The help page nobody reads
The school wrote a long page on how to reset a password. Students still ring the help desk forty times a week.
The page was written by technicians, for technicians. Nobody asked a student what is hard.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can use the design thinking steps to improve something for its users.
Key words
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Design thinking | solving a problem by starting with the user's needs |
| Empathise | understand how the user feels and what they need |
| Define | state the problem clearly, from the user's side |
| Ideate | come up with many ideas |
| Prototype | a quick, rough version to try out |
| Feedback | what users say about what they tried |
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Starter
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Starter
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Five steps and a loop
Empathise: talk to users and watch them. Find out what is hard.
Define: write the problem in one clear sentence, from the user's side.
Ideate: come up with many ideas. Do not judge them yet.
Prototype: make a quick, rough version.
User feedback: let users try it and listen. Then improve the prototype and ask again. This last part repeats.
Worked example: the password reset page
| Step | In the example |
|---|---|
| Empathise | Watch five students try to reset. They get lost at step 3 and give up |
| Define | Students need a way to reset a password in under a minute, without jargon |
| Ideate | A short checklist, a video, a chat helper, a button on the login page |
| Prototype | A paper mock-up of a three step page with a big Reset button |
| User feedback | Students say step 2 is still unclear. Change it and test again |
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Check
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Check
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.