Empathy Mapping: Understanding Customers Better
"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." - Helen Keller
Hey there, we're back again! We talked about our journey on the outside-of-the- classroom customer discovery during our first blog, so in this moment we will be sharing with you the unforgettable adventures that my team was able to acquire after our venture proposal presentation to our empathy map construction journey.
To begin with, our instructor, Ma'am Lovely L. Tecson, provided us with 2 steps we can take after the presentation of our venture proposal;(1)to either completely change the whole concept of our business proposal and submit a new one or (2) to settle with our chosen problem and just change our solution or target market or the plans on how we can earn, in short, just a minimal revision/change. It was an easy choice considering that we are all confident in pursuing our chosen field of venture from the beginning and we had no plans of surrendering what we have already started, so we chose step 2 and decided to start on changing our business proposal title as recommended by our instructor.
This has been the most difficult part we have encountered so far - choosing a business title that is catchy enough to pique the interest of our target market. It is quite hard that it took us a long time to contemplate what to name it. We honestly came up with a suitable business title on a last minute pretext as we had no choice because we're running out of time. After giving it a lot of thought, our team finally agreed on a particular title during our allotted time of discussion from our vacant time, "InkPrint VendoPro".
We formulated the following hypothesis:
1.) A lot of students struggle with the distance in printing their lesson materials.
2.) There's a struggle with technical aspects of setting up and configuring printers (compatibility issues, driver installations, connectivity problems).
3.) The inconvenience of having to go through long queues of other customers that are also printing their documents.
The next step we had to do was to construct our empathy map using Dave Gray's Customer Empathy Map Guide, and of course we had to conduct another wave of interviews so as to know more and understand our customers better. In this situation, we can say that we are quite prepared considering that we have a clear goal and a specific topic or product in mind which makes it easier for us to construct a particular interview questions that are fit for our chosen interviewees. What we have to do is to validate our hypothesis or to consider the opinions and ideas from potential customers.
As per our Instructor's guidance, we used the 'Customer Empathy Map' as a guide in knowing more about our potential customers and it enabled us to imagine what a specific person is thinking, feeling, hearing, and seeing as they use printing services or anything related to our product. So the team then gathered together in order to share our own individual thoughts and brainstorm about our plans and strategies on constructing our answers.
{Empathy Mapping Guide developed by Dave Gray.}
The following are the Goals of our Empathy Map Canvas:
Who are we empathizing with?
We are empathizing with those students whose colleges are far from the printing services providers. Specifically, the College of Environmental Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, College of Business and Management, and College of Arts and Sciences. We aim to gain a deeper understanding of the customers' behavior, experiences, and perspectives towards printing.
What do they need to do?
They need to look for a nearby printing station where they can personally print their documents while ensuring the accuracy of their desired output such as paper size, orientation, and if it is colored or not.
What do they see?
They have seen that the university printing services in the market are having a hard time accommodating their customers due to the long queue of students who aim to print their documents. The method used in transferring files/documents is bluetooth, as a result, they often see other students who get to be the last to finish whenever they have troubles connecting to the PC even if they arrive earlier than the others because the operator accommodates those who sent their files first. They also noticed that a lot of students prefer to print their learning materials as it is time-consuming to write their lessons by themselves.
What do they say?
Based on their experience, students struggle with the technical aspects of setting up and configuring printers. Compatibility issues and connectivity problems can be time-consuming and frustrating. And there will be instances wherein the owner can't apply the first come first serve basis. Some students say that it was frustrating especially when they had to walk miles just to reach the printing station (some college buildings are quite far from the university market) only to find out that the line was too long.
What do they do?
The frequency in which customers print their documents depends on the season/occasion, mostly before or during the term exams. They might opt for other alternative printing stations once they notice even the slightest error with the printing services and then tend to choose the printing shops where they can be able to save resources such as time and money. However, some are willing to sacrifice time if the document is urgently needed.
What do they hear?
Most customer's sources of information are word-of-mouth from classmates or colleagues. Especially in the type of accommodation provided on whether the operator is friendly or strict. Their preferences to printing depends on the rumors as to how crowded and long the line is most of the time, the biases to priorities in printing, the quality of operator services, and the overall printing quality performance.
What do they think and feel?
|PAINS|
There is an unpleasant feeling of poor accommodation and prioritization, the unethical approach to customers, distorted quality or mistakes in printing (e.g., paper size, colors) and the overall printing quality (paper and ink). The following are some opinions we have gathered through conducting interviews.
It's painful when you notice that some ink was spilled through the documents but you can't complain thinking that it's kinda embarrassing.
When you're in a hurry and need to pass your documents urgently but the printer malfunctions or there's a sudden occurrence of electrical interruptions.
|GAINS|
The service provides all of the customers an equal opportunity in regards to printing, and first come first serve basis must be manifested. There should be an accuracy of output such that the orientation of the documents and the paper size should be accurate. They want a convenient and smooth printing experience, proper attention and accommodation, and affordable pricing and discounts especially if they print their documents in bulk.
INSIGHTS/LEARNINGS:
I learned that prioritizing customers is not just a business strategy; it's a commitment to building lasting relationships, driving repeat business, and staying responsive to their evolving needs. We need to stay attuned to customer needs and adapting to meet them is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge and fostering customer loyalty.
