48 Team Empathy Mapping/Prepping for Synthesis Essay

General reminders for my amazing and smart students:

• Please be kind, friendly, and collaborative with your peers
• You don’t all have to agree on everything. Discuss differences in a respectful way (I hear what you’re saying . . .; I can see where you’re coming from …. but _____ ; I can understand that perspective and here’s an alternative ____)
• Fill in the gaps with context on your interviewees when necessary [sometimes we don’t or can’t get every piece of information down] so give some insight to help your peers
• Not every idea is going to fit neatly into a box/slot/space/dimension, etc. Use broad strokes when categorizing. Also, leave space for those unique answers that add interest or diversity. Remember, sometimes people are straightforward, but most times, people are complicated. Taking note of nuance is key in this exercise.
• Have fun–let your brain do its wonderful awesome thing!

What to do during your session:

STEP 1: On a sheet color of your choosing, write down ALL of the stakeholders who you interviewed–NAME + some other descriptor information, such as but not limited to: age, hometown, student or employment position, employment status, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, etc. Ask any questions to clarify/inventory who was interviewed. Only include interviewees whose questionnaire is physically present in class. Take A PICTURE of the stakeholders list BEFORE moving on to the next step. Use the tacky tape to put this on the wall if you would like.

STEP 2: Next, use a LARGE white Post-It note to create a new team EMPATHY MAP. Label the areas SAY, THINK, DOES, FEEL (see image below).  Use your own interviewees’ information to write down on a little Post-It note. Use their ANSWERS from the questionnaire, but you can also include your observations that you put on your own empathy maps. Include on individual Post-it notes the things your own interviewees said, what they thought, what they did, and what they felt. Put ONE notation on each Post-it note… don’t combine two or more ideas on one Post-it. Once everyone is finished with this step, STOP. Discuss the responses for each quadrant. Explain your rationale for putting a notation in a certain quadrant. Do NOT overthink the quadrants (yes, things overlap–just best efforts here). Clarify any questions folks have on a certain comment/statement from an interview. Take A PICTURE of this empathy map BEFORE moving on to the next step.

STEP 3:  On a SECOND white Post-It, label the top half SIMILAR, label the other half DIFFERENT. Start to move the Post-It notes from the Empathy Map to the new sheet based on how folks answered–in other words, group those responses that are similar and those that are different or unique on the top and bottom half.  Some responses might fall into both categories depending on what is being compared, so put those responses on that middle line. Discuss. STOP. Take A PICTURE of the similarities and differences sheets BEFORE moving on to the next step.

STEP 4: Grab a different color sheet(s). Write down any and all DIMENSIONS that you noticed from your interviewees (aka the stakeholders) via the similarities and differences (Dimensions = trends, perspectives, mindsets, priorities, observations, connections, confusions, contradictions). Ex. Student/people/folks say. . .  Student/people/folks think . . .  Student/people/folks do/do not. . .  Student/people/folks feel as if . . .  Feel free to also use some qualifiers when creating dimensions: many, some, a few, two, one individual. I would come up with anywhere from 6 to 8 dimensions. Do NOT just cover the surface issues; try to dig deep, too. Discuss. STOP. Take A PICTURE of the collective insight BEFORE leaving class today.

NEXT STEP: Now you can focus on uploading your questionnaires to the team folder so everyone has access to the interviewees’ responses and can thereby use those in their Synthesis Essay.