1. Design Thinking
Masterclass
101 – Building Empathy
Created by Sara Fortier | Outwitly Inc. | outwitly.com

2. Agenda
Introductions
Overview of Design Thinking
Exercise 1: Ecosystem Map
Exercise 2: Interviews
Exercise 3: Break-up letters
Exercise 4: Finding Insights
Wrap Up + Peer Session Homework + What we’ll do next time
9:00am
9:10am
9:30am
9:45am
10:10am
10:25am
10:45am

3. Introduction
Today’s Masterclass (101 vs. 202)
Sara Fortier – a little about me
Class introductions:
Name
Job/role/company
What are you hoping to gain/learn from the workshop?

4. Design is everything
Every human experience with a product, service,
company, building, culture, is designed.
Whether intentionally or not…

5. What is design thinking?
Design thinking is a human-centered approach to
problem solving.

6. Design thinking = innovation
Business
(viability)
Technology
(feasibility)
People
(desirability)
Innovation

7. Best for ‘wicked’ problems
A wicked problem is a problem that is difficult or impossible
to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing
requirements that are often difficult to recognize.

8. Design thinking is…
1. Human-centered
2. Collaborative
3. Multi-disciplinary
4. Highly creative
5. Iterative

9. Design thinking is not…
1. Visual/graphic design (just how it looks)
2. A one size fits all solution
3. Just for designers

10. Stanford d.School process
Empathize
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Test

11. How it feels
The Squiggle of Design by Damien Newman

12. How it feels
Today’s work…
The Squiggle of Design by Damien Newman

13. Ways to build empathy
Surveys
In-depth interviews
Observation (think Jane Goodall in the wild)
Focus groups
Diary studies
Break-up letters

14. Quick Buzz
3-5 minutes
Debrief with the person next to you on your main takeaways from the presentation.
Any questions?

15. Today’s scenario
We will choose 1 scenario/problem to tackle with design thinking methods (dot voting). Should
be universal, everyone must have some experience with the topic, and feel comfortable
discussing frustrations and experiences. Redesign:
1. The travel experience
2. Buying a house/car
3. Paying your taxes
4. Company culture
5. Other?

16. Workshop Exercises

17. Exercise 1: Ecosystem map
10 minutes
Step 1: Quickly list out all people (stakeholders, groups/teams, users, and customers) who are
affected by the scenario (i.e. Corporate, gate agents, flight crew, customs agents, flyers,
customer service, etc.). Write each person/group on one post-it.
Step 2: List out all touchpoints that are user/customer facing
Step 3: Map out how each person/group relate to each other and to touchpoints – group post-
its together that are similar, draw connections between others.

18. Exercise 2: Interviews
25 minutes
Step 1: Break into teams of 2
Step 2: Each person will interview the other for 5 minutes about their experience with the
scenario. Take notes (pen and papers provided).
Step 3: Switch!
Step 4: Switch again. (5 minutes each) Look at what you have, now dig deeper
Step 5: Reflect for 3 minutes (highlight needs and insights)

19. Researcher mindsets
1. Building empathy
2. Listening openly (not leading)
3. Looking for problems and needs
4. Probing deeper (listen for clues)

20. Interviewing tips
Interviewing is an art…
As an interviewer, you ask questions, but mostly listen to the interviewee talk.
Try to get the interviewee to open up, let them direct the conversation.
Start with general questions – make them feel at ease, then dig deeper.
Ask WHY? (get into motivations)
When you hear an interesting point that they bring up, but might just brush over, ask them:
“Can you tell me more about that?”

21. Sample interview questions
Questions you can ask:
Please tell me about a recent experience with [scenario/topic].
Can you tell me about your office? What are the people like? What are some things that you
struggle with the most? How would you describe the culture? What are the biggest barriers to
success?
What did you like most about the experience?
What did you like the least? What did you find most challenging? How did that make you feel?
If you could wave a magic wand, what would your ideal experience be?

22. Exercise 3: Break-up letters
10 minutes
Write a break-up letter with your company, Air Canada, OC transpo, etc. Write down all the
reasons why you are leaving, everything they could have done to keep you, what the ideal
airline would look like, your hopes and dreams for travelling.
Dear [Company/Experience],
I am leaving you because…

23. Exercise 4: Finding Insights
25 minutes
Step 1: Pass your break up letter to your partner
Step 2: Review the interview notes and break-up letters and write each idea/pain point/insight on
individual post-its (one idea per post-it). (Individual work – 10 minutes)
Step 3: All teams post on the wall.
Step 4: Work together (entire class) to group common ideas together into themes (affinity mapping).
Step 5: List out 5 top insights/pain points – these will be what we use in 201 course to
solve/innovate on.

24. Peer session and Homework
Homework – download and read Human Centered Design Toolkit (IDEO)
Peer session – choose a few cards from the LUMA deck (Understanding category) and do the
exercises.
If in doubt…
Create an experience journey map (map out the end to end experience in chronological order
and attach pain points)

25. Resources
Online:
Design Thinking Process by d.school
Books:
Gamestorming by Gary Brown Macanufo
101 Design Methods by Vijay Kumar
Designing for Growth by Jeanne Liedtka and Tim Ogilvie
Innovating for People: Human-Centered Design Planning Cards by LUMA Institute

26. Next time – 202 class
Taking the insights from today, plus any additional insights from your homework, and
conceptualize ideas/solutions, prototyping, iterating.
Empathize
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Test

27. Thank you!
Email: sarafortier@outwitly.com
Instagram and twitter: @outwitly
Linkedin: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/sarafortier
Website: outwitly.com