What is an empathy map?

Empathy map is a tool that helps better understand users or clients, their feelings, thoughts, needs, and behaviors. It visualizes the user's perception so that the team can create more user-centered solutions.

An empathy map usually consists of several sections:

• What does the user think and feel? — internal thoughts, emotions.
• What does he see? — environment, encounters.
• What does he say and do? — behavior, statements.
• What does he hear? — influence of environment, advice, opinions.

Additional blocks can include pains and gains.

Example of application: when developing a product, the team collects user data and distributes it across the empathy map sections to identify real needs and problems, which helps create more relevant solutions and improve user experience.