Design research report (4000 words including 8 main pages + interview script)

Table of Contents

Part 1: Interview Summary.........................................................................................................3

Part 2: Empathy map...................................................................................................................4

Part three: Customer journey......................................................................................................6

Part 4: Data analysis....................................................................................................................7

References.................................................................................................................................12

APPENDIX 1............................................................................................................................13

Interview transcript...................................................................................................................13

APPENDIX 2:...........................................................................................................................17

WORD CLOUD OF INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT.................................................................17

Part 1: Interview Summary

According to Rowley (2012), in qualitative research, interviews are often used as a way to

collect information and data through understanding the interviewee’s opinion, knowledge,

insights, experiences and evaluation. Although interviews are more time consuming and

generate a small sample size, if they are designed appropriately with representative

participants, interviews still have the potential to offer enough support to generalize the

answers. While there are tons of advice regarding how to perform an effective interview,

generally, some core skills that interviewers should master include the abilities to build a

rapport, - creating a comfortable and positive environment for the conversation, - emphasize

interviewee’s opinion, listening actively and avoiding biases and judgement, and adapt to

different personalities and situational conditions, adjusting interviewer’s style to suit the

context. The interviewers are encouraged to ask neutral, open-ended questions, keep track of

answered and unanswered questions, and clarify the responses (Mack, et al., 2011).

The interview’s transcript is attached in the Appendix 1. This interview was conducted at a

coffee shop and lasted for about 45 minutes after exchanging some small talks. The

interviewee is a friend of mine, who is also currently a student. Although we have known

each other for more than 3 years, we have only met once in a while. Hence, before officially

starting the interview, we spent some time for chitchatting and catching up with each other,

building an overall friendly and happy atmosphere. Throughout the interview, I managed to

ask open-ended questions and ensure the interviewee to talk without being disturbed. After

the interview, several insights emerge about the interviewee’s train using habit. First, the

interviewee mainly used train to go to places beyond walking distance. He also described

circumstances when other means of transportation would be preferred. As an experienced

user, he has learnt the logistics and can navigate through the journey efficiently without

having to resort to much help from others or technologies. However, he imagined the

experience could be confusing and complicated for first-time user.

“To tell you the truth, when I did it the first time, I felt like it was so complicated. I did

not understand the directions and the maps made me very confused.” (Appendix)

A typical trip for him started from figuring out the destination stations, mapping out his

itinerary, loading credits on his card at the station, getting on the train and arriving at the

destination. For intercity trips, he shopped around online to purchase the best deals. He

believed that cost-effectiveness and convenience are two main advantages of train.

“you can tell that choosing the most economical and suitable option is probably my

number one concern when making the decision.” (Appendix)

His train experience could be affected by his general physical and emotional states, and

external factors such as the weather and behaviours of other customers. Interestingly,

although he believed that using public transportation helps to protect the environment, he

admitted a social stigma associated with train users.

“I think there is also some sort of stigma associating with using train though. Except

for tourists and occasional visitors, trains are believed to be used by low income

people” (Appendix)

For the interviewee, his train experience can be improved by increasing the density of train

stations, reducing congestion during peak time, making both trains and stations cleaner and

more comfortable. Nonetheless, trains should remain affordable. He also suggested ways to

facilitate the experience for new users to make their trips more friendly and enjoyable.

Part 2: Empathy map

Since design thinking is human centric, it is crucial for the designer to take the first step to

empathize the users. Empathy means completely immersing into the user’s world, talking to

them, observing their behaviours and feelings, and generally discovering their experiences

from their perspectives (Karpen, et al., 2017). In order to transfer designer’s observation into

meaningful insights and especially drawing user personas, empathy mapping is often

employed to facilitate the process, aiming to generate empathy for a particular user. Empathy

mapping considers not only users’ demographics but also their background, behaviours,

desires, and hatred from their viewpoints, not from designer’s opinions (Ferreira, et al., 2015).

