1. Empathy Map: Sparzo: Design Thinking August 3, 2013
I didn’t like high school and never thought about the future
No one was thinking about jobs
We just wanted to have fun and live for today
High School was a big social event, academics was ignored
I dropped out between sophomore and junior year
Then I realized I had to get a job and not having a degree
made it harder to get a good job
As soon as I left school I realized I had to make changes
I decided to get a GED.
While there I loved learning, finally
I liked the supportive nature of my GED classmates & teachers
I am NOT going to live life a dropout and a
druggie
I’m tired to drifting around and mooching off
friends
This sucks. There has to be a better way
When I was in the GED program I felt I was
finally accomplishing something valuable
The support and encouragement motivated
me.
I felt like a loser in high school
I pretended there was plenty
of time and wasn’t going to
worry about the future.
Once I decided to get my GED I
felt motivated, and then
accomplished and proud.
Now I feel ready to find a
college and really get an
education and then a good
job!
I observed Shawna during the
interview. She looked me right
in the eye, was confident and
very frank about the mistakes
she made.
I observed what looked like
ambition and a sense of being
in control during the interview.
Problem Statement: Shawna needed a be more engaged in high school and encouraged to consider the future as a more
urgent or timely component of her life goals so that she could have avoided 3+ years of drift, unemployment and hardship.
NOTE: This Map is in the past tense. She has successfully engineered her own solution by seeking out Adult Ed, getting a GED and is now working at a
retail job while saving for college. Her hope was our redesign project would improve opportunities for kids still in high school. GMS