Empathy Map: Get Inside Your Customer's Mind

Introduction

Empathy Maps are a powerful tool for understanding your customers on a deeper, more human level. Created by Dave Gray, they help you visualize what your customers are thinking, feeling, seeing, hearing, saying, and doing. This understanding is crucial for creating products and experiences that truly resonate.

What is an Empathy Map?

An Empathy Map is a visual tool that captures knowledge about a user's behaviors and attitudes. It's divided into sections that help you understand what the user thinks, feels, sees, hears, says, and does. This creates a holistic view of the user's experience and mindset.

The Six Sections of an Empathy Map

1. Think & Feel

What is the user thinking? What are their worries, aspirations, and concerns?

Questions to ask:

• What occupies their thoughts?
• What matters most to them?
• What are their hopes and fears?

2. See

What does the user see in their environment? What are they exposed to?

Consider:

• What they see in their daily environment
• What their friends and colleagues are doing
• What the market offers

3. Hear

What does the user hear? What influences them?

Consider:

• What friends, colleagues, and influencers say
• What the media says
• What their boss or customers say

4. Say & Do

What does the user say? How do they behave in public?

Consider:

• Their public attitude
• How they present themselves
• What they say to others

5. Pain

What are the user's fears, frustrations, and obstacles?

Consider:

• What keeps them up at night?
• What frustrates them?
• What risks do they worry about?

6. Gain

What does the user want to achieve? What are their wants and needs?

Consider:

• What they want to achieve
• How they measure success
• What would make them happy

How to Create an Empathy Map

Step 1: Choose Your User

Select a specific user persona or customer segment. Don't try to map everyone—focus on one at a time.

Step 2: Gather Research

Collect information through:

• User interviews
• Surveys
• Observation
• Customer support logs
• Social media listening

Step 3: Fill Out Each Section

Work through each section systematically. Use sticky notes or a digital tool to capture insights.

Step 4: Look for Patterns

Identify contradictions, surprises, and patterns across sections. These often reveal key insights.

Step 5: Validate

Share your empathy map with team members and validate with real users to ensure accuracy.

Real-World Example

User: Small business owner considering project management software

Think & Feel

• "I'm overwhelmed with managing everything"
• "I need something simple, not complex"
• "I'm worried about the cost"

See

• Competitors using fancy tools
• Team members struggling with current system
• Ads for project management tools everywhere

Hear

• "You should get better tools" from advisors
• "Our current system is too complicated" from team
• Success stories from other business owners

Say & Do

• Says: "I need better organization"
• Does: Researches options online, asks peers for recommendations
• Attitude: Cautious, wants to make the right choice

Pain

• Worried about wasting money
• Frustrated with learning new tools
• Afraid team won't adopt it

Gain

• Wants to save time
• Wants team to be more organized
• Wants to feel in control

Benefits of Empathy Maps

1. Deep Understanding: Go beyond demographics to understand motivations
2. Team Alignment: Create shared understanding of users
3. Better Decisions: Make user-centered product decisions
4. Identify Opportunities: Discover unmet needs and pain points
5. Improve Communication: Better articulate user needs to stakeholders

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Making assumptions: Base on real research, not guesses
2. Being too generic: Focus on specific users and scenarios
3. Ignoring contradictions: Contradictions reveal important insights
4. Not updating: Update as you learn more about users
5. Creating in isolation: Involve the team and validate with users

Integrating with Other Frameworks

Empathy Maps work well with:

• Design Thinking: Use in the Empathize stage
• Customer Journey Maps: Create empathy maps for each journey stage
• User Personas: Use empathy maps to bring personas to life
• Jobs-to-be-Done: Understand emotional and social jobs

Conclusion

Empathy Maps are a simple but powerful tool for building genuine understanding of your users. By systematically exploring what users think, feel, see, hear, say, and do, you can create products and experiences that truly resonate.

Remember: Empathy is not about sympathy—it's about understanding. Use empathy maps to see the world through your users' eyes and create solutions that truly meet their needs.

Next Steps

1. Choose a user persona to map
2. Gather research through interviews and observation
3. Fill out each section of the empathy map
4. Look for patterns and contradictions
5. Validate with real users
6. Use insights to inform product decisions