Capturing User Insights.

Capturing User Insights: Understanding Needs and Challenges

In the realm of product design, service development, and strategic planning, understanding the needs and challenges of the end user is paramount. To create solutions that truly resonate with users, organizations must first identify the gap between what users desire and the barriers preventing them from achieving their goals. A structured approach to capturing insights can help distill complex user behavior into actionable steps.

One effective framework for this is a simple, yet powerful structure:

Situation/Event: The specific context in which a user operates.
User: A clear definition of the target persona.
Unmet Need: The goal or aspiration the user cannot currently achieve.
Rationale/Challenge: The obstacles or barriers preventing the need from being fulfilled.

Framework in Practice: Joining Boards

Let us consider an example that highlights how this framework can be applied. Professional women in mid-career often consider joining corporate or advisory boards as a way to expand their influence, develop their leadership skills, and gain exposure to broader opportunities. However, many face challenges in making this aspiration a reality.

Situation/Event: The context for this group of users is the pursuit of board roles as part of their long-term career trajectory. This step usually occurs after they have gained significant experience in their field but before they reach the peak of their career.
User: The target user in this case is professional women, typically mid-career, who aspire to leadership roles. These individuals are often highly skilled, ambitious, and capable of contributing valuable insights to boards. However, they are simultaneously managing demanding careers, personal responsibilities, and, in some cases, societal expectations that may limit their capacity to prioritize their long-term goals.
Unmet Need: These women need tools, strategies, and resources to help them think ahead and plan for leadership opportunities, such as board positions. Specifically, they require the mental and physical space to strategize for future roles, identify gaps in their experience, and build the networks necessary to secure such positions.
Rationale/Challenge: The primary barrier these women face is a lack of time and space. With competing demands on their energy—from work, family, and other commitments—they often struggle to prioritize long-term planning. Additionally, many organizations fail to offer resources or mentorship tailored to help mid-career women position themselves for board opportunities.

Insights in Action

This framework reveals the critical gaps that organizations can address to support professional women in achieving their goals. For instance, companies can develop programs to provide mentorship and coaching for board preparation, tailored to the needs of mid-career professionals. Networking platforms can be optimized to connect aspiring board members with opportunities. Furthermore, tools such as career roadmaps, self-assessment guides, and flexible learning modules can empower users to chart a clear course toward their ambitions.

By capturing insights in a structured way, businesses and organizations can transform abstract challenges into actionable opportunities. The key lies in deeply understanding not only the user’s needs but also the nuanced barriers that hold them back.

Broader Applications

This framework is not limited to professional women aspiring to join boards. It can be applied to a myriad of scenarios across industries. Whether the user is a customer shopping on an e-commerce platform, a young entrepreneur seeking funding, or an athlete aiming to improve performance, the same principles apply.

Understand the situation: What is the specific context?
Know your user: Who are they, and what defines them?
Identify the unmet need: What goal do they aspire to, but cannot currently achieve?
Acknowledge the rationale/challenge: What is holding them back?

Conclusion

Capturing user insights is both an art and a science. When done effectively, it bridges the gap between what users want and the solutions an organization can provide. By understanding the situation, defining the user, identifying unmet needs, and recognizing the barriers, businesses can create products and services that truly resonate. For professional women aspiring to join boards—or for any other user group—this approach not only addresses the immediate challenge but also empowers users to achieve their broader goals. In doing so, organizations can build stronger, more meaningful relationships with their audiences while driving impactful change.

A framework for capturing user insights, with an example sentence is provided. I’ll expand this idea into a detailed explanation and present it in a tabular format for clarity:

Insight Framework and Example

Aspect	Description	Example
Situation/Event	The specific context or scenario the user is in.	Joining boards.
User	A description of the user group or persona involved.	Professional women.
Unmet Need	The requirement or desire the user has that is currently unmet.	To be able to think a few years ahead.
Rationale/Challenge	The reason this need is unmet or the obstacle preventing it from being addressed.	They don’t have the space (time, resources, or mental capacity to focus on long-term planning).

Expanded Insight Example

Aspect	Description	Expanded Example
Situation/Event	The specific context or scenario where the user is trying to achieve a goal.	Considering joining corporate or advisory boards to expand career growth.
User	A detailed description of the target persona or demographic.	Mid-career professional women who aspire to leadership roles but are balancing multiple priorities.
Unmet Need	The specific goal or resource the user needs but cannot access or achieve.	Guidance and tools to strategically plan their career trajectory for leadership roles.
Rationale/Challenge	The reasons this need remains unfulfilled, including barriers or constraints.	Competing priorities, such as demanding job roles and personal responsibilities, limit planning time.

This structure can be applied to other use cases as well.

Incorporating a journey map into the process of capturing user insights adds precision and clarity by visualizing the steps a user takes, their emotions, needs, and pain points at each stage. A journey map ensures the insights are tied to specific moments in the user’s experience, enabling actionable interventions at the right time.

Here’s how you can create and incorporate a journey map into the insight framework for the professional women example:

Steps to Incorporate a Journey Map

Define the Journey’s Scope:
Determine the start and endpoint of the user’s journey. In this case, the journey could span from the moment a professional woman considers joining a board to her achieving a board seat.
Break the Journey into Stages:
Segment the journey into key phases. These could include:
- Awareness: Realizing the potential value of joining a board.
- Preparation: Acquiring skills, building networks, and planning.
- Application: Actively seeking board opportunities.
- Achievement: Successfully joining a board.
Identify Touchpoints:
For each stage, list the interactions or moments where the user engages with resources, organizations, or obstacles (e.g., attending a networking event, researching board roles online, or applying for a position).
Add Emotional and Functional Layers:
Document the user’s emotions, unmet needs, and challenges at each stage. For example, during preparation, they might feel overwhelmed by a lack of clear pathways or mentorship.
Link Back to Insights Framework:
Tie specific needs and challenges from the journey map to the insight framework, ensuring the findings are actionable and grounded in user behavior.

