Think about a product you truly enjoy using. It feels intuitive, engaging—even fun. You may not always be able to pinpoint why, but one thing is certain: the team behind that product understands its users on a deeper level.
Great products don’t happen by accident. They are the result of deliberate design choices rooted in empathy—the ability to understand your users’ thoughts, feelings, and motivations. The more insight you have into the emotional and mental state of your users, the more likely you are to build a product that resonates.
One of the most effective tools for bringing empathy into your product development process is the Empathy Map.
What is an Empathy Map?
An Empathy Map is a simple, visual framework that helps teams better understand their users. It brings together research and insights to uncover what your users see, hear, think, feel, say, and do. By distilling these perspectives into a shared resource, your team can design products that connect with users in meaningful ways.
The Four Quadrants:
At the center, you’ll often see an icon or illustration of the user, a reminder that every decision should revolve around their experience. The quadrants around the user help capture different perspectives:
1. What do they See?
What does the user experience visually? This could include your product interface, their physical environment, or the visual elements they notice most.
2. What do they Hear?
Consider what the user hears from others, feedback from your product, or general conversations surrounding your brand or solution.
3. What do they Say and Do?
Capture their observable behaviors, common language, quotes, or routines. This gives insight into both their actions and the way they express themselves.
4. What do they Think and Feel?
This quadrant gets to the heart of user empathy. Document their fears, frustrations, motivations, and deeper emotional drivers.
Additional Insight: Pain and Gain
Below the four quadrants, Empathy Maps often include space to outline:
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Pain Points: Challenges, frustrations, or barriers the user faces today.
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Gains: Desired outcomes, goals, or benefits they hope to achieve through your product or service.
Together, these elements give your team a more complete, human-centered view of your user.
When to Use an Empathy Map?
Empathy Mapping is most effective after conducting initial user research, but before jumping into solution design. It bridges the gap between raw research and actionable insights.
At Callibrity, we often place Empathy Mapping within the "Define" phase of the Design Diamond framework:
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Discovery Phase: Gather broad, diverse research to understand user problems.
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Define Phase: Synthesize that research into meaningful artifacts, like Empathy Maps and User Personas.
Empathy Maps can complement or even serve as User Personas. Some teams use Empathy Maps to help create personas, while others use them to add emotional context to existing personas.
Regardless of timing, the goal remains the same—bringing the user’s perspective to the forefront.
How to Run an Effective Empathy Mapping Session
A successful Empathy Mapping session relies on collaboration. Here’s how to approach it:
1. Choose the Right Participants
Product teams should lead the process, but involving others—marketing, sales, designers, business stakeholders—can bring broader perspectives. If possible, include actual users or customer feedback to enrich the discussion.
2. Prepare Your Research
Before the session, consolidate user research and share it with participants. This helps everyone come in with context and enables more productive discussions.
3. Set Clear Focus and Goals
Empathy Maps should be created for specific user groups or personas. If personas don’t yet exist, focus the session on distinct user types. Brief the group on key research findings to align everyone before brainstorming begins.
4. Facilitate the Exercise
Work through the Empathy Map systematically:
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You can tackle each section individually or group them (e.g., external factors like See, Hear, Say first, followed by internal factors like Think and Feel).
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Timebox each activity to keep the session focused and engaging.
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Encourage open dialogue, but maintain structure to ensure meaningful outcomes.
5. Consolidate Insights
After brainstorming, look for overlapping ideas and group similar themes. Validate with the group to confirm accuracy and alignment. Not every idea will make the final map—use discretion to focus on insights that truly reflect user behavior.
6. Summarize and Share
Empathy Maps are living documents. Summarize the key takeaways, clean up the format, and make it accessible to the broader team. Ensure the final product is polished, professional, and easy to reference during product development.
Why Empathy Maps Matter
Building products people love requires more than technical expertise—it demands a deep understanding of your users. Empathy Maps help teams:
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Uncover user pain points and unmet needs
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Align around a shared understanding of the target audience
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Design solutions that resonate on both functional and emotional levels
At Callibrity, we believe the best products are built with empathy at their core. By integrating Empathy Mapping into your development process, you’re not just building software—you’re creating experiences that connect with real people.
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