Have you heard of the term ‘Put yourself in someone else’s shoes’? I am sure we all heard something similar, even though it may not be something we practice all the time. Simply put, it means to have EMPATHY, to imagine yourself in the situation and/or circumstance of another person in order to understand their opinion, perspective or point of view. There is a tool just for that called an Empathy Map.
What is it?
An Empathy Map, popularized by Dave Gray, is a shared visualization method to communicate who an end user is and what drives him/her. The goal is to gain a deeper level of understanding of a stakeholder, within a given context, such as a buying decision or an experience using a product or service.
How do we use it?
This type of mapping is a qualitative approach best used at the beginning of the design process, therefore the research should come from qualitative methods such as interviews, direct observations, diary study, etc. With the user in the middle, traditional empathy maps are split into 4 quadrants.
Says: what the user said verbatim, quotes from the research.
Thinks: what the user is thinking throughout the task
Does: what the user actually does to achieve that goal
Feels: the user’s emotions as they are completing that task
After going over the research individually, the team can start thinking about what to put for each quadrant. Then, get the team together to group similar ideas in the same quadrant and make a theme out of each group. What insights or conclusions can you draw from what you’ve written down? Are there repeating themes? Are there new questions to be answered?
A more detailed variation of the map with a few enhancements, as shown below.
A goal is added to help clarify the purpose of the activity with the Think and Feel in the head to distinguish between actual observable things like Say, Do, See and Hear.
Below is an example of what an empathy map may look like applied to the Mio Cyclo Discover Pal project.
Conclusion
As more research is being done, the team can go back to the Empathy Map to look for potential new themes that may occur or to guide decision making. What the map ultimately does are,
(1) Align the team on a single, shared understanding of the user
(2) Uncover user needs
(3) Guide the team towards meaningful innovation
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