Desired Goal:
To deeply understand a user’s daily routine, challenges, and opportunities where a solution can add value.
The Tool's Purpose:
“Day in the Life” helps teams step into the user’s shoes, mapping their activities, pain points, and behaviors throughout a typical day. By visualizing these moments, the team can identify where their solution fits naturally and creates the most impact.
Overview:
The exercise begins by defining a typical user or persona. The team then maps out the user’s entire day, breaking it into key activities, locations, and interactions. Challenges, frustrations, and emotional highs and lows are documented alongside these activities. This holistic view helps reveal insights into user needs, pain points, and opportunities where the product or service can enhance their experience. Teams often use timelines, storyboards, or visual maps to document the flow of the user’s day.
Benefits:
– Builds empathy by understanding the user’s real-life routines and challenges.
– Identifies opportunities where the product can add the most value.
– Highlights pain points that may otherwise go unnoticed.
– Provides a clear and actionable user context for the design process.
Use Case Example :
A GIS company is developing a mobile mapping app for field workers in environmental consulting. They create a “Day in the Life” map for a field technician, documenting their routine: arriving on-site, collecting location data, managing notes, and uploading reports. Pain points emerge, like “spending too much time switching between tools” and “lack of internet access in remote areas.” These insights lead the team to design an offline mode and an integrated note-taking feature that streamline the technician’s workflow and save time.
