Methods for Synthesizing User Research

Oscar de la Hera Gomez
A flower that represents Strategy with the text "Synthesis" beneath it.

12 design thinking methodologies for translating design research into actionable products that help you generate ideas that produce value for a target audience.

Individuals and organizations will use the on-going or past research to draw insights and conclusions to demonstrate a point or hypothesis on the creation.

The process of aggregating, or combining, this research into digestible products is known as Synthesis and popular industry mechanisms are described below.

1/ Affinity Maps

An example Affinity Map.

An example of an Affinity Diagram

An Affinity Diagram, also known as an Affinity Map or Affinity Chart, is a visual tool that allows you to organize information from a brainstorming session into sections, groups or categories.

2/ User Persona

An example of a complex persona.

Provided by Kathryn Messner, Usability.gov Program Manager at HHS

A persona is a profile that describes the lifestyle, behavior, needs, wants, goals and background of a member of your target audience.

3/ User Journey Map

<em>An example of a simplistic, high-level customer-journey map depicting how the persona “Jumping Jamie” switches her mobile plan.</em>

An example of a simplistic, high-level customer-journey map depicting how the persona “Jumping Jamie” switches her mobile plan by the Nielsen Norman Group.

A user journey map is a visualization of the process that a person goes through and the emotions that they feel when using a product, service or experience.

4/ What is a Service Blueprint?

An example service blueprint from the Nielsen Norman group.

An example blueprint for an appliance retailer by the Nielsen Norman Group.

A diagram that illustrates all the relationships, components and processes that enable a service to provide value to a customer.

5/ Empathy Map

A holistic visualization of a user's attitudes and behaviors towards a product, service or experience.

6/ Sentiment Analysis

Sentiment analysis, which is also known as emotional analysis, is the process of analyzing text, audio and video to determine how your target audience feels about a product, service or experience.

7/ Insights

Insight are research-driven, succinctly articulated statements that describe a dilemma, pain point or motivation that is faced by a target audience.

8/ How Might We's

A design thinking methodology that frames your challenges as "How Might We" ("HMW") questions to generate intentional, thoughtful and focused solutions.

9/ Design Principles

A set of reminders, considerations or directional statements that serve as a guide to make sure companies, individuals and teams stay on track whilst creating a product, service or experience.

10/ Business Model Canvas

A 2-minute overview of the Business Model Canvas, a tool for visionaries, game changers, and challengers.

A strategic management and entrepreneurial tool for documenting existing or developing new business models.

11/ Value Proposition Canvas

A tool for companies and individuals to tie products and services to the gains and pain points of a target audience.

12/ Value Proposition Statement

A statement that conveys what a business does and how it's different to its competitors.

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