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Empathy Mapping

Problem solvingCreative: empathy and perspective

Reference model

Empathy MappingA canvas of 4 boxes laid out on a grid of 2 columns and 2 rows: Says, Thinks, Does, Feels.SaysWhat the user says in their own words.ThinksWhat the user thinks but may not say out loud.DoesThe actions and behaviors of the user.FeelsThe user's emotions and feelings during theexperience.

Empathy mapping provides a structured way to capture user insights.

About this model

A collaborative visualization tool that helps teams articulate what they know about their users, focusing on their needs and experiences.

Originator not stated.

How to read it

  • Start from the user's perspective: what do they think and feel?
  • Identify their pain points and gains to inform design decisions.

What this does

Helps teams understand their customers by visualizing their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, leading to better product and service design.

When to use it

Use it when developing customer-centric solutions and you need to deeply understand user perspectives and experiences.

Not when: Do not use it when you have insufficient data about your users or when the problem does not involve user experience.

What happens next

Conduct user interviews to gather insights for the empathy map.

Golden thread

Builds on ←

  • User research
  • Stakeholder interviews

Feeds into →

  • User journey mapping

Use this tool, free

Sign in to open the worksheet. Your work saves as you type, the AI can draft the parts you have not filled in, and you finish with an analysis and a 30/60/90-day action plan.

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Drafted with AI and reviewed by Eccellere on 04/11/2026. Guidance, not advice: apply your own judgement.