This is the first assignment of the course, related to empathizing with your users and defining a problem statement.

1. redesign the school-to-work
transition
Assignment #1
Develop empathy for someone who has a stake
in the school-to-work transition, and define
a problem or need related to the challenge
Nikos Palavitsinis, AC4DeMi Team

2. Prepare for empathy work
• People to interview:
– Alex P.: Has finished obligatory education, did not
continue to university due to lack of interest.
Currently working in the family business
(age 25)
– Katerina V.: Has completed obligatory education,
chose to work on her passion, breaking the
paradigm of her time (age 53)
– Jules K.: Continued on to post-doc studies and is
working in the academic domain (age 31)

3. Prepare for empathy work
• Questions (1/2):
– At what age did you decide what you wanted to do for a
living? Is this the job you do now?
– What affected your decision? School, society, parents,
friends, you?
– Are you happy with what you are doing for a living? What
do you get from your job that makes you happy?
– If you had the chance to go back, knowing what you know
now for your job, would you choose the same? Why?

4. Prepare for empathy work
• Questions (2/2):
– How did you feel when you started working your first job
when you finished school? Was it as you expected?
– Who was your mentor, your “helping hand” when you had
questions or problems with your work?
– Did you develop any tricks or methods that would help you
adjust to your “post-school” new reality?
– Is there any case in which you needed support for your
work and you were unable to get it? What was that?

5. Go out and talk to people
• Alex P. is an interesting case, as he is young and is
experiencing the difficulties of our time to find work.
He is actually a musician that works in the café of his
family, waiting for his big break. He was a straight A
student until one year before the final exams when
he decided he did not want to study in the university
and barely made it out of high-school.

6. Go out and talk to people
• Katerina V. is a person that represents a previous
generation altogether. She is 53 and was fond of
painting from an early age. Although she has
acquired diplomas in coiffure and secretariat tasks
she did not follow them and dedicated herself in
painting. She has faced many difficulties coping
financially but she has supported her passion all the
way.

7. Go out and talk to people
• Jules K. is a bit older than Alex but still, a significant
number of differences exist between them, having
studied under two different education systems
(changed around 1999). She has passed all stages of
formal education till PhD and beyond, working for a
well-paid job with lots of stress and responsibilities.

8. Empathy Map
Aggregated Results from Interviews

9. SAY

10. “Deep down inside me, I knew that painting
was the thing I wanted to live off, back from
when I was 10-12 maybe”
“I was a good pupil and student always. Not an amazing one, but did what I
had to pass the exams and maybe do a bit better. I really liked computers, so
that’s why I chose this”
“When I failed a couple of tests in the age of
14-15, my parents forced me, but when they
saw that music was my life, they let me be”
“I am not clear about my biggest influence in
following my career”
“Mimicry played an important role, as I was
just competing with my fellow pupils for
getting in the best university in a way”
“My first boss as an apprentice was a big influence to me “

11. “I am happy, I like creating new things from
scratch, from a mere idea to take them to
completion using art.”
“It gets frustrating really frequently and I am thinking of changing careers
nonetheless. At the time being, only some of the things I do make me happy,
such as research. Most of the conditions of the job are terrible”
“It’s not anxious what I do, I get some money to get by and have
the time to play my music. I like observing people and making
assumptions for them ”
“I would do the same, as I know this is my
destiny”
“No, probably not. I would either pursue
dance or theater more actively and keep this
as a fallback plan”
“I think I would choose music one hundred times more, over
anything else. I t helps me focus, it’s absolute like math,
music. When I play the piano, nothing else matters”

12. “My first job was at a restaurant. I felt really
energetic and that it was OK to do sth else of a
while. In the end I got fed up and left really quick”
“It was the one I have now and it was really difficult learning to work in an
academic environment with all the pressure. It was more tiring than expected”
“It took a while till I got my first job after school. 2-3 years actually
and it was a gig. I was really anxious but in the end it felt great.”
“It was my first boss as well
as my husband”
“I talked to my parents a lot and one of my
colleagues that we studied together also”
“My music instructor and one musician friend. In my present
job it’s my big brother and my mother as they also work in
the café”

