| name | customer-empathy-study-groups |
| description | A roleplay-based framework to identify product friction and bridge the gap between internal knowledge and the actual customer experience. Use this when a product feels "Frankenstein-ed," when launching a complex 0-to-1 feature, or when support tickets indicate users are getting stuck in "obvious" places. |
Customer Empathy Study Groups
A Study Group is a structured, cross-functional roleplay session designed to reveal the "entropy" and friction that accumulate in a product. Instead of reviewing a demo or looking at a friction log, the team "embodies" the customer to experience the product’s failures firsthand.
Core Rules
- You do not work at this company: You must abandon all internal knowledge of where buttons are, why certain docs are linked, or how the backend functions.
- We are not here to solve problems: The session is for practicing empathy and experiencing friction. Do not suggest fixes, file bugs, or critique design during the roleplay. Record the pain; solve it later.
The Workflow
1. Assemble the Group
Gather 4 to 8 people from across the company (e.g., Support, Engineering, Sales, and Product). Diversity is critical; avoid having only the team that built the feature in the room.
2. Set the Persona and Outcome
Define a specific, motivating goal for a fictional company.
- Company Name: Give it a cutesy, arbitrary name (e.g., "Dolphin Aquarium Industries") to lower defensiveness.
- The Persona: Assign roles within the group (e.g., "Jenny is the CEO," "Tim is the Designer").
- The Goal: Define a specific outcome (e.g., "We need to sell tickets for the farmer's market using an in-person reader by 4:00 PM today").
3. Appoint a Maestro
Designate a facilitator to act as the "Character Enforcer." The Maestro’s job is to interrupt the moment someone uses internal knowledge.
