How to fill in the Empathy Map
Get inside one user's head before you design anything for them. This guide walks every block in the recommended order — what belongs there, the questions that unlock it, and patterns from real canvases.
An empathy map collects what you know about one specific person into a single view: what they say, what they think, what they do, and what they feel, plus the pains and gains that follow. It is a synthesis tool, not a research tool — you fill it in after talking to people, using their words.
The most useful tension it exposes is the gap between the quadrants. When what someone says differs from what they do, or what they say differs from what they clearly think, you have found the thing worth designing around. Consistent quadrants usually mean you are guessing.
Created by Dave Gray at XPLANE and popularised through Gamestorming (2010). The updated version adds goals at the centre and a 'sees' and 'hears' framing; the four-quadrant plus pains-and-gains version used here is the one most teams work with.
Says
What do they say out loud?
Direct quotes, as close to verbatim as you can manage. Resist paraphrasing into your own vocabulary — the exact words a customer uses are the words your landing page and your onboarding should use. If you have no real quotes, mark this block as assumption and go and get some.
Ask yourself
- What do they say in interviews, tickets, and reviews?
- Which phrase comes up repeatedly across people?
- How do they describe the problem in their own words?
- What do they say to colleagues that they would not say to us?
Patterns that work
- Verbatim quotes from interviews and support conversations
- Repeated phrases across several people — these are the strongest signal
- What they say publicly versus privately, if you know both
Thinks
What occupies their mind but goes unsaid?
Beliefs, worries, and priorities they hold but do not voice — usually because saying them would be impolite, risky, or embarrassing. This block is inferred, so mark your confidence. The gap between says and thinks is often where the real purchasing decision is made.
Ask yourself
- What would they not admit in a meeting?
- What are they worried will go wrong?
- What matters to them that they never mention?
- What do they believe about people like us?
Patterns that work
- Private worries about risk, competence, or reputation
- Beliefs about the category formed by a previous bad experience
- Priorities that outrank the problem you are solving
Does
What do they actually do?
Observable behaviour: the tools they open, the workarounds they build, the order they do things in, how long it takes. Behaviour is the most reliable block on the map because it does not depend on self-report. When it contradicts the says block, believe this one.
Ask yourself
- What does their working day actually look like?
- What workaround have they built themselves?
- What do they do repeatedly that they complain about?
- Where do they give up and do it manually?
Patterns that work
- Observed behaviour, from shadowing or analytics
- Homemade workarounds — each one is an unmet need with a price tag
- The sequence and timing of the job, not just its existence
Feels
What is the emotional state?
The emotions attached to the job — anxiety, frustration, pride, boredom, relief. Name the emotion and its trigger together, because the trigger is the actionable half. 'Anxious' tells you little; 'anxious every month-end because errors surface at audit' tells you what to build.
Ask yourself
- What frustrates them most in this process?
- What are they anxious about, and when?
- What makes them feel competent or proud?
- How do they feel at the end of this task?
Patterns that work
- Pair each emotion with the specific moment that triggers it
- Include positive emotions — they show what to protect, not just fix
- Note intensity: mild irritation and genuine dread need different responses
Pains
What gets in their way?
Fears, obstacles, and frustrations that stand between this person and what they are trying to achieve. Derive these from the four quadrants above rather than inventing them — a pain that does not trace back to something they said, thought, did, or felt is a pain you made up.
Ask yourself
- What blocks them from finishing the job?
- What risk are they carrying personally?
- Which obstacle recurs every single time?
- What have they already tried and abandoned?
Patterns that work
- Obstacles — budget, time, permission, skills
- Fears — being blamed, looking foolish, wasting money
- Frustrations traced directly from the quadrants above
Gains
What does winning look like to them?
What this person wants to achieve and how they measure success — including the personal measure, not just the organisational one. People buy things that make their own week better, and the official business case is frequently a justification written after that decision.
Ask yourself
- How do they define success in this task?
- What would make their week noticeably better?
- What would they want their boss to notice?
- What would make them recommend it to a peer?
Patterns that work
- Organisational measures — the official success criteria
- Personal measures — time, stress, reputation, autonomy
- Aspirations that go beyond the immediate task
Ready to fill yours in?
The editor carries this whole guide with it — every block has these prompts and starter notes built in. Free, no signup, autosaves in your browser.
Open the Empathy Map editor