Empathy Map
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Empathy map is a tool used in UX design to better understand and empathize with users by visualizing their experiences, thoughts, and feelings. It also helps not only us but our colleagues to undertand and prioritize user needs to inform more user-centered design decisions.
In user-centered design, empathy maps are used at the very beginning of the design process.
Understanding users: Helps designers and stakeholders understand users' motivations, concerns, and needs.
Identifying pain points: Reveals areas where users face challenges or frustrations, which can be critical for improving the user experience.
Guiding design decisions: Provides a user-centered perspective that guides the design and development process.
Enhancing communication: Serves as a visual tool that facilitates better communication and alignment among team members about user needs and experiences.
An Empathy Map consists of four quadrants that capture key traits observed during the research phase. These quadrants represent what the user said, did, thought, and felt. While it's straightforward to note what the user said and did, understanding their thoughts and feelings requires careful observation and analysis of their behaviors and responses to various activities, suggestions, and conversations.
An extended empathy map adds more dimensions to the traditional empathy map, providing a richer and more detailed understanding of the user's experiences and environment. This extension includes the "Hear" and "See" fields, which help capture additional context about the user's interactions and surroundings.
An empathy map helps us look beyond the obvious and start to address their user experience aspects. Using a combination of assumptions and user interviews researchers arrive at hypothesis that are then tested by user experience designers through prototyping
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Says
This quadrant captures the direct quotes and statements made by the user during interviews, usability tests, or any form of interaction.
It helps understand the user's verbal feedback, opinions, and perspectives in their own words.
Thinks
This quadrant reflects the user's thoughts, beliefs, and cognitive processes, often inferred from what they say and do.
It aims to uncover the underlying thoughts and reasoning that guide the user's actions and decisions.
Does
This quadrant records the actions and behaviors of the user as observed during their interaction with the product or service.
It provides insight into how users physically interact with the product, what steps they take, and what actions they perform.
Feels
This quadrant captures the emotions and feelings experienced by the user, inferred from their behavior, tone, and reactions.
It helps understand the emotional responses and attitudes of the user, providing context to their actions and feedback.
Hears
Identifies what the user hears in their environment, including feedback from others, conversations, and ambient sounds.
Understands external influences that affect the user's experience and decision-making.
Sees
Describes what the user sees in their environment, including visual stimuli, interfaces, and the physical surroundings.
Provides context about the visual elements that impact the user's experience and actions.