An empathy map typically captures 7 main aspects of the customers including who they are

(their demographics, roles, situations and other relevant personal contexts), what they do

(their decisions, actions, and results of their actions), what they see and hear in their

surrounding environment, what they say verbally and non-verbally, and what they think and

feel, in particular their aspirations and happy moments, and their struggles and frustration

with their existing situation (Amaresan, 2019). Once the designer comprehended all of those

aspects individually or in collaboration with a team, the results are often summarized and

presented both in words and in visualization to inspire further insights and imaginations. This

is also in line with one of the principles of design thinking that emphasizes interaction and

explicitness of the idea to enable trials and testing (Karpen, et al., 2017).

Figure 1: Empathy Map

From the in-depth interview, I have created the user’s empathy map. Here are some key

highlights of the user being interviewed

WHO HE IS: He is in his late twenties and he is a graduate student. He does not own a car,

so he usually moves around by walking, biking, car-pooling and train. He uses train a few

times a month for shopping, visiting/ hanging out with friends and travelling. He lives within

walking distance from a train station.

WHAT NEED TO BE DONE: To take a train, the user has to decide the station locations,

the route to take, and the amount of fare he needs to pay. For longer distance, he checked

online to find the best deal. After that, he walks to the station at the scheduled time and take

the right train. On the train, sometimes he has a seat, but sometimes he has to stand for the

whole trip.

WHAT HE SEES: There are a variety of things that he observes during the trip including

sceneries, the sights of the station and train, the machine and the people.

WHAT HE HEARS: He hears the noise of the train, people’s talking and laughing,

announcements and occasional music at the station.

WHAT HE THINKS AND FEELS: He shows a wide range of feelings towards taking train,

from the happy and relaxing moments of watching people, talking to friends, or reading and

playing with his phone to the depressed and frustrated moments of the long wait, crowded

train and rude people. These feelings seem to depend both on external factors such as the

conditions of the train and the station, the weather, and the people, and internal factors such as

his own mood and time availability. He takes pleasure in the company with his friends, nice

conversation with strangers and freedom from having to find a parking place or driving.

However, he hates the rude people, dirtiness and petty crime. He hopes to have nicer trains

and stations, more stations at farther areas, less congestion, and well-mannered guests.

WHAT HE DOES: He behaves nicely in public, speaks with soft voice, and wears casual

clothes. He possesses mixed attitude towards his train experience.

Part three: Customer journey

Customer journey mapping is a tool that service designer can use to diagnose, identify, and

visualize the steps users take to complete a certain task. The mapping can offer insightful

information regarding major stages of the process, milestones, touchpoints, interaction with

equipment or other stakeholders, emotional journey, and usage pattern (Marquez, et al.,

2015). The goal of the process is to allow the service/ product provider to mobilize cross-

functional teams or inter-departments to address, improve, and innovate user experience

across all touchpoints. Provider can also determine the importance of each touchpoint to

prioritize improvement tasks. For services, user experience is typically divided into three

major stages including pre-services, during services and after services (Rosenbaum, et al.,

2017).

Regarding the interviewee, his journey map consists of four major stages which are before

arriving at the station, arriving at the station, entering the train and exiting.

Before arriving at the station: In the first stage, he makes decisions about the trip,

figuring out the station locations either from website or from experience, prepares for

it such as buying food or getting dressed, and walks to the station. He can feel

frustrated due to technical issues preventing him from searching for destinations/

ticket online or having to walk in harsh weather conditions. He feels happy with nice

weather and cheap deals.

Arriving at the station: In the second stage, he is at the station, loading money onto

his card from the ticketing machine if needed, entering the entrance gate, and waiting

for his train. He might sit on a bench, talk to his friends, or have some encounter with

strangers. Happy moments come from good company, good mood, and generally clean

and nice external environment.

Entering the train: In the third stage, he is on the train – actually using the service.

