A beginner's look at empathy mapping

Empathy maps are such a simple way to capture what's going on for our users.

Me sketching an empathy map, based on user interviews

Last week, my head was spinning. My team had done 30+ user interviews for a property tech startup, with sparkly gems of insight in each one. So many notes to read and digest! We found a simple team-sketch helped to distil our research findings and agree on those most relevant to the app design.

Empathy mapping is a great tool for visual thinkers. Sketchnoter Ben Crothers, in his book 'Presto Sketching', describes it as a process for synthesising research findings and showing what's going on in the heads, hands and hearts of an individual user.

Template

Our template differed a little from Ben's but is essentially the same. It centres around a sketch of a user, looking a bit like Alexei Sayle in profile - but I'm sure there's room for a bit of diversity here! In my case study pictured above, the user is selling their home. Radiating outwards are what the typical user:

• sees

• hears

• thinks/feels

• says

• does

Then, below that, are listed the users':

• pains

• gains

My empathy map above was co-created with team members armed with white board markers, using information gleaned from user interviews and observations. But mapping could be done on paper - a big sheet of paper. Paper or whiteboard - you need lots of room. My first template was too small for all our additions.

Sharing

The sketching process allowed plenty of opportunity for team discussion and debate. The result provided an at-a-glance view of our users' world, ahead of tackling a detailed user journey.

In all, empathy maps a great tool for UXers to capture and communicate research findings and one I'll be using for years to come.