Design Thinking, Empathy Maps and the SDGs

Hello students, welcome to Kwickprep. Why do some clever apps fail while simple ones help millions? Usually, the clever app never understood its users. Today we learn the five stages of design thinking and how to build an empathy map. Then we meet the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, and learn to pick a good problem for AI.

First, what does design thinking mean? Design thinking is a step by step method to solve problems for real people. It starts by understanding the users, not by choosing a technology. That is why we call it human centred. It is also iterative, which means we go back and repeat stages until the solution works well.

Design thinking has five stages. Empathise means understanding the feelings and needs of the users. Define means writing the exact problem clearly. Ideate means brainstorming many possible solutions. Prototype means building a quick, simple model of the best idea. Test means trying it with real users and learning what to improve.

Let us walk through one example. To empathise, we talk to villagers waiting at a bus stop. We define the problem: they do not know when the next bus will come. We ideate many ideas, like an SMS alert, a notice board or an app. We prototype the simplest one, a paper mock up of an SMS alert. Then we test it with ten villagers, and we learn that many prefer a voice call.

Remember, the stages do not always run in a straight line. A test result may show that we defined the wrong problem, so we go back. Every new insight about users can create new ideas. Prototypes are cheap, so failing early with a prototype saves money and time.

Now let us build a key tool for the first stage. An empathy map is a one page chart that shows what a user experiences. We use it in the Empathise stage. We fill it using interviews and by watching people. It stops the team from guessing, and keeps the real user in front of everyone.

A basic empathy map has four boxes, called quadrants. Says records the exact words the user speaks in an interview. Thinks records what they may be thinking but not saying. Does records the actions we observe. Feels records their emotions, like worry or excitement.

Here is an empathy map for a Class Ten student before board exams. She says, I have no time. She thinks, will I pass maths? She studies late at night, which we observed. She feels stressed and tired. From this, a team might define the problem as poor time planning, not lack of study material.

Next, the Sustainable Development Goals, often called the SDGs. They are seventeen goals adopted by the United Nations in the year two thousand fifteen. All one hundred ninety three member countries, including India, agreed to them. The target is to achieve them by twenty thirty. Together, they aim to end poverty, protect the planet and bring peace and well being for all.

Let us list all seventeen, in three groups at a time. Goals one to three are No Poverty, Zero Hunger, and Good Health and Well being. Goals four to six are Quality Education, Gender Equality, and Clean Water and Sanitation. Goals seven to nine are Affordable and Clean Energy, Decent Work and Economic Growth, and Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.

Here are the remaining eight goals. Goals ten and eleven are Reduced Inequalities, and Sustainable Cities and Communities. Goal twelve is Responsible Consumption and Production, and goal thirteen is Climate Action. Goals fourteen and fifteen are Life Below Water and Life on Land. Goal sixteen is Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, and goal seventeen is Partnerships for the Goals.

Now, how do we choose a good SDG problem for an AI project? First, pick a real problem that people around you actually face. Second, link it clearly to one goal. Third, check that data exists or can be collected, because AI learns from data. Fourth, ask honestly whether AI is needed, or whether a simple rule would do. Fifth, think about who could be harmed, and about bias and privacy.

Here are three problems that pass these checks. Crop disease links to goal two, Zero Hunger, and a model can check photos of leaves. School drop outs link to goal four, Quality Education, and a model can warn teachers early using attendance data. Water leaks link to goal six, and sensor data can raise alerts. Pause and think. Which SDG would air pollution in your city link to?

Finally, write the problem as a clear statement using four questions. Who has the problem, for example farmers in your district? What exactly is the problem? Where and when does it happen? And why does solving it matter to them and to the SDG? The answer to the pollution question is goal eleven, Sustainable Cities, and also goal three, Good Health.

Let us revise what we learned today. Design thinking has five stages: empathise, define, ideate, prototype and test. An empathy map records what a user says, thinks, does and feels. The seventeen SDGs were adopted by the United Nations in two thousand fifteen, with a target of twenty thirty. A good project picks a real problem, links it to one goal, and has data. And always ask whether AI is truly needed.