Empathy Map
Empathy Map is a collaborative visual tool that captures what users say, think, feel, and do, enabling Agile teams to design solutions centered on real needs
Definition of Empathy Map
An Empathy Map is a structured visual framework used to articulate and align understanding of a specific user or persona. It captures insights about what the user says, thinks, feels, and does, often supplemented with observations about their pains and gains. In Agile software development, Agile product management, and frameworks like SAFe, empathy maps help teams maintain a user‑centered focus, ensuring that design and delivery decisions are grounded in real human experiences rather than assumptions.
Origins and Historical Context
The Empathy Map was introduced by Dave Gray, co‑founder of XPLANE, in the book Gamestorming (2010), co‑authored with Sunni Brown and James Macanufo. Initially conceived as a design thinking and visual collaboration tool, it quickly gained traction in Agile and Lean environments as a lightweight, accessible way to synthesize qualitative research. Its adoption has been driven by the growing emphasis on customer‑centricity and the need for cross‑functional teams to share a common understanding of their users.
Purpose and Importance
The primary purpose of an empathy map is to foster a deep, shared understanding of the user’s perspective. It enables teams to:
- Align on user needs, motivations, and challenges.
- Identify gaps in knowledge and guide further research.
- Inform product decisions, prioritization, and design choices.
- Enhance empathy within the team, leading to more relevant solutions.
- Complement other tools such as personas and customer journey maps.
Where Empathy Mapping Fits in Agile and SAFe
In Agile software development, empathy maps are often used during discovery and backlog refinement to ensure user stories reflect genuine needs. In Agile product management, they help shape product vision and roadmap by grounding decisions in user context. Within SAFe, empathy maps can be applied at the portfolio, program, or team level to align value streams and Program Increment (PI) objectives with customer realities, supporting the Lean‑Agile principle of customer centricity.
Core Structure of an Empathy Map
While variations exist, the classic empathy map is divided into key sections:
- Says: Direct quotes or paraphrased statements from the user.
- Thinks: Insights into the user’s thoughts, beliefs, and motivations.
- Does: Observable actions and behaviors.
- Feels: Emotional states, including frustrations, fears, and delights.
- Pains: Problems, obstacles, or risks the user faces.
- Gains: Desired outcomes, benefits, or aspirations.
Steps to Create an Empathy Map
- Define the Scope: Identify the persona or user segment to focus on.
- Gather Data: Use interviews, surveys, observations, and analytics to collect insights.
- Facilitate a Workshop: Bring together cross‑functional stakeholders to populate the map collaboratively.
- Populate the Quadrants: Capture what the user says, thinks, does, and feels, along with pains and gains.
- Identify Patterns: Look for recurring themes or contradictions that reveal deeper insights.
- Validate and Refine: Cross‑check with additional research or user feedback.
- Integrate into Workflow: Use the empathy map to inform user stories, design decisions, and prioritization.
Best Practices
- Base entries on real data, not assumptions.
- Keep the map concise and focused on the most relevant insights.
- Engage diverse perspectives to avoid bias.
- Update the map as new information emerges.
- Use it alongside other tools for a richer understanding of the user.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
- Creating the map in isolation without user research.
- Overloading it with excessive detail, making it hard to use.
- Failing to revisit and update the map over time.
- Treating it as a one‑off exercise rather than a living artifact.
- Ignoring emotional insights in favor of purely functional data.
Example in Practice
A fintech startup developing a budgeting app used empathy mapping to understand young professionals struggling with debt management. Through interviews, they captured that users often “said” they wanted to save more but “did” impulsive spending when stressed. The empathy map revealed emotional triggers behind financial decisions, leading the team to design features like spending alerts tied to emotional cues and personalized savings challenges. This alignment of product features with real user behavior improved adoption and retention rates.
Significance of the Empathy Map
The Empathy Map is more than a diagram; it is a catalyst for building products and services that resonate with real human needs. By making user perspectives explicit and shared, it bridges gaps between disciplines, aligns teams on priorities, and drives decisions that enhance customer value. In Agile and SAFe contexts, it reinforces the principle that delivering value starts with understanding the people you serve - not just their requirements, but their motivations, emotions, and lived experiences.