13. “Nothing really big, just grabbed at the chance to
do sth after finishing work. ”
“During the first years I just left work and hanged out with friends, doing
anything else. As years passed I worked on stress-related techniques and
methods to improve my productivity to cope with the stress coming from work”
“I had a schedule, a really strict one, for practicing my music. For the
part related to the family business, it was really easy to adapt, having
my family close. I developed my people skills mainly to cope with all
the cases of customers that come in our café but nothing more than
that.”
“No, each time I managed to find a friend or
colleague that helped, or find a book!”
“There were times that I was asked to do things that I
hadn’t done before with minimum assistance. I used the
skills of colleagues and the internet to get ideas and
coaching”
“Mainly financial, to buy new music equipment. Other
than that, all the other help needed was offered to me
by friends and family”

14. DO

15. Observation
• The nature of the challenge but also the
profession of the interviewees, did not give
me the chance to observe something that
could be usable.

16. THINK

17. In two of the cases, people that followed their
path after school, seemed more complete,
happy and at ease. The person that was
guided to her studies, was not that excited
with her work.
Being a good and capable student is no
measure of how the person will end up
professionally or financially.
Friends were a major driver and help in many
cases, either providing support for the work-
related tasks, or providing comfort related to
them.

18. Creativity and sense of completion are really
important features of any job.
For some people, achieving a basic level at
some aspects of their job is fundamental so
that they can focus their efforts on other
things that make them feel complete.
When decisions for pursuing a career are well
founded on personal preferences, the person
that chose this career sticks with it, no matter
what.
In looking at someone’s idea job, sometimes
people are forced to do sth completely
different for a while but the fatigue that this
brings, catches up with them

19. Family is also an important driver and help
when it comes to dealing with stressful job
situations as well as the change from school to
a professional environment
Jobs that are far from what a person really
wants to do, demand a bigger effort in finding
ways to cope with stress and demands.
People in the same situation as you, are
usually the ideal helper when something
difficult comes along. Reading and the
internet were also identified as solutions.

20. FEEL

21. Alex and Katerina, have made conscious job
choices and seem really happy for them
although not highly paid.
Jules has a lot of problems to cope with, for
none of which her education could have
prepared her. She seems ready to change jobs.
Katerina is full of energy and purpose,
although in her age, other people have already
reached a senior job position and thinking of
retiring. She seems more driven than all of
them.

22. Alex was kind of indifferent for the job in the
case, meaning that he also may not carry it
out in the most productive way. He was really
bored talking about it, in contrast to music.
For Katerina, art is the one and only
alternative and she is anxious but also
passionate about pursuing it.
Jules realizes that quality of life that her job
offers to her, but she seems to focus on things
like personal accomplishment and well being,
rather than money.

23. Craft a problem statement
A student that
completes his/her
education…
…precisely assess reality
and himself/herself so
that he/she can create
an ideal path from
education to work…
…fulfillment of
purpose in work is a
prerequisite for well-
being
stakeholder need insight
NEEDS A WAY
TO
BECAUSE

24. Problem Statement
• A student that completes his/her education
needs a way to precisely assess reality and
himself/herself so that he/she can create an
ideal path from education to work because
fulfillment of purpose in work is a prerequisite
for well-being.

25. Synthesis
• Thinking of the people to interview, for this challenge I
wanted to get a diverse audience in terms of age and
paths from school to work:
– The person that followed formal education and finally
rejected it to chose a craft that he stayed with,
– The person that followed formal education and finally
rejected it to chose a craft that he supports through working
on a job that he does not like,
– The person that followed formal education all the way to the
end and works in a job that is the safe choice but not the
preferred choice if given an alternative