During this time, he might sit or stand, read a book, play with his phone, talk to his

friends or strangers, watch people, and enjoy the view. He might feel unhappy if there

are too many people, the train is dirty, or other passengers are rude. Sometimes he has

to transfer to another train to get to his destination, and in this case, he actively listens

to the announcement or looks for the sign for next stops.

Exiting: Finally, he exits the train, and walks to his destination. Once again, he enjoys

the nice weather and short walk.

Figure 2: Interviewer’s journey map

Part 4: Data analysis

In qualitative research, thematic analysis is one of the methods to analyse interview and text

data. Thematic analysis is applied to navigate data to find out the patterns, structures and

themes in the dataset (Maguire & Delahunt, 2017). According to Braun & Clarke (2006),

there are six steps in the process as follow:

Step 1: Getting acquainted with the data. In this step, the researcher should read and

understand the whole data such as scripts, related texts and so on to get an overview of

the context.

Step 2: Draw out initial codes. During this stage, the research investigates the data in

detail to get some initial impressions and identify major points worth noticing.

Step 3: Look for themes. At this point, the researcher puts the codes together to

generate a theme. There can be multiple themes within the data.

Step 4: Review. The researcher refines the themes and considers if they are logical

and reasonable. Themes should be consistently supported by data.

Step 5: Define themes. Themes and relationship among themes should be clearly

identified and explained.

Step 6: Report. Thematic analysis report is written up with insights and explanation

for others to understand.

By applying the above-mentioned framework, some major dimensions emerge from the data.

They include user experience with digital and physical infrastructure, waiting experience at

the station, on-the-train experience, and social perception of train usage. The dimensions are

either supported by or associated with related themes.

Dimension 1: Experience with digital and physical infrastructure

Throughout his journey, the interviewee interacts and encounters various infrastructure that

supports the experience. First, there are physical infrastructures such as the stations with

staircases, gates, direction signs, maps, the vending machine, sound system, the train and its

associated facilities. There are also digital infrastructures in terms of various websites and

mobile applications to check prices, train schedules and station location.

Dimension 2: Waiting experience at the station

Time-consciousness is highly related to the waiting experience. If the interviewee is in a

hurry, the wait feels additionally long. Station facility also impacts the experience, and the

interviewee prefers a clean, relatively quiet and comfortable stations with well-behaved

customers. He also occasionally enjoys the entertainment provided by street performers.

Dimension 3: On-the-train experience

When on the train, interviewee’s attitudes towards the experiences are mixed depending on

the train service and facility, his activities, and interaction with other guests. Specifically, the

experience is desirable when the train is clean and not too crowded, and he can read, play with

his phone, enjoy the view, and he is surrounded with nice and happy people. On the other

hands, dirty trains with crowds and aggressive/ bad-mannered guests make he feel

disheartened.

Dimension 4: Social perception of trains

Interestingly, the social perception of train is inconsistent according to the interviewee. While

train and public transportation are environmentally friendly, and are encouraged to use to

solve traffic problems, they are also perceived to use only by low-income people. This

somewhat reduces self-esteem of the user, making him think about buying a car when he can

afford it.

Dimension 1: Experience with physical and digital infrastructuresTheme: Supporting equipment/ technologiesCodes:Google maps and some phone applicationsshop for the tickets onlineI did not understand the directions and the maps made me very confusedmake the maps more understandable, and the announcement on the trains clearerThe ticket vending machine can be a bit friendlier to first-time usersThe condition of the stations and the trains can be improved with more cleaning and better lighting.Theme: Station infrastructure Codes:long staircases leading underground, the vending machines, the gates at the entrance, and of course the trainsTheme: Getting to and from the stationCodes:hate the walk from my apartment to the station, and from the station to the place that I need to go tothe closer your apartment is to the station, the more expensive it becomesappreciate some more stations in some farther areas of the cityDimension 2: Waiting experienceTheme: Time concernsCodes:if I was not in a hurrywhen we have relatively a lot of timeconvenient, especially if you can be flexible about timeif you miss it by just a second, you will need to wait around for the next oneThere are often delays especially at peak timesTheme: Waiting experienceCodes:there are times when I am pretty much by myself at the stationsoverwhelmed by the crowds, and the smellsI stopped by to listen to the musicIf you are in a rush or have a long day, the wait can seem to last foreverI wish they could make the station a little bit fancier with nicer benches, green areas, and if

