2.6.2. You have an idea, what’s next?

habits they have by keeping e.g. a photo diary for a period of one week. Collect knowledge from different sources! The key skill is empathy and it’s been proven that empathy, like creativity, can be developed with practice, not to mention it’s one of the key skills of the future. By researching and asking “why”, you will understand people and their needs better and thus be able to propose better solutions! In part 4, you can explore more about the tools you can use in your search for more data about potential business areas.

Cultural Probes - case Art Square Lab

During a project for the food industry, we asked a group of people to provide us with information about their food habits: what they eat, when they eat and with whom, when they eat in restaurants and when they prepare their own meals. During the interviews, many people pointed out that the quality of food, the nutritional value is very important to them! In a word, it should be healthy! One day, as part of our survey, we asked users to take a picture of the trash (garbage) can in their homes. Interestingly, many garbage bins contained packaging made of frozen products or ready-made canned meals! This was very valuable information for us, it allowed us to inquire a bit deeper into why, despite their intention to eat healthy, they face situations where they don’t succeed in following this intention. What are those “emergency” situations? Trying to understand the needs of our users and to understand situations in which they are reaching for less healthy solutions, like ready-made meals.

2.6.2. You have an idea, what’s next? Have you gathered a lot of information and don't know what to do with it now? If you feel overloaded and do not know what to do, it’s time to structure your knowledge using convergent thinking. You may need a research wall for this. Put all gathered information in an accessible place, trying to be as visual as possible. Do not be afraid to make changes and add or subtract data. Ideally it should be a very dynamic board, you can use sticky notes, pictures and stickers to achieve this. The major element on the board is a ‘map’ of a specific problem. Prepare a mind map by clustering the visible or graphic representations of the issues together (this process helps your brain remember later on!). Consider who is experiencing this problem (what groups of users), what aspects of the problem(s) appear for them and what solutions they have employed up to this point.

After setting up your problem map, in the second step, you need to focus on the question ‘Who is mostly concerned with this problem?' To explore this, build the Persona model: your customer-to-be with his/her habits, preferences, and experiences. At this level, it is essential to identify the needs of your users. ‘How do I do that?’ you might ask. A list of Non violent