Learn Look Ask Try Framework
Overview
Four modes of empathizing with people in design research, each representing a different posture toward understanding:
| Mode | Posture | Core Activity |
|---|---|---|
| Learn | Analyst | Synthesize collected data to identify patterns |
| Look | Observer | Watch behavior in context without interference |
| Ask | Interviewer | Elicit participation to gather direct input |
| Try | Participant | Simulate experiences to evaluate from the inside |
Why This Matters
Research methods aren’t interchangeable. Each mode reveals different things:
- Learn finds patterns across data that individual observations miss
- Look catches the 01-atom—say-do-gap (behaviors people don’t report because they don’t notice them
- Ask surfaces intentions, preferences, and reasoning that observation can’t reveal
- Try generates embodied understanding that neither observation nor interview provides
Relying on only one mode creates systematic blind spots. Mixed-mode research covers more of the problem space.
How to Apply
Use all four modes, but sequence them thoughtfully:
- Look early to ground assumptions in observed reality
- Ask to explore what observation surfaced
- Try to test solutions in realistic contexts
- Learn throughout to synthesize into actionable patterns
The modes aren’t phases, they interleave. You might observe, then interview about what you observed, then prototype based on both, then observe how people use the prototype.
Limitations
- The framework emphasizes empathy methods, not analytical rigor
- Doesn’t address sample size, validity, or generalizability
- Best suited for exploratory and generative research, less for validation
- Some methods require access that’s hard to get (shadowing professionals, ethnographic immersion)
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