Stanford Design Thinking class Assignment #5, Empathize & Define Carl Madson Member of Steeling The Case

1. EMPATHIZE & DEFINE
Disappointed Graduate
Looking For A Real Career
Design Thinking
Team: Steeling The Case
Subject: Danielle
Carl Madson
August 5, 2013

2. SAY
• A real career is driven by passions and has many aspects, and I wanted one
that fit me
• I had examples of guidance/mentoring in high school that worked well
• I wanted to study to be a veterinarian but knew my science & math skills
weren't great
• I found business study interesting and tried to get more exposure to it during
undergrad
• I tried counselors but got a huge range of results (one productive, one very
negative and frustrating)
• I got support from Mom but she didn't believe that undergrad should focus on
job training
• My college lessons were not multifaceted and largely outdated; they didn't
trigger any passions
• My college major was chosen for the wrong reasons, but I didn't know any
better

3. DO
• She is still frustrated and clearly emotional about the lack of good guidance
and wasted time & effort
• She worries about providing for herself and husband, who is also unemployed
• She is actively working with a group and a coach to focus efforts and remove
any personal roadblocks
• She communicates well but rarely gets useful (honest) feedback from
candidate companies
• She wants to stay positive but is afraid that time is working against her

4. THINK
• She believes that age is an issue for many employers and that every week
makes getting a job tougher
• She thinks that employers want her to fit into their boxes but she may have to
give up on her passions
• She has a strong personal network and knows it is key to getting anywhere in
today's job market
• She believes in staying positive, maintaining her effort — it's the only way
she'll succeed

5. FEEL
• She felt frustrated by undergraduate teaching -- it was uninspired and largely
ignored her needs
• She felt alone and lost in college
• She felt like a failure due to making bad choices
• She's proud of the hard work she has done, even in a tough situation
• She really wants to prove herself, be productive, help others, feel useful
• She feels caught in the middle of several different hard constraints with no
obvious path forward

6. INSIGHTS
• The quality of guidance before, during and after school is critical — especially
empathy and focus on true needs
• Aptitude profiling may do more harm than good if it's just done cookbook style
• One long-term mentor could make a huge difference — especially at critical
times, and earlier would be better
• Definition of what constitutes success, worth and satisfaction is important
• Identifying passions and how they're linked to motivations is essential

7. PROBLEM STATEMENT
• Danielle
• needs a way to
• obtain guidance & mentoring from qualified, empathetic
people
• because
• she wants to identify and understand what her
fundamental sustainable passions are, how she can use
them to motivate her and adapt to changes, what career
options they may lead to, and the possible impacts of her
decisions.