What you’re making

An Empathy Map is a one-page snapshot of what a user Says, Thinks, Does, and Feels in a specific situation—so your team can align on the user’s world before making decisions.

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What you need

- 30–60 minutes

- Sticky notes (or FigJam/Miro/Mural)

- –3 pieces of input: interview notes, support tickets, survey verbatims, sales calls, usability notes

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Step 1 :Pick one user + one situation

Write a clear frame at the top:

- User type: who is this?‍

- Scenario: doing what, where, and why?‍

- Goal: what are they trying to achieve?

Example: “Busy working parent trying to book a GP appointment through the app.”

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Step 2 : Create the canvas

Draw 4 quadrants:

-Says

-Thinks

-Does

- Feels

Optional add-ons (only if useful): Pains and Gains at the bottom.

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Step 3 : Add evidence first

Go through your notes and add stickies as direct evidence:

-Quotes go in Says

- Observed actions go in Does

- Emotional cues go in Feels (e.g., “laughed”, “hesitated”, “sounded anxious

-Inferences go in Thinks (label them as assumptions if not explicit)

Rule: if it isn’t in your data, mark it as ASSUMPTION.

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Step 4 : Cluster and label themes

Group similar stickies in each quadrant and name the clusters.
Examples:

- “Wants reassurance”

- “Confused by terminology”

- “Tries to avoid phone calls”

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Step 5 : Find tensions and contradictions (the gold)

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Look for misalignment like:

- Says vs Does: “I’m fine” but repeatedly re-reads the same step

-Thinks vs Feels: “This should be easy” but feels embarrassed/frustrated
Capture these as “tension” notes.

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Step 6 : Extract 3–5 key insights

Write short insight statements:

Example: “Users need confirmation they booked correctly because the success state is easy to miss.”

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If you want, tell me what your product is and the scenario you’re mapping, and I’ll give you a filled example empathy map structure you can paste straight into a card.

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