Empathic Instructional Design
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Design
The Process
So, how do we do it?

We've taken the process from Leonard & Rayport's article and applied it to e-learning. Here are the five steps to empathic design that can be juxtaposed with traditional instructional design processes:

1. Observe:
   Observe users doing their daily tasks with the goal of identifying learning needs to real performance problems, and studying contexts under which they occur. If it is possible, instead of just observing, do the tasks to get firsthand experience of the problem and needs of the task.
   
   The observers should be from multidisciplinary fields such as instructional design, graphic design, human factors design, etc., to get a rich understanding of the problem.
   
   Example: When designing a training solution for a call center, send out a team to observe learners-to-be in action. Watch their actions, their expressions and identify their unarticulated needs. Empathize with them.



2. Capture Data:
   Capture the practice using photographic and video toolsets. Record the sounds of the working environment. Ask open-ended questions. Make notes of problems faced and solutions rendered. Chart out daily routines.
   
   Example: In the call center training above, photograph the call center environment. Listen to questions asked and answers rendered. Video the search for solutions to new problems. Capture the interactions between workers.



3. Reflect & Analyze:
   Share the captured data in its many forms with the team. Analyze the data. Picture the current state of performance. Visualize the desired state of performance. Identify "real" learning needs. Many times a discrepancy in performance might not be due to a learning need; it might just be the case of mis-aligned motivational issues (see Robert Mager's Analyzing Performance Problems, Pdf file).
   
   Example: For the call center training, massage the collected data and create scenarios of performance, problems and solutions. Build work flow diagrams and identify discrepancies. Share these with call center representatives.



4. Brainstorm for Solutions:
   Start the brainstorming session once learning gaps are identified. Discuss solutions for their appropriateness to learners and their contexts. Cross-pollination of ideas from different domains like video games, sports-training, televisions, etc., will broaden the search horizon.
   
   Search far and wide: Does the learner need just-in-time information? Would the Macromedia-type knowledge-base suffice? Is is better to have a print supplement? Would the learners be more attuned to audio streams? Would a Harvard-type case study be a viable option? Would a small simulation be appreciated? Can we adopt a Disney movie style? Would a blended solution fit in? Can the work environment be a part of the solution?
   
   Example: In the call center training above, assume the designers noticed that the workers didn't like to work with their computers during breaks. Instead, workers would gather in groups at the office lounge to cool-off and discuss work related problems. Just by these observations, solutions could be designed that are 1) available at the lounge, 2) not too grueling, and 3) are problem-based.



5. Develop Prototypes:
   Once a set of solutions are decided upon, small working prototypes are built and tested with learners to determine its learnability—the effectiveness of the solution in enabling learning.

Conclusion
In the course of writing this article we came across this:

When DigitalThink's design team was developing training software for Circuit City, they did something unusual. Team members donned the polo shirts of Circuit City sales associates and spent a couple of days working the sales floor, selling Palm Pilots, cameras, and stereos. Then they returned to their lab to begin designing 200 one-hour training courses for sales associates.

Needless to mention, we were delighted!

...
We leave you with this advice from a computer science professor to online instructional designers and developers.

My message to developers of distance learning and instructional computing technologies is simple: Follow the user-centered design practices that human-computer interaction specialists teach. Follow me around for a semester to see how important it is to have groupwork and direct observation. Watch how a lecturer reads the class as the class is listening and learning. Collect the artifacts that make up a class. Then, don't sacrifice any of these capabilities until you can propose something that surpasses them. Teaching more isn't teaching better.

(from Empathic Instructional Design on eLearningpost )