possible, some entertainment for those who have to wait for a long timeDimension 3: On-the-train experienceTheme: Train service and facilityCodes:Sometimes I have a seat, but sometimes I do nottrains are quite noisythe train is not in a very good conditionThere were times when I got on the train and it was so dirtySometimes it was so crowdedThere is someone who does the driving for you so you can basically relax during the whole trip.Theme: Activity on the trainCodes:If I need to transfer to a connecting line, I will get off at the station and take another trainall kinds of people on the trainenjoy the viewtake some great picturesplay with my phone, or read a bookTheme: Interaction with other guestsCodes:having a small conversation with my friends, or even with strangers, or watching other peoplepeople touched or stepped on one anotherrude people who cursed at me or said discriminatory stuffThe guests can be better informed about train etiquette, what they can and cannot do to other guestsDimension 4: Social perception of train usageTheme: AffordabilityCodes:make sure I get the best dealusing train is the most cost-effective optionthat choosing the most economical and suitable optionIf I know that I will be making many stops that day, I will opt for the day passtrains help to ensure I can go to where I want or need to go at an affordable priceI do not wish to see a higher priceTheme: Social stigmaCodes:train is good for environmentstigma associating with using traintrains are believed to be used by low income peopleenjoy the privilege that cars bringstories about theft and pickpocketing

Figure 3: Thematic mapping

Discussion:

First, infrastructure is important to house and facilitate human activities. In the present days,

in addition to physical infrastructure, digital technologies also help to improve user

experience, especially when most people can access technologies at their fingertips (Verganti,

2016). It can be seen that the quality of infrastructure impacts the user experience throughout

his whole journey, at various touchpoints, from preparing for the trip, during the trip to after

the trip. Second, waiting experience has been studied quite extensively within the literature as

it is believed to influence user satisfaction and time concerns. Several efforts have been tried

to improve the experience such as better lighting, light music during quiet time, and shorter

waiting duration (Hagen, et al., 2014). Third, nowadays, users look beyond the functional

values of a product/ service and utilize it to satisfy other desires such as social status (how

others perceived them regarding their consumption), emotional value (how the products make

them feel), and epistemic value (what they learn from their experience), and conditional value

(Sheth, et al., 1991). Hence, the dimensions defined from the thematic analysis seem

reasonable and provide logical insights into the interviewee’s experience, perception and

behaviours.

References

Amaresan, S., 2019. What Is an Empathy Map & How to Create One. [Online]

Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/service/empathy-map

[Accessed November 2019].

Braun, V. & Clarke, V., 2006. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research

in, Volume 3, pp. 77-101.

Ferreira, B., Oliveira, E., Silva, W. & Conte, T., 2015. Designing Personas with Empathy

Map. s.l., SEKE 2015.

Hagen, M., Galetzka, M. & Pruyn, A., 2014. Waiting Experience in Railway Environments.

Journal of Motivation, Emotion, and Personality, 2(2), pp. 41-55.

Karpen, I., Gemser, G. & Calabretta, G., 2017. A multilevel consideration of service design

conditions: towards a portfolio of organisational capabilities, interactive practices and

individual abilities. Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 27(2), pp. 384-407.

Mack, N. et al., 2011. Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector's Field Guide.

Research Triangle Park: Family Health International.

Maguire, M. & Delahunt, B., 2017. Doing a Thematic Analysis: A Practical, Step-by-Step

Guide for Learning and Teaching Scholars. All Ireland Journal of Higher Education, Volume

3, pp. 3351-3365.

