Empathy Map: The First Bastion of User Research
Published: 2023-07-13 13:33:02


## **What is an empathy map?**

- An empathy map is a tool that helps a team or designer 
 understand and visualize what they know about a specific user or group of users.
- By creating an empathy map, you're essentially taking the information that you've gathered about your users and putting it all in one place where everyone can see it.
- As more research is gathered about a persona, the empathy map can be updated to include new insights or remove outdated information.
- Is one of the [mapping methods](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ux-mapping-cheat-sheet/)

## **How does map help in product development?**

1. It **helps** the team **develop a shared understanding of the user's needs,** desires, and pain points. By showing the information to everyone, the team can better empathize with the user and build products or services that meet the user’s needs.
2. Can be used to **help the team or designer make decisions.** By looking back at the empathy map, the team can make sure they're making decisions that are good for the user and align with the user's needs and experiences.
3. Empathy maps can be filled in directly by users, which provides valuable data and can help summarize the user session. The interviewer can also **gain insights into the user's thoughts** and feelings that they might not have shared otherwise.

## **Individual vs. collective**

Empathy maps can capture **one particular user** or reflect an **aggregation of multiple users.**

- **One-user** (individual) empathy maps are usually an interview or a user’s log from a diary study.
- **Aggregated** empathy maps are typically created by combining multiple individual empathy maps to synthesize themes that are seen in a particular user group. The collected data by empathy maps can be a first step in creating personas, although they are not a replacement for personas.

## **NN group Empathy Map**


![are split into 4 quadrants (*Says*, *Thinks*, *Does*, and *Feels*), with the user or persona in the middle.
](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/kbubvcan9hsnw6csgwuf.png)

[NN Group empathy maps](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/empathy-mapping/) are split into 4 quadrants (*Says*, *Thinks*, *Does*, and *Feels*), with the user or persona in the middle.

1. In the ***Says*** section, we note what the user: says out loud in an interview or some other usability study. Direct quotes, without adding or subtracting any words. It is often used to maintain the accuracy and authenticity of the original message. I also suggest living in the original language version if spoken in a different language.
- *“I don’t understand what to do from here.”*
- *“I know my website has defects, but it was one of the cheapest, and it had some accessibility standards”.*
1. The ***Thinks*** quadrant captures what the user is thinking throughout the experience. Ask yourself:

— What occupies the user’s thoughts?

— What matters to the user?

Pay special attention to what the user is not willing to vocalize. Try to understand why they are reluctant to share — are they unsure, self-conscious, polite, or afraid to tell others something?

- *“This is really annoying.”*
- *“Am I dumb for not understanding this?”*
1. In the ***Does*** note the actions the user takes.
- What does the user physically do?
- How does the user go about doing it?
- *Refreshed the page several times.*
- *Shops around to compare prices.*
1. The ***Feels*** are the user’s emotional state, often represented as an adjective plus a short sentence for context. Ask yourself:
- What worries the user?
- What does the user get excited about?
- How does the user feel about the experience?
- *Impatient: pages load too slowly.*
- *Confused: too many contradictory prices*
- *Worried: they are doing something wrong.*


Additional note:

People are complex, and it's normal to see different things in different parts of the empathy map, or parts that overlap. Sometimes there may be contradictions, but this is a good opportunity to learn more about the user.


## **Conclusion**

**Empathy mapping can help us:**

- Eliminate bias in our designs and ensure the team has a common understanding of the user.
- Discover weaknesses in a research.
- Uncover hidden user needs.
- Understand the motivations, drives of a user behaviours.
- Guide us towards impactful innovation.

Overall, an empathy map is a powerful tool for building empathy with users, gaining a deeper understanding of their needs, and creating products or services that truly meet those needs.

Source: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/empathy-mapping/