For design thinking action class

1. +
Stakeholder:
Senior college student in Psychology
graduating in Spring 2014
Designer: Lara VN
Empathy Map
for school
to work
transition
design
challenge
SAY
DO
THINK

2. +
SAY
So scared don’t want to think about it
Resources are not advertised very
well at my school. There are
resources but they don't go out of
their way to help anyone.
It's been pretty stressful, unfortunately.
Although I'm not out of school yet, having
one year left seems pretty daunting.
All the time you hear people talking about how
bad the economy is and how people out of college
can't get jobs -even my professors tell students
that it's hard going into the workforce out of
college & that the opportunities are slim.

3. +
THINK
I wish I'd known:
1. what degrees got you sure
jobs right out of school
2. which career paths were likely
to make you the most secure
3. everyone was going to tell me
how bad it was after school
the idea of being able to decide
what I want to do for the rest of
my life is kind of exciting! I get
to choose whatever career path
I want. I get to choose what to
do, who I help and what my
services provide. I get to
decide what crafts I want to
hone.
Re: resources - don't see any posters around and they don't
send out emails. They're more of a 'come to us' program & a
lot of people (myself included) aren't inclined to go ask for
help even when they desperately need it.

4. +
FEEL

5. +
DO
Avoiding looking or
thinking about looking for
work at all costs
Plans to do a lot of research to find out where
she wants to be.
Assumed that she’d
graduate college and
then jump right into
grad school knowing
exactly what she
wanted to pursue
Hasn’t done
informational
interviewing or
shadowing
Not seeking help or
honest outlook from
school’s career
counselors
If she decides to wait for
grad school she'll probably
go back to her summer
internship and get a more
secure footing there, or try
for another real job with
some link to HR.
Right now she’ll be
looking for connections
and networking after
she gets out of school.

6. +
Problem Statement
Lexi, a college senior graduating in Spring 2014
Needs: active support, encouragement,
guidance, and resources to help with her
transition path after undergraduate school
Because: it is a scary, uncertain, complex
and wicked issue.