Empathy Map Canvas

1. Who are we empathizing with?

Who is the person we want to understand? What is the situation they are in? What is their role in the situation?

2. What do they need to do? How do we stay connected with them?

What do they need to do differently? What do we need to do differently? What decision(s) do they (we) need to make? How will we know that they/we were successful?

3. What do they say?

What have we heard them say? What can we imagine them saying?

4. What do they hear?

What are they hearing from others? What are they hearing from friends? What are they hearing from colleagues? What are they hearing secondhand?

5. What do they see?

What do they see in the marketplace? What do they see in their immediate environment? What do they see others saying and doing? What are they watching and reading?

6. What do they do?

What do they do today? What behavior have we observed? What can we imagine them doing?

7. What do they think and feel?

Pains: What are their fears, frustrations, and anxieties?

Gains: What are their wants, needs, hopes, and dreams?

What other thoughts and feelings might motivate their behavior?

Persona Canvas POV

Steps

1. Establish the actor. This is a point of view from the person who experiences the journey.
2. Develop a scenario that describes the situation that the journey map addresses and is associated with an actor’s goal or need and specific expectations.
3. Identify the Journey phases. Journey phases are the different high-level stages in the journey. They provide the organization for the rest of the information in the journey map (actions, thoughts, and emotions). The stages will vary from scenario to scenario.
4. Next, capture the actions, mindsets, and emotions. These are behaviors, thoughts, and feelings the actor has throughout the journey and that are mapped within each of the journey phases. Actions are the actual behaviors and steps taken by the users. users. The mindsets correspond to users’ thoughts, questions, motivations, and information needs at different stages in the journey. Emotions are plotted as single line across the journey phases, literally signaling the emotional “ups” and “downs” of the experience.

Persona:

Scenario:

User expectations:

Research Canvas

Before you begin, it’s important to first outline the goals and assumptions of your research. Your research plan should be completed at the beginning of the project, and for each phase as your research objectives evolve.

Steps

1. Identify the phase that you are in and address the following: For Inspiration: problem-space research to gain empathy and clearly define the problem. For Ideation: problem-space research to supply inputs for ideation and iterative problem-solving. For Implementation: solution-space research to test and refine the concept as well as the communication.
2. Research Objectives: Document the research objectives for this phase.
3. Embedded assumptions: Document the embedded assumptions with regards to what the research phase is and is not.
4. Methods: Document the type of method, the objectives, the participant criteria and the time frame for various research methods listed.

Research Objectives for this phase(s):

Embedded assumptions:

How Might We… ?

“How might we” (HMW) questions are short questions that launch brainstorms. HMWs are seeds for your ideation that fall out of your point-of-view statement, design principles, or insights.

Steps

1. Begin with your Point of View (POV), insights, or problem statement. Create small actionable questions that retain your unique and specific perspective. Write these questions beginning with the phrase, “How might we…” It is often helpful to brainstorm the HMW questions before the solutions brainstorm. For example, redesign the ground experience at the local international airport. POV: Harried mother of three, rushing through the airport only to wait hours at the gate, needs to entertain her playful children because “annoying little brats” only irritate already frustrated fellow passengers.
2. Fill out the following HMW questions to create a seed that is broad enough that there are a wide range of solutions but narrow enough that the team is provoked to think of specific, unique ideas. For example, “HMW create a cone to eat ice cream without dripping” is too narrow but “HMW redesign dessert” is too broad.

Point of View or Problem Statement

Amp up the good: HMW use the kids’ energy to entertain fellow passenger?

Remove the bad: HMW separate the kids from fellow passengers?

Explore the opposite: HMW make the wait the most exciting part of the trip?

Question an assumption: HMW entirely remove the wait time at the airport?

Go after adjectives: HMW we make the rush refreshing instead of harrying?

ID unexpected resources: HMW leverage free time of fellow passengers to share the load?

Create an analogy from need or context: HMW make the airport like a spa? Like a playground?

Choose one to move forward with and write it here.

Reframing the HMW

The WHY-HOW LADDER—this is a great way to get the most out your HMW question to determine if it is
the right one to move forward with.

Steps

1. Write the initial How Might We challenge in the first box below. From that starting point, derive new questions moving down the ladder by asking, “And WHY is that important?” Move down the ladder by asking, “And HOW might we do that?”
2. Review the set of questions/statements you derived and write down a new provocation in the box below. Note: The reframed challenge might be derived from what you wrote in one of the WHY or HOW boxes, or it can be a whole new question inspired by the laddering process. One of the goals of the process is to hone in on a problem/challenge that is neither too broad/abstract, nor too narrow.

How might we… ?

Put your initial question here.

Why is that important?

So that we might…

Why is that important?

In order to…

How might we do that?

By…

How might we do that?

Or by…

How might we… ?

Put your refined question here.

Capture Ideas Canvas

Brainstorming is a great way to come up with a lot of ideas. The intention of brainstorming is to leverage the collective thinking of the group, by engaging with each other, listening, and building on other ideas.

Steps

1. Be intentional about setting aside a period of time when your team will be in “brainstorm mode”—when the sole goal is to come up with as many ideas as possible, and when judgment of those ideas will not come into the discussion. Invest energy into a short period of time, such as 15 or 30 minutes of high engagement. Get in front of a whiteboard or around a table, but take an active posture of standing or sitting upright. Get close together.
2. Review the set of questions/statements you derived and write down a new provocation in the box below. Note: The reframed challenge might be derived from what you wrote in one of the WHY or HOW boxes, or it can be a whole new question inspired by the laddering process. One of the goals of the process is to hone in on a problem/challenge that is neither too broad/abstract, nor too narrow.
3. Choose a way to capture the ideas of a brainstorming:
   1. Scribe: the scribe legibly and visually captures on the board ideas that team members call out. It is very important to capture every idea, regardless of your own feelings about each idea.
   2. All-in: Each person will write down each of his or her ideas as they come, and verbally share it with the group. It is great to do this with post-it notes, so you can write your idea and then stick it on the board.
4. Group your ideas into four categories—this method encourages you to hang onto those crazy but meaningful ideas. Elect one or two ideas for each of these four categories: the rational choice, the most likely to delight, the darling, and the long shot.

How might we… ?

Put your initial question here.

Brainstorm Ideas!

Go for quantity (50 or more!) and follow the tips.

Brainstorming Tips:

• Defer judgment
• Go for quantity
• Encourage wild ideas
• Build on the ideas of others
• One conversation at a time
• Be visual
• Headline

Miro.com is great for this when brainstorming virtually.

Group Ideas and Generate More Ideas if Needed

Selection Canvas

So, you’ve got plenty of ideas, but how do you decide which ones will prove to be the most beneficial for the people you’re designing for?

Steps

1. Take the concepts that you have narrowed down through voting or other selection techniques.
2. For each concept, ask whether it fits within at least one of your innovation priorities.
   1. Desirability—human centered
   2. Viability—Financially worth it
   3. Feasibility—Technology possible
3. Finally, plot your concepts on this Matrix which measures their difficulty to implement against how much impact they could have. Consider these types of questions as you go:
   1. Does this require you to do things differently than your current processes allow for? If yes, does this discomfort provide a compelling new opportunity to learn?
   2. Does the potential opportunity gain justify the disruption?
   3. Could you set up a new venture incubator to design and test a new innovation approach and business model?
   4. Could you acquire the capabilities through new partnerships?

Four by Four

Opportunity Canvas

Each Opportunity Area is created to describe a possible direction and help make informed decisions on what to prototype. Opportunity areas need to be understandable, connected to research insights, and you should be excited about each of them (no lame ducks).

Steps

1. Decide on three or more areas that are distinct and will provide you with the insights.
2. Come up with catchy and memorable titles for your opportunity areas. This will help with buy in from others and perhaps new inspirations.
3. Describe the idea in a way that creates a visual for the person you are designing for (e.g., “imagine a world where….”)
4. Identify 3-4 key insights that helped inform each opportunity.
5. Draw or find images that illustrate the concepts. This is your opportunity to begin to make the ideas visual.
6. What criteria will you need to think about in order to measure the success of the opportunities?

Opportunity Area #1

Catchy Title

Description

Imagine a world where…

Insights

3-5 key research insights that inform this opportunity.

Illustrative Concepts

3-5 post-it ideas or solutions that demonstrate the possibility of this opportunity area.

Decision-Making Criteria

How will we measure the success of this opportunity?

Opportunity Area #2

Catchy Title

Description

Imagine a world where…

Insights

3-5 key research insights that inform this opportunity.

Illustrative Concepts

3-5 post-it ideas or solutions that demonstrate the possibility of this opportunity area.

Decision-Making Criteria

How will we measure the success of this opportunity?

Opportunity Area #3

Catchy Title

Description

Imagine a world where…

Insights

3-5 key research insights that inform this opportunity.

Illustrative Concepts

3-5 post-it ideas or solutions that demonstrate the possibility of this opportunity area.

Decision-Making Criteria

How will we measure the success of this opportunity?

Opportunity Area #4

Catchy Title

Description

Imagine a world where…

Insights

3-5 key research insights that inform this opportunity.

Illustrative Concepts

3-5 post-it ideas or solutions that demonstrate the possibility of this opportunity area.

Decision-Making Criteria

How will we measure the success of this opportunity?

Resource Canvas

You are well on your way to producing a successful solution! Now it is time to figure out who is best suited for what task and how it will get done.

Steps

1. Embedded assumptions: Document your original innovative concept(s) as well as anything new that may come out of this process
2. Distribution: How are you getting your concept out into the world? Are they multiple ways? Consider what might happen once you get the product out into the world and if it may have internal or external impacts that need to be addressed.
3. What, How, By Whom, and When?: What will the team need to do in order to make your innovative concept come to life so that people can respond to it? This should include building prototypes, creating a brand, identifying potential road blocks etc. How is this going to happen, who is going to do it and when does it need to be done by?

Embedded assumptions

Distribution

How are you getting your concept(s) out into the world?

What, how, by whom, and when?

Success Model Canvas

This model can be used for multiple problems to help us understand the underlying user need and thinking more creatively about how they can be met.

Steps

1. Sit down with your team and start to fill out the sections of the Success Model Canvas
2. There is not a rigid start and end point. Design thinking is an iterative process of continuous learning, prototyping, and feedback loops. As such, you may continuously come back to the user(s) as their perspectives fit within the system as iterate.
3. When you fill it out the first time, expect there to be holes. It’s okay not to know exactly how everything will work. Adapt as needed and continue to reference this as you iterate on your solution. Feel free to use post-its for more space.

Key Partnerships

How might you strengthen your partnerships with organisations to benefit from this solution? What new or unexpected partnerships can you form?

Key Activities

What might be the positive externalities (i.e., the consequences of your actions) of your activities? And how might you monitor and design out any negative externalities?

User Relations

What feedback loops will you build in with your users to become more nimble and adaptable? How might you find other ways to connect?

User Segments

Who will be the main users of your product/service/system? Who else might benefit?

Key Resources

How might you build an interdisciplinary team? What capabilities do you need to sustain your solution in the short and long term? Where will your resources come from and are there any other materials?

Value Proposition

Start by asking yourself: what are the needs you are aiming to meet? Is there anything associated with your product/service/system that has potential value to others? How will you create a compelling story about your solution? How might you enhance your solution from the outset by designing for adaptability and continuous evolution?

Channels

How might you redesign your relationship with your supply chain? How might you build feedback loops directly into your product/service that allow you to identify new opportunities? What role could you play in the reverse logistics chain?

Costs

Which costs could be shared or lowered through other users and partners? How might you reduce cost volatility and dependence on existing resources?

Revenue

How might you diversify opportunities to increase resilience, growth and innovation? How might your solution help create other types of value? Human, social, or natural capital?

Brand Promise Canvas

Brand purpose is emerging as one of the drivers of customer engagement. Increasingly, people are making decisions based on an emotional connection to a particular brand.

Steps

1. Use the Brand Template to create or review your brand promise. This will help you think about how you engage customers emotionally.
2. Next list out what your customers value, e.g., convenience, status, being the first, etc.
3. Write down your concept. Ask yourself, based on your brand promise and your customer’s values, how should this initiative make them feel? What are emotional qualities that your product brings when they buy or use it?
4. Next, capture the message that would appeal to your audience for them to feel invested in this concept. Your goal is to figure out how to make your initiative feel relevant in a way that relates their values.
5. Consider what this innovation could add back into the brand promise—what might it refresh, emphasize or add? Also consider how your promise might play out to other partners or users in the value chain.

1. Promise – Complete the Sentence

The only…

What; e.g., for Harley Davidson, this would be “The only motorcycle manufacturer”

that…

Category; “that makes big loud motorcycles”

for…

Who (customer); “for macho guys (and “macho wannabes”)”

in…

Where (market Geography); “mostly in the United States”

in an era of…

When (an underlying trend); “in an era of decreasing personal freedom”

2. The User Value

E.g., freedom, social status, convenience, saving money, being hip, etc.

3. Area of Opportunity

E.g., making our packaging biodegradable.

4. Emotional Draw (Why)

E.g., altruistic? Empowered? Smart? Techie? Inspired?

5. Your Message (Why & How)

E.g., “You’ll be ahead of the curve if you integrate… into your life.”