This second app design project is different that the first because I will be designing a new app altogether. Empathy mapping at this stage is even more critical because I am working along side another person. In order to effectively visualize my findings as well as the types of users, I have created three different empathy maps. nngroup.com states that empathy maps “provide a glance into who a user is as a whole and are not chronological or sequential.” For my research this week I used the website AbilityMediaGroup.com as the app I am designing will be for Ability Media. I followed the traditional formatting which documents what the user says, thinks, does, and feels. Such information is highly valuable because it lets me what what they like about the website and what improvements can be made. This in turn gives me an idea of what features users like as well as any changes that I could make when designing the app.
In terms of the different quadrants I believe each offers important insights and knowledge about the people who would be using the app. In the “Says” quadrant one can gain insight about how the user is interpreting different elements of the website, their first impressions, and if anything particularly stands out. The “Thinks” segment can help determine how interested or invested the user is based on what their thoughts are. It can also help identify the user motivation in terms of why they are looking or using the app. The “Does” element is really focused around action whether that is audibly sighing or going back to a certain page. For this project it can also help to highlight certain issues the user is facing or areas of improvement. I believe that the “Feels” segment not only helps us understand what the user is feeling, whether that is emotional, physical, or mental, but it also gives designers a glimpse into why they might be interested or motivated about a certain topic and / or issue. In this case the topics include those with disabilities, media, and communications. The issues that are present are the lack of awareness and opportunities for those who have a disability but still want to work in the field of communications.
All of these topics and issues can take us as designers along very different paths. On InteractionDesign.org it mentions that identifying the most crucial user needs often come with their own realizations and insights. These needs which are verbs need to come directly from the user and are desires or wanting of a certain activity. Looking at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs can not only help clarify what a need is but it could also help someone identify a certain need they may have missed or overlooked. An example could be wanting the font size to increase or being able to view and visit other similar organizations or initiatives. Identity then needs to come from the user traits that have been observed. A contradiction must occur between two of these traits such as what a user says versus what they do.
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