Journey Map Example:

For professional women aspiring to join boards:

Stage	Activities	Emotions	Unmet Needs	Challenges
Awareness	Reading about board roles and their benefits.	Curiosity, ambition	Clear information on what board membership entails.	Lack of access to resources on prerequisites.
Preparation	Attending networking events, skill-building.	Overwhelm, anxiety	Mentorship and resources to build leadership credibility.	Limited time to balance work and preparation.
Application	Applying for board roles, leveraging networks.	Uncertainty, hope	Guidance on creating compelling board applications.	Lack of established networks in leadership spaces.
Achievement	Joining a board, contributing to meetings.	Pride, satisfaction	Support to transition into the role effectively.	Adjusting to board dynamics and expectations.

Incorporating into the Framework:

Using the insight framework in tandem with the journey map adds specificity to the user experience. Here’s an updated example:

Insight Statement:

When it comes to preparing for board membership,
our user professional women in mid-career
needs guidance on building the skills and networks needed to secure a board position
because/but they feel overwhelmed by competing priorities and a lack of clarity on next steps.

Journey Map Contribution:

The journey map informs this statement by showing that:

The overwhelm is most pronounced during the preparation phase.
The unmet need for mentorship and network-building is tied to specific touchpoints, such as attending events or creating applications.
Organizations can intervene by offering structured board preparation programs during the preparation stage to reduce anxiety and improve outcomes.

Advantages of Adding a Journey Map:

Pinpoints Interventions: A journey map helps identify the exact moments where unmet needs occur, so solutions can be targeted effectively.
Builds Empathy: By documenting emotions, it highlights the human side of user challenges.
Tracks Progress: It provides a timeline to understand how users evolve through the journey, making insights more dynamic.

When combined with the insight framework, a journey map ensures that user insights are not just generalized statements but actionable insights tied to specific moments in the user’s experience. For professional women, this approach ensures their aspirations to join boards are met with timely and relevant solutions.

Incorporating an insight map into the process of capturing user insights helps visualize the relationship between user needs, pain points, motivations, and the solutions that address them. An insight map complements frameworks like journey maps by focusing on the “why” behind user behavior and linking insights to actionable strategies.

Here’s how to incorporate an insight map for capturing user insights with precision, using the example of professional women aspiring to join boards.

Steps to Incorporate an Insight Map

Define the Core Insight:
Start with the key observation or need derived from user research. For instance:
- “Professional women want to join boards to advance their careers but feel overwhelmed by unclear pathways and competing priorities.”
Identify Contributing Factors:
Break down the insight into contributing factors or drivers, such as specific pain points, motivations, or barriers.
Group Insights by Themes:
Cluster related needs or pain points into broader themes to uncover systemic challenges and opportunities.
Link Solutions to Themes:
For each theme, brainstorm potential solutions or strategies that address the need or eliminate the barrier.
Visualize Relationships:
Use a mind map or flow chart to show connections between the user’s needs, challenges, and actionable solutions.

Insight Map Example:

Core Insight:

Professional women in mid-career aspire to join boards but face barriers such as unclear pathways, limited networks, and lack of support for long-term planning.

Aspect	Examples/Details
Motivations	– Career advancement.- Building influence in their industry.- Contributing to broader organizational goals.
Pain Points	– Limited access to networking opportunities.- Lack of mentorship for board preparation.- Time constraints.
Needs	– Clarity on how to qualify for board positions.- Tools for long-term planning.- Flexible mentorship programs.
Barriers/Challenges	– Balancing board preparation with personal and professional responsibilities.- Inaccessible leadership networks.
Opportunities	– Providing structured career roadmaps tailored to women.- Creating mentorship and networking platforms.- Offering online board training programs.

Visualization of the Insight Map:

(Imagine a hierarchical structure or a visual mind map)

Core Insight:
- Professional women aspire to join boards but lack pathways and resources.
Branches:
- Motivations: Career advancement → Influence → Giving back.
- Pain Points: Lack of time → Inaccessible networks → Lack of guidance.
- Needs: Clarity → Mentorship → Skill-building.
- Solutions:
  - Networking platforms tailored to aspiring board members.
  - Mentorship programs matching mid-career women with experienced board members.
  - Board application toolkits and workshops.

Integrating the Insight Map with the Framework:

Here’s how the insight map complements the framework:

Framework Element	Enhanced Precision Using Insight Map
Situation/Event	Insight map specifies where pain points occur (e.g., during preparation or application stages).
User	Highlights motivations and barriers specific to professional women (e.g., balancing career growth with personal responsibilities).
Unmet Need	Insight map breaks down needs into actionable components (e.g., need for clarity, skill-building, mentorship).
Rationale/Challenge	Visualizes systemic barriers like inaccessible networks or time constraints, allowing stakeholders to focus on the most impactful solutions.

Benefits of Adding an Insight Map:

Holistic View: Provides a comprehensive understanding of user motivations, pain points, and needs in one place.
Action-Oriented: Links user challenges to specific, actionable solutions.
Prioritization: Helps stakeholders identify the most pressing needs or impactful opportunities.
Clarity for Collaboration: Facilitates cross-functional teams (e.g., product, marketing) to align on the core issues and address them effectively.

Conclusion:

An insight map makes the process of capturing user insights precise by visually connecting the dots between user motivations, challenges, and potential solutions. For professional women aspiring to join boards, it reveals opportunities to design interventions such as mentorship programs, skill-building platforms, and networking initiatives. When combined with the insight framework, the map ensures that solutions are not just generalized but surgically targeted to meet user needs.