create the
scenario for the immersion. In this case it is better to do immersions after some interviews, so
you can target specific scenarios that your users described.
Capture the most significant moments of your experience (notes, pics, drawings…).
ASK YOURSELF: … how do I feel now? Am I bored, excited, nervous, relaxed, annoyed,
happy, surprised, frustrated, focused…? Am I in pain? confused? What is attracting my
attention?
Refer to Robert Plutchik’s emotion wheel to describe YOUR emotions.
IMMERSION
first person = “I” – “we”
One pole is when you are the user you are pretending to be.
Yes, it is easier to do immersion in this case, BUT be aware that being too acquainted
with what you are experiencing in the immersion, can carry a lot of biases. We tend to
adjust to problems that we experience on a daily basis. The result is that we don’t see
them anymore.
The other pole is when there is a big gap between you and the user (ex: you are
pretending to be an older student, who went back to grad school at the age of 50).
What do you do in this case? After interviewing an elderly student try to recreate their
struggles.
immersion: the 2 poles
ex. Older students might need reading
glasses to read (and use any digital
devise). You can simulate what it means
by wearing nearsighted glasses while
working on your device.
Now you are observing the users and their interactions with others in their environment
(whether it is home, a park, a classroom, a bus stop, a store, the gym, etc…).
Record what attracts your attention.
Look for both normal behaviors and… unusual ones).
OBSERVATION third person =
“he/she” – “they”
Elementary School Replaces Desks With “Reading Bikes” And Student Test Scores Skyrocket (inspiremore.com)
Pets are Our WFH #Coworkers | American Heart Association
Observe them studying, doing
extracurricular activities, doing
chores, having fun, socializing,
working, spending time with family…)
Extracurricular activities equal better grades (teenlife.com)
Watch their faces for emotions. What emotions do you observe? What are the users doing?
How are they doing it? When you will unpack all your findings you will be asked to move
from concrete observations of a particular scene to thinking about the more abstract
emotions and motives that are at play in the situation.
Refer to Robert Plutchik’s emotion wheel to describe THEIR emotions.
California’s CORE districts joined forces to bolster social-emotional development, but a study of 400,000 kids reveals
gaps in learning & a confidence crisis among middle school girls | LA School Report
Building a better student community with ‘Happy Classrooms’ - Times of India (indiatimes.com)
It is time to engage with the users in their environment, (whether it is home, a park, a
classroom, a bus stop, a store, the gym, etc…).
You can do it via zoom or in person.
Preparation:
Before you meet with them, prepare some questions you can ask.
Designate Roles: Lead Interviewer/Supporting Interviewer/Visually attuned person/Scribe
• If only two students are in your mini-team, the supporting interviewer will also be the
visually attuned person and the scribe.
• Let the lead interviewer do most of the talking so that the user doesn’t feel
overwhelmed. The supporting interviewer can follow up on questions or ask things that
were left out.
• Switch roles from one interview to another!
Have conversations, seek stories, talk about feelings! (Refer to Robert Plutchik’s emotion
wheel to describe THEIR emotions).
ENGAGEMENT second person = “you”
• Encourage stories NO DATA
• Never say “usually” specific moments
• Don’t ask binary questions yes/no
• Stay on the same path of a question (ASK “WHY?”) juicy story? follow up!
• Ask questions neutrally don’t you think that…
• Don’t suggest answers to your questions
• Don’t be afraid of silence
• Only 10 words to a question
• Only ask one question at a time, one person at a time
• Look for inconsistencies say = do
• Listen to nonverbal cues body language
More tips…
- Pay attention to artifacts. Examples: clothing, jewelry, space, devices…objects in the
space, anything.
- Note the environment. Who is there? Where is the energy? Does your user fit in here?
What does this place offer him/her/them?
Interview steps:
1. Build rapport (introduction-kickoff-build trust) offer something of yourself
2. Understand your user
3. Probe your topic (dig deeper for stories and feelings!)
4. Wrap up
let them think!
do not overwhelm them!
how to conduct a good interview
sample questions
Introduction (necessary if you are not acquainted with your users): “Hello my name is
____________. We’re taking a class at Cornell on product design where we are focusing on
improving the lives of students by learning from their needs. It would be great to talk to you
for a few minutes…”
“Can you tell us about your day yesterday, from the time you woke up to the time you
went to bed?”
“What did you do last weekend?”
“Can you tell us about the last time you and your family/peers did something together?
When was it? Describe…How did you feel before, during and after this activity?”
“Can you tell us about the last time you were really relaxed and had fun?...Take me
through that day.”
“Can you tell us about your hobbies, extra curricula activities…?”
“How do you balance your school commitments with your other commitments? Can you
give me a specific example? Last Spring…?
“Can you tell me about a recent frustrating experience at school? Can you tell us the
whole story of that event?“
“… ?”
specific time
progressively
more specific
You basically want to start with broad questions and encourage the user to tell you stories
(you are asking about what happened that specific day and not what they generally do).
If your questions are too narrow and specific at the beginning, the risk is to limit the amount
of emotional information that the user might give you.
Nevertheless, don’t forget the scope of the interview. Your design challenge is:
Redesign students’ experience so that they don’t just get by but thrive
You will be able to narrow down to the specific subject toward the end and according to
what the user is telling you.
Also be ready to follow the flow. Unexpected insightful answers might change the direction
of your interview. Embrace the ambiguity of this process!