Marquez, J., Downey, A. & Clement, R., 2015. Walking a Mile in the User's Shoes: Customer

Journey Mapping as a Method to Understanding the User Experience. Internet Reference

Services Quarterly, Volume 20, pp. 135-150.

Rosenbaum, M., Otalora, M. & Ramirez, G., 2017. How to create a realistic customer journey

map. Business Horizons, Volume 60, pp. 143-150.

Rowley, J., 2012. Conducting research interviews. Management Research Review, 35(3/4),

pp. 260-271.

Sheth, J., Newman, B. & Gross, B., 1991. Why we buy what we buy: A theory of

consumption values. Journal of Business Research, pp. 159-170.

Verganti, R., 2016. Overcrowded. Designing Meaningful Products in a World Awash with

Ideas. Boston: The MIT Press.

APPENDIX 1

Interview transcript

Interviewer: Student

Interviewee: John Bin, friend of students

Interview Setting: The interview was conducted in a coffee shop at around 4:30 PM on

Saturday afternoon.

Affiliation with interviewee: John is also a student and he has been my friend for 3 years.

Nonetheless, we do not meet very often.

(Start of Interview)

Interviewer: When do you use train for transportation?

Interviewee: To be honest, I do not use train very often. I live near campus and my

workplace so usually I just walk or bike there. I only use train when I need to travel a longer

distance such as going to the shopping centre, visiting my friends, or simply just travelling

around. Other than that, I also take the intercity trains occasionally for personal travelling.

Interviewer: Why do you take train instead of using other forms of transportation? What are

your motivations?

Interviewee: Well, first of all, I do not own a car. I think it is very expensive to own a car

especially considering that I do not use it very often. If I go with a group of friends, then we

have several options to choose from. First, if someone can drive and own a car, we took the

ride together, and usually split the gas and parking fee among ourselves. Second, we can

consider calling a taxi and share the fares. This is usually our preferred mode of transportation

if we want to go to bar at night. The only problem is that we need to ensure we have everyone

on the way to the place and then on the way back. Nonetheless, when we have relatively a lot

of time, and want to move from one place to another, it is often cheaper to go by train. If I go

by myself, most of the time, using train is the most cost-effective option. I also think it is quite

safe too since there are usually many people on the train and at the station. Hence, yeah, you

can tell that choosing the most economical and suitable option is probably my number one

concern when making the decision.

Interviewer: Can you tell me what a typical trip looks like to you?

Interviewee: Uhm, I think for me, for the inner-city trip, it is a very straightforward process. I

just need to identify the nearest stations in my location and the station in my destination and

figure out my own itinerary. To tell you the truth, when I did it the first time, I felt like it was

so complicated. I did not understand the directions and the maps made me very confused.

However, as I become more experienced now, it is not a big deal anymore. Although I am still

slightly baffled if I use a new line, I generally can survive it. There is also technological

support for newbies such as Google maps and some phone applications. Since I am not very

technologically savvy, I do not care about them that much. Once I know the station location

and the way to get there, I just arrive at the station, load the money to my card if I do not have

enough and wait for the train. If I know that I will be making many stops that day, I will opt

for the day pass. When the train arrives, I will hop on it. Sometimes I have a seat, but

sometimes I do not, depending on the time of the day or the train. If I need to transfer to a

connecting line, I will get off at the station and take another train.

For intercity trip when I want to go to another city, I usually shop for the tickets online to

make sure I get the best deal. If I know the trip will take long, I also prepare some suitable

food to eat such as snacks and energy bars. Then I will just need to arrive at the station and

take the right train.

Interviewer: What do you often see at the station and during your trip?

Interviewee: Uhm there are times when I am pretty much by myself at the stations. Also,

there are times when I am overwhelmed by the crowds, and the smells. Beggars and street

performers are also spotted very often. Sometimes I stopped by to listen to the music if I was

not in a hurry. I saw the long staircases leading underground, the vending machines, the gates

at the entrance, and of course the trains. The trains are quite noisy. There are all kinds of

people on the train, young people, older people, sometimes also children.

