Empathy Maps

Empathy Maps

• Empathy maps are visual tools used to communicate research findings and bring them to life, similar to personas and journey maps.

• They typically consist of four quadrants surrounding a user or persona in the middle.

• An empathy map can represent a single user or a group of users, such as a persona.

• The quadrants represent:

  • What the user says.

  • What the user thinks.

  • What the user feels.

  • What the user does.

• Like personas and journey maps, empathy maps should be based on research with actual users.

Creating an Empathy Map

• After conducting research, notes are grouped into the various sections of the map.

• This can be done as a team or individually.

Quadrants

Says

• This section includes significant quotes or keywords that the user said.

• Example: "I have a budget that I need to stick to."

Thinks

• This section includes notes about the user's attitudes or beliefs.

• Example: The belief that flight prices should be cheaper for kids.

Feels

• This section includes notes containing the user's emotions.

• Example: Frustration that luggage isn't included in the flight price.

Does

• This section includes notes about the user's behavior.

• Example: Automatically choosing the cheapest flight option.

Considerations

• Overlaps between sections may occur.

• Some sections might have more notes than others.

• Conflicting insights may come from the same user.

• It might be challenging to choose the best category for a note.

• Empathy maps are more of an art than a science.

• The purpose is to draw out what we have learned about our users, rather than creating a perfect visualization.