A mother is worried about sending her 18-year-old daughter abroad alone for university. She empathizes with her daughter's shyness and inexperience living independently. The mother feels her daughter will struggle adapting to a new country without family support and may have difficulties with practical tasks like cooking, managing finances, and communicating from a distance. However, the parents believe university abroad is best for their daughter's education.

1. Empathize and Define
Design Thinking Action Lab, Stanford University
Lola Garín

2. Empathy Map
Say
Think
Feel
"She is not used to be away from home"
"We still have to decide where she will live"
My girl is still a girl
We will not have enough money
She will feel very bad
Her motivation to work hard will decrease
She will never call us
"She is very shy"
Maybe she will not adapt
"She is a hard-worker, but I am not sure if the change
will affect her negatively“
A loving mother who has never been away from her only daughter
who knows the importance of giving her a good education but is really afraid of being apart from her
The destination country will be unfriendly
"She tends to follow a leader, and now we will not know
who her friends are"
"She has never cooked before"
"She will have to manage a monthly salary
for the first time"
"She loves to play the piano,
and now she will not be able to do it"
"Telephone calls cost a lot of money"
"She speaks good the language
but I am not sure if it will be enough"
Someone will make her be less disciplined
Her health will get worse because of junk food
She would be better at home
She will not miss us
She will not be successful in her studies

3. Problem statement
STAKEHOLDER needs a
way to
NEED
because
INSIGHT
Mother of an
18-year-old
about to start
the university
abroad
trust her
daughter and
to feel more
confident
both parents
have already
made the
decision and
they believe it
is the best for
their daughter