<aside> 💡 Empathy Maps help synthesize your team’s collective knowledge about your users as a group, bringing you closer to a common understanding of who they are. Empathy Mapping is best treated as an ongoing activity. As your understanding grows and evolves, revisit the activity periodically.
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Empathy mapping is only as reliable as the data your bring to the table, so make sure you have defensible data based on real observations (for example, from an interview or contextual inquiry). When you can, invite users or Sponsor Users to participate.
Draw a grid and label the four essential quadrants of the map: Says, Does, Thinks, and Feels. Sketch your user or stakeholder in the center. Give them a name and brief description of who they are and what they do.
Have everyone record what they know about the user or stakeholder. Use one sticky note per observation. Place it on the appropriate quadrant of the map.
Within each quadrant, look for similar or related items. If desired, move them closer together. As you do, imagine how these different aspects of your user’s life really affect how they feel. Can you imagine yourself in their shoes?
Label anything on the map that might be an assumption or a question for later inquiry or validation. Look for interesting observations or insights. What do you all agree on? What surprised you? What’s missing? Make sure to validate your observations with a user or Sponsor User if they weren’t involved in the activity.
