Empathize

WHAT IS IMPORTANT?

On the first day, all participants share relevant insides and information, creating a shared knowledge base and mindset. This day is about gaining a common understanding of the status quo and the potentials of innovative technologies and processes. To get everyone to understand the status quo in its overall context and the opportunities that lie ahead, you should invite the problem owners as well as experts on micro- and macro topics to give lightning talks representing a set of different viewpoints. Based on our common understanding, we then can define a clear target for the design sprint and list specific problems to tackle.

METHODS

Wallet Project

To become familiar with the situation, we want to shed light on the different points of views. A good way to understand a different point of view is by putting ourselves in the shoes of others. Find a partner and impersonate a fictional person that is affected by the given problem.

• Step 1: Interview 8 min (2 sessions x 4 minutes each)
  Get together in pairs. Partner A asks partner B what his problem is. Both of you display a person that is affected by the given problem. To create revealing answers, make sure to empathize with the affected person. Keep your answer simple. After the first session, you both swap roles.
• Step 2: Dig Deeper 6 min (2 sessions x 3 minutes each)
  In the next step, we want to dig deeper into the problem the person you are displaying has. Try to trigger emotions and feelings in your partner. What is their motivation? A frequently asked question should be “Why?“. Swap the roles after the first session.
• Step 3: Capture Findings 3min
  Interpret your partners’ problems. Write down his wishes and goals. Try and use as many verbs as possible. Collect the inside you have gathered. Do not forget to add what you discovered about their problem and feelings.
• Step 4: Take a stand with a point of view 3 min
  Form a meaningful statement regarding your partners’ problem from their point of view.
  “[Partners name / description] needs a way to [user´s need], because… / but… / surprisingly [Insight].”
• Step 5: Present your findings to the rest of the team and hang your wallet on a whiteboard. The collected results should be visible for everybody throughout the day.

Presentation of Key Digital Technologies

For example methodological introductions on Digital Platforms and Artificial Intelligence with Best Practice.

Hypothesis Tree

Creating a hypothesis and discussing it with your team is a great way of getting the conversation started.

• Step 1: Create your hypothesis. Describe what you have learned so far and what is most important. Ask yourself what the outcome of this problem is and in what way people are affected.
• Step 2: Find a partner and initiate a conversation. Present each other your hypotheses and discuss them.
• Step 3: Find common ground and create together a new hypothesis that contains the best of both or enhance one. Take a new piece of paper and write your new hypothesis down.
• Step 4: Find another team and repeat step 3 and step 4 until two groups are left.
• Step 5: Both groups present their hypotheses and create a final hypothesis together.