Empathy Map
The Empathy Map is a visual tool used to deeply understand a specific user persona by exploring what they say, think, do, and feel. It helps teams align on a shared understanding of the user and identify potential inconsistencies in their perceptions.
Use this method when you need to develop a deeper understanding of your target user, identify their needs and pain points, and align your team around a common perspective.
Solves: Lack of shared understanding of the user, assumptions about user needs, designing solutions that don't resonate with the target audience.
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Step 1: Define the user persona you want to map. (5 min)
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Step 2: Draw a large empathy map with four quadrants labeled: Says, Thinks, Does, and Feels. (5 min)
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Step 3: Individually brainstorm and fill in each quadrant based on existing knowledge and research. (15 min)
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Step 4: Share and discuss the information in each quadrant as a group. (20 min)
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Step 5: Identify any gaps in knowledge or inconsistencies in perceptions. (10 min)
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Step 6: Discuss how to address the gaps in knowledge.
- Encourage participants to base their contributions on research data whenever possible.
- Remind participants to focus on the specific user persona and avoid generalizing.
- Create multiple empathy maps for different user segments.
- Use the empathy map as a starting point for creating user stories or journey maps.