Why?

Gain insights in the life of your users. To gain empathy, a day in the life could be a useful technique.

How?

Follow a user throughout a typical day and map his/her activities and interactions.

Ingredients

• Several users who are willing to be shadowed for a day.
• Note taking materials.
• Time to do ‘the day in the life’ and to analyse the notes.
• A way to figure out what a ‘typical’ day is.

In practice

A day in the life is particularly valuable in the beginning of an open-ended design project.