phase,method_name,description,facilitation_prompts,best_for,complexity,typical_duration
empathize,User Interviews,Conduct deep conversations to understand user needs experiences and pain points through active listening,What brings you here today?|Walk me through a recent experience|What frustrates you most?|What would make this easier?|Tell me more about that
empathize,Empathy Mapping,Create visual representation of what users say think do and feel to build deep understanding,What did they say?|What might they be thinking?|What actions did they take?|What emotions surfaced?
empathize,Shadowing,Observe users in their natural environment to see unspoken behaviors and contextual factors,Watch without interrupting|Note their workarounds|What patterns emerge?|What do they not say?
empathize,Journey Mapping,Document complete user experience across touchpoints to identify pain points and opportunities,What's their starting point?|What steps do they take?|Where do they struggle?|What delights them?|What's the emotional arc?
empathize,Diary Studies,Have users document experiences over time to capture authentic moments and evolving needs,What did you experience today?|How did you feel?|What worked or didn't?|What surprised you?
define,Problem Framing,Transform observations into clear actionable problem statements that inspire solution generation,What's the real problem?|Who experiences this?|Why does it matter?|What would success look like?
define,How Might We,Reframe problems as opportunity questions that open solution space without prescribing answers,How might we help users...?|How might we make it easier to...?|How might we reduce the friction of...?
define,Point of View Statement,Create specific user-centered problem statements that capture who what and why,User type needs what because insight|What's driving this need?|Why does it matter to them?
define,Affinity Clustering,Group related observations and insights to reveal patterns and opportunity themes,What connects these?|What themes emerge?|Group similar items|Name each cluster|What story do they tell?
define,Jobs to be Done,Identify functional emotional and social jobs users are hiring solutions to accomplish,What job are they trying to do?|What progress do they want?|What are they really hiring this for?|What alternatives exist?
ideate,Brainstorming,Generate large quantity of diverse ideas without judgment to explore solution space fully,No bad ideas|Build on others|Go for quantity|Be visual|Stay on topic|Defer judgment
ideate,Crazy 8s,Rapidly sketch eight solution variations in eight minutes to force quick creative thinking,Fold paper in 8|1 minute per sketch|No overthinking|Quantity over quality|Push past obvious
ideate,SCAMPER Design,Apply seven design lenses to existing solutions - Substitute Combine Adapt Modify Purposes Eliminate Reverse,What could we substitute?|How could we combine elements?|What could we adapt?|How could we modify it?|Other purposes?|What to eliminate?|What if reversed?
ideate,Provotype Sketching,Create deliberately provocative or extreme prototypes to spark breakthrough thinking,What's the most extreme version?|Make it ridiculous|Push boundaries|What useful insights emerge?
ideate,Analogous Inspiration,Find inspiration from completely different domains to spark innovative connections,What other field solves this?|How does nature handle this?|What's an analogous problem?|What can we borrow?
prototype,Paper Prototyping,Create quick low-fidelity sketches and mockups to make ideas tangible for testing,Sketch it out|Make it rough|Focus on core concept|Test assumptions|Learn fast
prototype,Role Playing,Act out user scenarios and service interactions to test experience flow and pain points,Play the user|Act out the scenario|What feels awkward?|Where does it break?|What works?
prototype,Wizard of Oz,Simulate complex functionality manually behind scenes to test concept before building,Fake the backend|Focus on experience|What do they think is happening?|Does the concept work?
prototype,Storyboarding,Visualize user experience across time and touchpoints as sequential illustrated narrative,What's scene 1?|How does it progress?|What's the emotional journey?|Where's the climax?|How does it resolve?
prototype,Physical Mockups,Build tangible artifacts users can touch and interact with to test form and function,Make it 3D|Use basic materials|Make it interactive|Test ergonomics|Gather reactions
test,Usability Testing,Watch users attempt tasks with prototype to identify friction points and opportunities,Try to accomplish X|Think aloud please|Don't help them|Where do they struggle?|What surprises them?
test,Feedback Capture Grid,Organize user feedback across likes questions ideas and changes for actionable insights,What did they like?|What questions arose?|What ideas did they have?|What needs changing?
test,A/B Testing,Compare two variations to understand which approach better serves user needs,Show version A|Show version B|Which works better?|Why the difference?|What does data show?
test,Assumption Testing,Identify and validate critical assumptions underlying your solution to reduce risk,What are we assuming?|How can we test this?|What would prove us wrong?|What's the riskiest assumption?
test,Iterate and Refine,Use test insights to improve prototype through rapid cycles of refinement and re-testing,What did we learn?|What needs fixing?|What stays?|Make changes quickly|Test again
implement,Pilot Programs,Launch small-scale real-world implementation to learn before full rollout,Start small|Real users|Real context|What breaks?|What works?|Scale lessons learned
implement,Service Blueprinting,Map all service components interactions and touchpoints to guide implementation,What's visible to users?|What happens backstage?|What systems are needed?|Where are handoffs?
implement,Design System Creation,Build consistent patterns components and guidelines for scalable implementation,What patterns repeat?|Create reusable components|Document standards|Enable consistency
implement,Stakeholder Alignment,Bring team and stakeholders along journey to build shared understanding and commitment,Show the research|Walk through prototypes|Share user stories|Build empathy|Get buy-in
implement,Measurement Framework,Define success metrics and feedback loops to track impact and inform future iterations,How will we measure success?|What are key metrics?|How do we gather feedback?|When do we revisit?