The document discusses the initial steps of the Design Factory Project, which follows the Design Thinking Process. It emphasizes empathizing with users by getting out of the building to discover customer problems. The first step is to understand the user by creating a good description of them through observation, measurement, and discussion. This includes determining who the actual user is versus who requested the solution. Tools provided help with empathizing, such as empathy maps and canvases, to immerse oneself in the user's experience and gather insights.

1. Design Factory Project
- Empathizing

2. Design Thinking Process
Source: Jussila et al. 2020 Rapid Product Development in University-Industry Collaboration

3. Assumptions about product development
TRADITIONAL
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
DESIGN THINKING
Product is created on
assumptions what
customers want
“Get out of the building (or internet)”
…and discover what
customer problem is
worth solving!

4. How to get started?
• The purpose of design thinking is to provide
feasible, desirable, viable and sustainable
solutions for people.
• The first step of the process is to understand the
user.
• Exposure to the life of the user and the customer
begins by creating a description of the person
whose world they want to represent. Good
description requires observation, measurement
and discussion.

5. Describing the user

6. Who is the user of your solution?
The person
presenting the
problem/quote/order
The person that has
ordered the solution
or will pay for the
solution
The person using the
solution, e.g.
product, service,
experience

7. Good user description requires observation,
measurement and discussion
Make
observations
Conduct
interviews
Seek
stories

8. Tools for empathizing
• Empathy Map Canvas: https://medium.com/the-xplane-
collection/updated-empathy-map-canvas-46df22df3c8a
• Lean Service Creation Canvases, e.g. Immersion, Script Creator:
https://futurice.com/lean-service-creation/
• The Value Proposition Canvas:
https://www.strategyzer.com/canvas/value-proposition-canvas

9. Immersion
• Choose and complete the most
meaningful boxes for your project: you
don’t need to fill out every section.
• Google, google, google.
• Explore any data gathered in projects
like yours.
TIPS
Source: Futurice 2019:
https://futurice.com/lean-service-creation/

10. Source: Grey (2017). https://medium.com/the-xplane-collection/updated-empathy-map-
canvas-46df22df3c8a

11. Script Creator
• When you have something that looks
like the start of a script, try it out
immediately. Use the first person
available. Learn and iterate.
TIPS
Source: Futurice 2019:
https://futurice.com/lean-service-creation/