Creating an empathy map not only allows you to better understand the users, it also helps your colleagues understand them and prioritize their needs. An empathy map is a collaborative quadrant visualization map used to articulate what we know about a particular user or group. Throughout the UX process, the empathy map allows the team to establish common ground and prioritize user needs.
The quadrant contains four main parts, which contain: (1) Says, (2) Thinks, (3) Does, and (4) Feels. Inside the middle of the quadrant is the name of the user or group.
Step 1: Add the participant name. Include the name of the person interviewed in your empathy map. Having a name attached to it will help if you ever need to look back at the original transcript or research.
Step 2: The “SAYS” square. Use verbatim quotes from the interview. In other words, write down exactly what the person said; don’t summarize it in your own words. If you summarize a quote, you might accidentally interpret the user’s meaning incorrectly. It’s also helpful to try to capture themes in the interview that relate to the product you’re researching. For example, if the user restates the same problem several times during the interview, then it’s probably a major pain point. Pay special attention to challenges your user states, and record any desired benefits or expectations they mention.
Step 3: The “THINKS” square. Here, you can summarize the thoughts expressed by the user. Add feelings the user conveyed through body language, tone, or other noticeable indicators, even if they didn’t verbally express them to you.
Step 4: The “DOES” square. Here, you will include what the user physically does or how they go about doing it. For example, did they refresh a page several times?
Step 5: The “FEELS” square. List the feelings the user expresses. If you’re the person performing the interview, you might notice signs of feelings like anger, frustration, excitement, and others. If the user doesn’t explicitly mention any feelings during the interview, you can probe for feelings with the question: “How does this make you feel?”.