Interviewer: What do you like the most about travelling by train?

Interviewee: Well, I guess the first thing I like is that it is quite convenient, especially if you

can be flexible about time. I mean typically the train runs on schedule, but sometimes, if you

miss it by just a second, you will need to wait around for the next one. However, within the

city, I can use the train to go to major places that I need to go. Unlike driving a car or even a

bike, I do not need to worry about finding and paying for a parking place. There is someone

who does the driving for you so you can basically relax during the whole trip. When I first

used it, I was very concerned about missing the station; I was tense during the entire trip

[laugh]. But I am getting much better now. If the train passes through beautiful scenery, I can

sit back and enjoy the view, and even take some great pictures. Sometimes there have been

moments that make me happy during the trip such as having a small conversation with my

friends, or even with strangers, or watching other people. Some of my friends even manage to

do homework during the trip. I do not study on the train though; I just play with my phone or

read a book if the trip is relatively long. I also believe that using public transportation

including train is good for environment, so people should be encouraged to use train more.

Interviewee: What do you dislike the most when using trains?

Interviewer: Not all trips are happy ones. There were times that I really hated having to take

a train.

Interviewee: Can you elaborate more on that?

Interviewer: Well, I think I hate the walk from my apartment to the station, and from the

station to the place that I need to go to. Usually I am okay when the weather is nice and

lovely, but when it is cold or rains, and I am alone, I feel quite depressed. However, the closer

your apartment is to the station, the more expensive it becomes, so I have to live with it.

Sometimes the train is not in a very good condition. There were times when I got on the train

and it was so dirty that I could not stand it. Sometimes it was so crowded on the train that

people touched or stepped on one another. There were also rude people who cursed at me or

said discriminatory stuff, which made me upset for a long time. There are often delays

especially at peak times. If you are in a rush or have a long day, the wait can seem to last

forever. I heard stories about theft and pickpocketing on the train from my friends, but luckily

it has never happened to me personally. Moreover, I think there is also some sort of stigma

associating with using train though. Except for tourists and occasional visitors, trains are

believed to be used by low income people; hence, I know most of my friends plan to buy cars

once they have money, not just to feel more comfortable and convenient but also to enjoy the

privilege that cars bring.

Interviewer: So in which way do you think trains serve your needs?

Interviewee: I think in my current situation, in terms of both demand and finance, trains help

to ensure I can go to where I want or need to go at an affordable price. Of course, it will help

if it can be even cheaper [laugh].

Interviewer: What are some gaps between your expectation and the real train service?

Interviewee: I think I can appreciate some more stations in some farther areas of the city. The

condition of the stations and the trains can be improved with more cleaning and better

lighting. For new users, there may be some ways to make the maps more understandable, and

the announcement on the trains clearer so they are not intimidated and miss their destinations.

I also wonder if they can increase the frequency and timeliness of trains. Other than that, I

wish people could have better manners on the train. I have not had any serious issues with any

guests, but it can be better.

Interviewer: If you can redesign your train experience, what will it be like?

Interviewee: Well, I do not know the budget needed to do this, and you know I do not wish to

see a higher price. Nonetheless, I wish they could make the station a little bit fancier with

nicer benches, green areas, and if possible, some entertainment for those who have to wait for

a long time. The train can look more beautiful with better curtains, seats, and overall interior

design to make it warmer and cosier. The guests can be better informed about train etiquette,

what they can and cannot do to other guests. It would be great if the train became a meeting

place of nice people and happy stories. The ticket vending machine can be a bit friendlier to

first-time users. I also hope they find better ways to schedule trains to avoid overcrowding.

Interviewer: Thank you very much for a very insightful conversation!

APPENDIX 2:

WORD CLOUD OF INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT