Persona-Based Empathy Research
The Trap
Reasoning about a problem abstractly and jumping straight to a technical fix, for example "just send an email", without first knowing what you're actually solving for.
The Reframe
Build a specific, researched persona representative of the real affected users, then walk through the actual process from their point of view. Once the persona exists, you can ask it questions and see the process the way they see it.
Steps
- Research the real context to find representative users.
- Build a specific persona from that research: a particular person with a particular situation, not a generic user type.
- Walk through the process in their shoes, and ask the persona questions along the way.
- Before proposing any fix, ask what you are actually trying to solve for.
Why It Works
It surfaces what the problem feels like, not just what it functionally does. It often reveals that the real problem isn't what it first appeared to be, which is exactly what a jump to a technical fix would have missed.
What Comes Next
The feelings this exercise uncovers are the raw material for Emotional Journey Mapping.