Empathy Map

Get inside one person's head before you design for them.

An Empathy Map forces you to map what a specific person says, thinks, does, and feels — and find the gaps. The contradiction between what people say and what they do is where your best insights live. Always map one person, not a persona. A composite of everyone is a map of no one.

Download / Print PDF Try it in The Studio → Learn more about this tool →

How to run this

  1. Name the person — a real individual, not a persona.
  2. Fill Says and Does first — what you can observe or hear directly.
  3. Infer Thinks and Feels from what you know, not what you hope.
  4. Look for contradictions between Say/Do and Think/Feel.
  5. Translate contradictions into Gains and Pains — that gap is your insight.

Empathy Map

Dave Gray · XPLANE · updated 2017
The Studio · Wade Institute of Entrepreneurship
The Person
Who are you mapping? Name a real individual — not a segment or persona. One person only.
Name:
Context / situation:
Goal they're trying to achieve:
①
Says
What do they say out loud? Direct quotes you've heard — or would hear in an interview.
②
Thinks
What are they thinking but might not say? What occupies their mind that they keep private?
③
Does
What do they actually do — their actions, behaviours, habits? What can you observe?
④
Feels
What emotions are they experiencing? What are their worries, excitements, frustrations?
⑤
Pains
What are their fears, frustrations, and obstacles? What keeps them from their goals?
⑥
Gains
What do they want to achieve? What would make them feel successful?

Person mapped: __________________________________    Date: _____________    Key contradiction: ____________________________

Common mistake

Filling in what you wish they thought or felt. This is a research tool, not a wishful-thinking exercise. Every entry should be grounded in something you've actually seen or heard.

What good looks like

One sharp contradiction — something they say that contradicts what they do. That gap is the insight. A map without contradictions wasn't filled in honestly.

When to move on

When you have at least one validated pain that your idea could address, and you've confirmed it with a real person — not assumed it.

Try it interactively with WAiDE

WAiDE will guide you through mapping a real person — asking the questions that expose the gaps between what they say and what they actually do. You'll leave with a completed map and a session report.

Start Empathy Map with WAiDE →

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