Process
How to create an empathy map in 6 steps
Six steps for building an empathy map from real research, from choosing a single-user or aggregated map to clustering notes and turning them into insights for the roadmap. It is meant for UX researchers, designers and product managers running a synthesis session together. Koji interviews give you transcripts with quotes and themes already tagged, the raw material for steps 2 and 4.
Where this appears
What's in this process
- Define the scope: One user from one session, or patterns across many. The aggregated map is more useful for product decisions.
- Gather your research: Transcripts, session notes, survey open-ends, analytics, support tickets and sales call notes.
- Set up the six sections: Says, Thinks, Does, Feels, Pains and Gains, on a whiteboard or in Miro or FigJam.
- Add one sticky note per observation: Be specific, use their own words under Says, and note where each one came from.
- Cluster and look for patterns: Find where Says and Thinks disagree and which pains come up most often.
- Turn it into insights: Name the unmet needs and the biggest pains, then link them to the roadmap or design backlog.
Use this image
Free to use in your docs, decks and posts under CC BY 4.0, as long as you credit Koji with a link to this page. To embed it, paste this into your page:
html
<a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/how-to-create-an-empathy-map-six-steps"><img src="https://www.koji.so/visuals/how-to-create-an-empathy-map-six-steps/how-to-create-an-empathy-map-six-steps.png" alt="Process showing six steps to create an empathy map: define scope, gather research, set up sections, add notes, cluster, then draw insights." width="1080" height="1080" /></a>
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/how-to-create-an-empathy-map-six-steps">How to create an empathy map in 6 steps</a>, Koji</p>
