IMMERSION

 An immersive empathy experience opens up opportunities to understand what goes on

under the surface, on a subconscious level.

 It allows you to articulate subconscious needs of what the users you are interviewing
may be experiencing.

 You are getting first hand experience that you would not come close to understanding
by just listening.

 At some point you will be forced to literally live in the shoes of another in order to
have the first hand experience of what it means to be that person on a daily basis.
(Mocassin Walk)

 You are engaging in sensory understanding of a particular person in a particular

circumstance that is foreign to you..
 This experiential exercise gives you the best place to start framing your initial
problem question.

 It will also allow you to ask questions that connect with the user from a place of
emotional understanding.

 Think of actors who completely “become” another person and live that other life
from when they have committed themselves to the script until the film or play
comes to an end. They have to live in character from moment to moment.

 Practicing immersive empathy not only takes you beyond a state of awareness, it
allows you to seek solutions that are emotionally satisfactory because you were able
to connect with subject from an interior space that they live inside every single day.
What are the Advantages of Immersive Empathy?
 It is difficult for people to express their latent needs and desires. They may not have
the right language to capture and express them. And when they do have the language,
they are not ready to speak about how their situation makes them feel. They don’t
want to be misunderstood or feel exposed and vulnerable.

 When members of Design Thinking team have immersed themselves, and experienced
on a sensory level what people they want to design for are experiencing, their insights
are sharper.

 They become attuned to how the people feel, they have a glimpse of their emotional
state. As a result they are able to articulate what the users feel and ask questions that
makes the users feel understood on an emotional level. This makes the users feel free
to share from a place of trust.
 Hopes Worries

Thinking
Influen & Feeling
cers

Empathy Hearing Seeing

Map Friends
Speaking
Environ
ment

& Doing

Attitude Dealing

Fears Wishes

Pains Gains

Obstacl Goals
es
 Create a Persona
NAME:
JOBS TO BE DONE:
Persona description – Age,
What does the person want
gender, residence,
to do with the PAIN POINTS
occupation, hobbies….
product/service…what is
his/her objective (or goal) What irritates the person
about the Product / service ?
USE CASES:
• How is the product/
service used?
• By whom? GAIN POINTS
• When? What are the current
• Where? support the person has that
• How is it bought (paid makes him happy about the
for)? product/service?
• Where did the person
learn about the product/
service
*It is important to imagine the typical user as a “real person”
 1 We will need the following for
Display the
context in many
Session
photographs/
videos 2
Create
Persona(s) 3
Fill the
Empathy
Map
4
List of atleast 20 pain
points per participant
(Around 100 per team)