The framework we use at Umuzi for problem solving and product design is called Human-Centered Design (HCD). As you know from your experience using this framework during #MakeUmuziBetter, HCD is a process that starts with the people you’re designing for and ends with new solutions that are tailor-made to suit their needs. It’s all about building deep empathy with users, generating tons of ideas, building some working prototypes and sharing them with the users. Eventually you put your new innovative new solution out into the world and try to scale it up.
The first stage of Human-Centered Design starts with gaining a deep understanding of people’s needs. This is sometimes called the Inspiration Phase or the Empathise Stage. Before you start brainstorming ideas for your game, you must first empathise with your user and find out what their needs and desires are when it comes to online gaming. You’ll achieve this through user interviews, observing their behavior, and doing additional research online.
For this process, you’ll read through the HCD curriculum, and then divide into groups of three to plan and conduct your research. Once you’ve read the material and discussed it with your group, see below for the steps you need to fulfill to complete the Empathise Stage.
Remember to document (take notes!) all the insights you gain throughout the process. This will help you when we move on to creating a report about your research in the next unit of our course.
Download the HCD PDF and read pages 30-64 (You can skip the Case Studies)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sTBU_7QyXRjxLQP-D_Mn9tU6OrNNyspQ/view?usp=sharing