Empathy Mapping – How Empathy Mapping Can Help You Understand Your Users

If you’re looking to gather more qualitative data and turn it into actionable plans for your product, empathy mapping can be a helpful tool.

An empathy map is a visual tool that allows you to collect data directly from your user interviews. It typically has four sections (Say, Think, Do, Feel) with the user in focus.

1. Helps UX Designers Understand Users

Empathy maps help teams understand their users in a way that is both visual and easy to share. These are typically created during the empathize phase of the design thinking process, directly after conducting user research through things like interviews, usability tests, product reviews, surveys, and more.

When creating a empathy map, make sure to include each team member’s observations and insights about the persona. Encourage each member to write their thoughts about the four quadrants, focusing on what they have seen and heard from their research. Using a digital or cloud-based tool allows the team to easily change points on the empathy map and ensures that everyone is on the same page.

It is okay if some of the themes or points overlap one another. This is a good sign! Those overlapping points reveal a deeper insight into your target persona’s needs and feelings. Additionally, it is not uncommon to add additional sections to an empathy map such as pains and gains.

2. Helps UX Designers Communicate With Users

Typically, the basis of an empathy map is some firsthand data received from users that describes their thoughts on using a product. This is a great way to get everyone on board and aligned on the user persona before the rest of the design process kicks in.

Use the empathy mapping template below to create your own, or download our diagramming app Gliffy online to make it even easier. Once you’ve got your data, it’s time to start mapping!

Sketch your user or stakeholder in the center and then label the four essential quadrants of an empathy map: Says, Does, Thinks, and Feels. Distribute sticky notes and have team members write down their observations in the appropriate quadrants.

The “thinks” section is devoted to what your user’s brain was doing during their interactions with your product or service. This could include their motivations, goals, or beliefs, and also their thoughts about your product itself. You can then cluster these thoughts together and define a few key themes.

3. Helps UX Designers Understand Their Product

In order to make the best possible product, it’s important that teams understand the people who will be using it. Empathy mapping is a fantastic way to do this, and it can be used throughout the design process.

To begin a session, the team hands out sticky notes and encourages everyone to write their thoughts on them. Then, the group moves them around and collaboratively clusters similar ideas into quadrants. For example, if there are several ideas that relate to what the user thinks and feels, they might create a cluster labeled “thinks” to organize those thoughts.

Once the map is complete, it’s important to review and discuss what was gathered. This is an opportunity for teams to check their assumptions and biases and make sure that they are presenting the data objectively. Then, the team can add in additional information, such as pains and gains, to complete the map. From there, the team can use their new understanding of their target user to inform future research and development.

4. Helps UX Designers Understand Their Customers

UX designers use empathy mapping as part of their research process to inform the design of a new product. It helps them understand their users and the pain points they face. This is important because it allows the designer to create a more user-centric product that will meet their needs.

Start by identifying the users you want to include in your empathy map. You can collect this information through a variety of methods, such as interviews or user observations.

Once you’ve collected your data, create a grid with the four essential quadrants of Says, Does, Thinks, and Feels. Sketch your user in the center and use sticky notes to record each observation in one of the quadrants.

When you’re done, review and edit the map to ensure that everyone is on the same page. This information can then be distilled into actionable steps for designing your next product.