An Empathy Map is a key User Centered Design tool that provides the ability to take off our shoes and get into the users in order to recognize other modes of behavior, thoughts, emotions or views

1. EMPATHY MAPS
Grau en Enginyeria Informàtica
User Centred Design

2. Introduction
• An empathy map is a collaborative tool that teams can
use to gain a deeper insight into their users.
• It helps us consider how other people are thinking
and feeling
• Much like a user “persona”, an empathy map can
represent a group of users, such as a customer
segment.
• The Empathy Map is a tool developed by the visual
tinking company
Empathy Maps - User Centred Design by Toni Granollers 2 / 13

3. Empathy Map
• An empathy map consists of a simple face surrounded by
six sections:
• 1. Think & Feel
• 2. Hear
• 3. See
• 4. Say & Do
• 5. Pain
• 6. Gain
Empathy Maps - User Centred Design by Toni Granollers 3 / 13

4. Empathy Maps - User Centred Design by Toni Granollers
What does he/she
Think & Feel ?
What does he/she
Say & Do ?
What does he/she
See ?
What does he/she
Hear ?
Pain Gain
• What really counts
• Major preoccupations
• Worries & aspirations
• Environment
• Friends
• What the market offers
• What friends says
• What boss says
• What influencers says
• Attitude in public
• Appearance
• Behavior toward others
• Fears
• Frustrations
• Obstacles
• Wants & needs
• Measures of success
• Obstacles
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5. Empathy Maps - User Centred Design by Toni Granollers
EXAMPLE
from:
http://www.extremeservicedesign.co
m/herramientas-de-design-thinking-
el-mapa-de-empatia
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6. How to Use an Empathy Map?
• Assemble your team and have them bring any personas,
data, or insights about the TARGET of your empathy map.
• Print out, or sketch, the empathy map template on a
large piece of paper or whiteboard.
• Each person should add at least one sticky to every
section.
• Ask questions, such as what would this user be:
• thinking & feeling about their worries or aspirations?
• hearing while using our product, from their friends or boss?
• seeing while using our product in their environment?
• saying & doing while using our product in public or in private?
• experiencing as a pain point or fear when using our product?
• experiencing as a positive or gain when using our product?
Empathy Maps - User Centred Design by Toni Granollers 6 / 13

7. How to Use an Empathy Map?
• What do they SEE ?
• You must describe what the user
sees in their environment:
• What is their environment?
• Who are the key people in their
environment?
• What kind of offers are they exposed
to?
• What problems do they face?
• What do they HEAR ?
• Describe what the users hear in
their environment.
• What do their friends and family tell
them?
• What do they hear in their professional
environment?
• Who are their main influences?
• How are they influenced? Through
what means?
• What do they THINK and really
FEEL ?
• Try to outline what is in the mind of
you user.
• What really matters to them (and what
they do not say)?
• What moves them?
• What are their dreams and aspirations?
• What are their concerns?
• What do they SAY and DO ?
• Imagine what your user would say
or do in public.
• How do they behave in public?
• What do they say matters to them?
• What are the differences between what
they say and what they think?
• Do they influence anyone?
Empathy Maps - User Centred Design by Toni Granollers
Font: http://blog.leanmonitor.com/empathy-map-step-client-shoes
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8. How to Use an Empathy Map?
• What FRUSTRATES (PAIN)
them?
• Think about what concerns
your customer.
• What really concerns/frustrates
them?
• What obstacles do they encounter
to reach their goals?
• What risks do they have to
assume?
• What MOTIVATES (GAIN)
them?
• Think about the main concerns
and motivations of your
customer.
• What do they really want or need
to achieve?
• How do they measure success?
• How do they try to achieve it?
Empathy Maps - User Centred Design by Toni Granollers
Font: http://blog.leanmonitor.com/empathy-map-step-client-shoes
Try not to add generic answers that do not add value to
your business idea. Remember that you have to dedicate
time to validate them.
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9. Empathy Maps - User Centred Design by Toni Granollers
Example – A Tourist
We are going to look at an example: Julian is a 29 year old man who likes to
travel. He usually travels with his partner or friends, and likes to arrange trips
on his own. The Empathy Map might look similar to the following:
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10. When Would I Use an Empathy Map?
• Empathy maps can be used whenever you find a need to
immerse yourself in a user’s environment.
• They can be helpful when, but are not limited to:
• diving into the customer segments of a business model canvas
• elaborating on user personas
• capturing the behaviors when pair interviewing a customer
• building out the “user” in your user story
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11. What does Empathy Map do?
Empathy Maps - User Centred Design by Toni Granollers
Changes YOUR
perspective
It gets YOU out of
your head ...
... and into
someone else’s
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12. Benefits
• Helps you to step into the shoes of your stakeholders,
users and customers
• Helps you to undestand how these alternative
perspectives differ from your own
• Creates a collaborative stakeholder-centric discussion
• Uncovers both potential gains that people are looking for
and pains they want relief from
• Empathy is the key of this UCD tool
• the ability to take off our shoes and get into the users in order
to recognize other modes of behavior, thoughts, emotions or views.
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13. References
• http://www.cooper.com/journal/2014/05/persona-empathy-
mapping
• http://blog.leanmonitor.com/empathy-map-step-client-shoes
• http://www.extremeservicedesign.com/herramientas-de-design-
thinking-el-mapa-de-empatia
• https://dschool.stanford.edu/wp-
content/themes/dschool/method-cards/empathy-map.pdf
• http://es.slideshare.net/stockerpartnership/innovation-tools-
empathy-mapping
• TEMPLATES:
• https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1lXxZwISoSWySYU5CsPOs8yf4w
sUW0S8Qo5kshCVeY5I/edit?pli=1
• https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/13rGGSx9-
nk0N2x49ki6gRymoDNZd6jK0px6zzgEQ1JI/edit
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