What Is an Empathy Map?

An empathy map is a simple visual tool used in design thinking and user-centred approaches to better understand and empathise with a specific group of people, such as customers or users. It helps teams gain deeper insights into the thoughts, feelings, needs, and behaviours of the target audience.

Think of an empathy map as a magnifying glass. 

Just as a magnifying glass helps you zoom in and examine tiny details, an empathy map allows you to delve deeper into your target audience's thoughts, pain points, and experiences (potential clients or customers). This heightened awareness enables you to devise solutions that strongly resonate with your audience, resulting in higher conversion rates. 

For instance, if you're part of a product, marketing, or design/developer team, utilising empathy maps can help you foster a user-centric design, improve business strategies, and elevate user experience (UX) and user interface (UI).

Elements of an empathy map

Visually, an empathy map is typically a square divided into four quadrants with the end user or client at the centre. Each of the four quadrants encompasses a unique aspect of the users’ mindset. The four quadrants are:

• Say/think: This quadrant captures what the user says through UX research, including statements and quotes, shedding light on explicit needs, challenges, or preferences. For example, a direct quote from a customer could be, "The ads on this website make the pages take so long to load that I just give up," or "Opening this container by hand is really tough."

• Do: This quadrant explores the user's actions, behaviours, and observable interactions. You may discover patterns such as frequent visits to a specific website, fast scrolling, quick or delayed checkout, and more. Note that users' responses to a product or service can vary greatly. 

• Feel: This includes the emotions experienced by a consumer while handling a product or following a process. For instance, an abrupt end to a transaction may evoke a sense of worry.

• Pain/gain: This quadrant addresses the user's pain points, challenges, and frustrations, as well as their aspirations, goals, and what they hope to achieve (gains).

Did you know? Entrepreneur and author Dave Gray is credited with creating the empathy map as a collaborative tool for understanding user personas. The XPLANE’s founder originally introduced the map in his book Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers, which he co-authored with Sunni Brown and James Macanufo [1].

How to create an empathy map

Take a look at the steps you can follow to create an effective empathy map:

1. Define your target audience.

Before crafting an empathy map, it is crucial to establish the primary user and decide whether to focus on an individual user or aggregate research to represent a specific segment of your user base. For example, if you're developing a new social media app, you may target end users aged 18 and above.

2. Set a SMART goal.

Ensure your goal aligns with the SMART framework, making it specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. Additionally, determine the metrics you will use to measure the activity's success.

3. Gather and consolidate user research data.

Collecting tangible user research will ease your empathy map-making process. Be sure to include data from previous studies to capture users' thoughts, emotions, and outlooks more effectively. Gathering relevant information about your target audience includes customer reviews, email surveys, in-product surveys, customer interviews, focus groups, data analytics, and online research.

4. Draw your empathy map.

A notebook and pen or pencil should suffice if you're working individually. If you're part of a team, consider obtaining a large whiteboard, various coloured whiteboard markers, sticky note pads, and writing instruments. 

5. Invite team members for collaboration.  

Enhance your empathy map by involving team members, including stakeholders, directly interacting with your target audience. Their firsthand experiences and insights will significantly enhance the accuracy and relevance of mapped user profiles.

6. Gather input and feedback.

Encourage team members to share their ideas and input them onto the empathy map. If you're using a large whiteboard or wall, participants can write their ideas on sticky notes and place them in the appropriate sections or quadrants of the map. 

7. Evaluate the map to draw conclusions.

At the last stage of creating an empathy map, carefully examine your chart to derive definitive conclusions. Look for your audience's needs and how you can meet them. Notice inconsistencies, such as differences between what they say and do, so that you can gain insight into their thinking. The final assessment will help you make informed business decisions.

Related terms

• UX researcher

• UI design

• User journey maps

• Conversion rate optimisation

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An empathy map is a tool for understanding your target audience by capturing their thoughts, feelings, actions, and goals. It's a visual representation divided into sections like "Say/Think" and "Feel" to analyse user research and make better design decisions.

If you’re ready to learn more about UX design or get started as a UX designer, consider the Google UX Design Professional Certificate on Coursera. This programme is designed to help you equip yourself with the job-ready skills you’ll need for an entry-level role in UX design.