🌿 While creating a website, the designer explores the needs and pains of the target audience. Without this research phase, it is impossible to build a user-friendly website that brings results. To understand what users care about, the designer needs empathy - the ability to put themselves in the user's shoes and feel their emotional state.
Empathy In Working With Clients
Not many clients can set a precise task and clearly specify what needs to be done. The designer's job is to step into the client's shoes, ask the right questions, understand the problem, and define the goals of the project.
Methods To Understand the User
Once you've defined the goals, you need to figure out who will use the website, what their motivation is, and what might hinder them. You can use these methods:
In-Depth Interviews
To understand the users' pain, talk to them. Find out what their lifestyle and values are and what they want. It's best to conduct the interview in a relaxed setting so that the interviewee is not anxious or stressed.
📌 Tip: If you don't know what questions to ask, read the book The Mom Test: How to Talk to Customers and Learn If Your Business is a Good Idea when Everyone is Lying to You by Rob Fitzpatrick. This practical guide will help you to ask the right questions.
The Persona Method
A persona is a description of a typical member of the target audience. Such user profile makes it easier to understand what users care about and implement that learning into the design process.
Persona profiles are made based on interviews, observations, research, and statistical data. Typically they include gender, age, marital status, work, hobbies, as well as goals, motivations, and pains.
An Empathy Map
An empathy map visually depicts the user's emotions and actions. It consists of 4 sections centered around the user: Speaks, Thinks, Does, and Feels. The map helps you organize your learning about users and understand what's important to them.
Empathy In Working With Clients
Not many clients can set a precise task and clearly specify what needs to be done. The designer's job is to step into the client's shoes, ask the right questions, understand the problem, and define the goals of the project.
Methods To Understand the User
Once you've defined the goals, you need to figure out who will use the website, what their motivation is, and what might hinder them. You can use these methods:
In-Depth Interviews
To understand the users' pain, talk to them. Find out what their lifestyle and values are and what they want. It's best to conduct the interview in a relaxed setting so that the interviewee is not anxious or stressed.
📌 Tip: If you don't know what questions to ask, read the book The Mom Test: How to Talk to Customers and Learn If Your Business is a Good Idea when Everyone is Lying to You by Rob Fitzpatrick. This practical guide will help you to ask the right questions.
The Persona Method
A persona is a description of a typical member of the target audience. Such user profile makes it easier to understand what users care about and implement that learning into the design process.
Persona profiles are made based on interviews, observations, research, and statistical data. Typically they include gender, age, marital status, work, hobbies, as well as goals, motivations, and pains.
An Empathy Map
An empathy map visually depicts the user's emotions and actions. It consists of 4 sections centered around the user: Speaks, Thinks, Does, and Feels. The map helps you organize your learning about users and understand what's important to them.
