The first stage of design thinking relates to empathising with users – understanding their needs, motivations, thoughts and feelings.
For our project we interviewed volunteers from the university as well as observing or interviewing people in external environments and researching friends and family connections.
For the in-depth interview I chatted with Mike, a 38 year old male visual arts student. After getting to know him briefly, I asked him to show me his wallet so we could use that to chat about how he uses it and what he feels about it.
Mike has a traditional men’s black leather wallet, containing various payment cards, licence, ID cards, notes, paper money, receipts, a photo, loyalty cards, transport cards, and tickets. It’s quite bulky and he keeps it in his pocket, together with any loose coins (which he hates).
He said he sees his wallet as an extension of his personality, a link to memories as well as a practical way to store stuff and pay for things. Although his phone is set up with ApplePay, he tends not to use it, trusting plastic cards instead.
After talking through a few questions, I drew up an ’empathy map’, which attempts to document what a user says, does, thinks and feels.
Insights
Although Mike says he wants low hassle, and complains of bulky pockets, this seems to be outweighed by the reassurance he gets from having a wallet full of practical stuff and memories. His wallet is always with him and he would be quite concerned if he lost it, mainly due to the hassle involved in replacing ID items, as an international student. He probably does not know what his wallet contains at any point in time, so could benefit from a way of helping him remember what’s in it, or a way of reducing the stress if he ever were to lose his wallet.
Needs
In relation to Mike’s experience with his wallet, I would say his personal needs are:
- feel safe, secure
- be comforted and reassured
- prove who he is
- be able to pay for things easily
- save money when he can (eg with loyalty/discount cards)
- connect with people, places, memories
Other user research
I also observed people using wallets in the wild (well, in stores, cafes and train stations!) and made notes about my observations following a who/what/why format.
| Who | What | Why |
| Man approx 45 yrs old wearing high-vis work clothes | Reaches for small card-size wallet in trouser pocket. Pays with card | Doesn’t want to carry a lot while at work – just what he needs for the day |
| Woman approx 50yrs old, dressed for work, wearing jogging shoes | Carries two handbags. Extracts a long, zipped pink purse from one bag and pays with cash | Likes things to be in their place, compartmentalised. Likes cash because you can see what you spend |
| Woman approx 30yrs old | Reaches into a zipped jacket pocket; takes bank card out to pay for lunch | Wants easy access to payment card without needing wallet; concerned about carrying valuables around |
| Man approx 65yrs old | Reaches into back pocket of trousers; takes out black leather wallet and pays with cash for lunch | Reassured by wallet in his pocket; doesn’t have a bag to put it in; finds spending cash more real than cards especially for smaller amounts |
The image below is the result of a quick braindump of thoughts we wrote onto sticky notes as a way of capturing insights and observations.
These insights need to be prioritised and turned into a more focused statement, so we can determine the problem to be addressed through this project. That’s covered in the next stage of the design thinking process – defining the challenge from the user’s perspective.