Technical Profiles Often Overlook Empathy: User Persona and Empathy Map
When we technical profiles delve into product development, we tend to focus heavily on the technology, often overlooking the genuine needs of the end-users. Such a skewed perspective can lead us to craft technically brilliant solutions that don’t resonate with those who are meant to use them.
Does Google Wave sound familiar to you? Probably not, right?
Google launched it in 2009 with the idea of amalgamating e-mail, instant messaging, wikis, and real-time collaboration into one platform. From a technical standpoint, Wave was spectacular, dubbed the “communication revolution.” However, some prior groundwork based on Design Thinking might have reduced the risk of rolling out a platform that, let’s face it, lacked a target audience.
- User Persona
Imagine if they had crafted a User Persona:
- Javier, 30 years old
- A project manager overseeing three software developers.
- His main duty is to ensure his team develops and delivers high-quality software on schedule.
- He uses e-mail and instant messaging daily.
- He’s on the lookout for tools that streamline his workflow and enhance communication within his team.
Google could have then aimed to VALIDATE if there were industry profiles needing a communication tool with such a high degree of technical intricacy.
2. Empathy Map
An Empathy Map for Javier could have mirrored his emotions and viewpoints:
- Thinks and feels: “I want tools that help me be more efficient, but I fear wasting time on learning something new that might not work for me.”
- Sees: Notices colleagues using multiple tools for their daily tasks, hopping from one platform to another.
- Hears: Hears peers discussing tools that promise a lot but deliver little.
- Does: Willing to try out new tools, but if he doesn’t see clear value early on, he tends to revert to his usual tools.
- Pain points: An overwhelming array of tools and a lack of integration amongst them.
- Gains: He seeks a consolidated solution that can expedite his day-to-day tasks without a steep learning curve.
In the end, having groundbreaking technology isn’t enough if it doesn’t align with the real emotions and requirements of users. Worse, we might end up, as Google did on that occasion, creating a tech behemoth that doesn’t address anyone’s problems. These tools, among others, assist us in bridging our technical solutions with the real world.
As someone with a technical background, have you ever worked on developing a product that felt out of touch with the real market needs? What other tools have you employed to shape your user profile?
