Empathy Map
It was developed by Dave Gray (XPLANE) and is a common tool in the empathy phase of Design Thinking.
The map quadrants
The classic map is divided into six areas:
- What do they think and feel? Their deepest concerns, what matters to them, their aspirations, and fears they may not express openly.
- What do they see? Their environment, the products around them, what they observe in the people around them.
- What do they hear? What their friends, colleagues, influencers, and the media tell them.
- What do they say and do? Their observable behaviors, what they state in public, possible contradictions between what they say and what they do.
- What motivates them? Their goals, what defines success for them.
- What holds them back? Their fears, obstacles, and frustrations.
The Empathy Map 2.0
The extended version adds three further elements that connect the map directly with the Jobs to Be Done framework:
- Jobs to be done: the tasks the user is trying to complete with the product.
- Pains: the obstacles and difficulties they encounter in that process.
- Gains: the benefits they seek and the positive outcomes they expect.
How to build it
- Use a large canvas divided into the six (or nine) sections.
- Each team member contributes sticky notes based on the research carried out: interviews, shadowing, and usage data.
- Similar ideas are discussed and consolidated.
- Contradictions between quadrants are identified: for example, if the user "says" they value privacy but "clicks" on every link they receive, that contradiction is a valuable insight.
- The most significant patterns are highlighted for the next design phase.
Common mistake
Filling in the map from the team's perspective instead of from research. The empathy map is a tool for synthesizing research, not for generating hypotheses. If the team fills it in with what they believe the user thinks, feels, and does without relying on actual observation or interviews, the map reflects the team's biases, not the user's reality.
Resources
🏦 Skill Design ThinkingState of the art and development guide · Skill Arena
🔧 Empathy Map TemplateResources · Scrum Manager
See also
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