Empathy Map

Purpose

The Empathy Map is a collaborative visualization tool that helps teams develop a deep, shared understanding of a user or stakeholder. By mapping what a person thinks, feels, says, and does, participants move beyond assumptions and build genuine empathy — a critical foundation for human-centred design, product development, and service improvement.

At a glance

• Group size: 3–8 per map
• Duration: 30 minutes
• Difficulty: Beginner
• Facilitation style: Guided discussion with silent writing phases
• Setting: In-person or virtual (use a shared whiteboard)

How to run

1. Prepare the canvas. Draw or display a large four-quadrant grid labelled *Thinks*, *Feels*, *Says*, and *Does*. Place a sketch or name of the target persona in the centre.
2. Set context (3 min). Briefly describe who the persona is and the situation or journey being mapped. Share any research data the team should reference.
3. Silent brainstorm (8 min). Each participant writes one observation per sticky note and places it in the appropriate quadrant. Encourage concrete, evidence-based statements.
4. Share and cluster (10 min). Read the notes aloud quadrant by quadrant. Group related items together and discuss discrepancies — especially contradictions between *Says* and *Does*.
5. Identify insights (7 min). As a group, highlight the two or three most surprising or actionable observations. Mark unresolved questions for further research.
6. Capture next steps (2 min). Decide how the insights will feed into the next activity — personas, journey maps, or design briefs.

Materials needed

• Large poster paper or digital whiteboard (Miro, Mural, FigJam)
• Sticky notes in four colours (one per quadrant)
• Markers
• Research data or interview quotes (optional but recommended)

Pitfalls & common mistakes

• Filling quadrants with guesses. Ground every note in real observations, interviews, or data — not assumptions.
• Conflating *Thinks* and *Feels*. *Thinks* captures beliefs and reasoning; *Feels* captures emotions. Keep them distinct.
• Creating one map for an entire audience. Focus on a single, specific persona or user segment per map.
• Skipping the contradiction analysis. The gap between *Says* and *Does* is where the richest insights live.

Inclusion & accessibility

• Provide the quadrant labels in writing and read them aloud for participants with visual impairments.
• Allow both written and verbal contributions so that non-native speakers and introverts can participate fully.
• Use high-contrast colours and large text on digital boards.

Variations

• Extended Empathy Map (Dave Gray, 2017): Adds *Pains* and *Gains* sections below the quadrants.
• Proto-persona combo: Follow the Empathy Map immediately with a persona card to consolidate findings.
• Empathy Map for stakeholders: Use the format to map an internal stakeholder's perspective before a change-management initiative.

When NOT to use this

• When you have no user data at all — an empathy map built purely on speculation reinforces biases rather than challenging them.
• When the team already has validated personas and needs to move into ideation; skip straight to brainstorming or journey mapping.

Source & further reading

• Gray, D. (2017). *Updated Empathy Map Canvas.* XPLANE.
• Osterwalder, A. et al. (2014). *Value Proposition Design.* Wiley.
• Gibbons, S. (2018). Empathy Mapping: The First Step in Design Thinking. Nielsen Norman Group.