Empathy Map Canvas by Jack León
The empathy map, developed by Dave Gray, founder of XPLANE, takes user personas to a whole new level. It puts you in the shoes of your users.
How to use the Empathy Map Canvas
This is best done in a collaborative environment with a cross-functional team and a variety of backgrounds. Frankly, it can be a little tiresome to do on your own, and you're likely to cut corners as a result 🙂 Ideally this exercise is facilitated by someone who has experience running workshops.
Step 1. The Goal
The Goal consists of 2 parts, numbered 1 and 2 on the canvas.Number 1, the description of a person representing your user, their role, and the specific situation that you are interested in helping with.Number 2, what they're trying to do. This is could be a part of a job, or a decision they need to make. It is important to articulate what success looks like for your user.This part is normally led by a Product Owner or a UX lead or analyst.Make sure everyone understands who the user is, what the user is trying to do, and the context within which the behavior is being performed.
Step 2. Around the Head
Now go around the outside of “The Big Head” following the numbers from 3 through to 6. Everyone grabs a bunch of sticky notes and joins in, trying to imagine the world from the user’s perspective.Everyone should spend around 5 minutes on each area; SEE, SAY, DO and HEAR. A great way to run this part of the exercise is using the working together alone technique. Everyone is given time to come up with their own ideas, followed by a quick tidy-up. The tidy-up phase is optional and might consist of a quick deduplication, a brief discussion if any notes are not clear, and sorting of the notes if relevant. Do this for each section from 2 to 6.
Step 3. Inside the Head
Now we are going inside the head of our user. Before you do, the facilitator should take 5 minutes to quickly summarise all the sticky notes in sections 1 through to 6. This will give everyone time to internalize and expand their empathy for the user.Section 7 has 3 areas, Pains, Gains, and others. As the canvas states, Pains are things that are worrying our user, Gains are things our user wants and others is an area to put notes which are hard to classify but feel important.Again, have the team work together alone, giving everyone 8-10 minutes on section 7. After that, the facilitator will optionally organize the sticky notes by deduplicating and sorting if required.
Conclusion
The exercise is now over, and the facilitator might decide to summarise and request clarification where notes are not clear.The Empathy Map Canvas is an indispensable part of Design Thinking, along with Persona Design and User Journey Mapping. Using these artifacts to shape proposition design ensures the team is developing customer-centric solutions.
This template was created by Jack León.
Get started with this template right now.
Service Blueprint to connect journey & operations
Works best for:
Research & Design
Connect customer journeys with operational processes using the Service Blueprint by Essence. This template helps you map out service interactions and backend processes, ensuring seamless service delivery. Use it to align teams, identify gaps, and enhance the customer experience. Perfect for visualizing the entire service ecosystem and improving coordination between different service components.
Service Blueprint With AI
Works best for:
Research & Design
Integrate AI into your service design with the Service Blueprint With AI template. This tool helps you map out service processes and identify opportunities for AI enhancement. Use it to visualize interactions, streamline workflows, and improve customer experiences with AI-driven solutions. Perfect for teams looking to innovate and optimize services using advanced technology.
User Empathy Map
Works best for:
Market Research, Research & Design
User Empathy Map template helps you visualize user experiences and needs. It’s an essential tool for teams looking to design products that resonate with their users. Use this template to build empathy and improve user satisfaction.
Empathy Map Canvas by Sampriti Jain
Works best for:
Market Research, Strategy & Planning
The Empathy Map Canvas template allows you to explore user behaviors and emotions comprehensively. It’s designed to help you visualize user experiences and create solutions that truly meet their needs. Perfect for UX teams and product developers.
Service Blueprinting Workshop
Works best for:
Agile
The Service Blueprinting Workshop template helps teams visualize and improve service processes. It includes ice breakers, context canvas, empathy maps, and action plans for service transitions. Use it to align teams, identify opportunities, and prototype service delivery from a macro to microscopic level, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of service orchestration and seamless collaboration. Ideal for remote and dispersed teams.
Niching Down: Online Course Persona Empathy Map
Works best for:
Market Research, Research & Design
Niching Down Online Course Persona Empathy Map helps you tailor online courses to specific personas. By understanding their needs and motivations, you can design more effective and engaging course content. Perfect for course developers and educators.