An abstract diagram for an empathy map showing four quadrants and the user’s name in the center.

An empathy map is a great UX research tool to start your design concept

Always consider your users’ needs and pain points first

Let’s say, you’ve been asked to design a responsive website by an inspired entrepreneur, or friends and colleagues who want to get going on their product concept. The pay is good, and you feel motivated and engaged.

But where to start? Design, sketches, wireframes? The answer is an empathic NO! Rather, start with creating an empathy map, a diagram consisting of four squares and one central circle.

Based on early user interviews, an empathy map records what the users say, think, feel and do when prompted to answer a few questions about the proposed idea.

We start by drawing the following diagram.

The set-up for the empathy map, featuring quadrants to write down the user’s sayings or quotes, what they are thinking and observations about their body gestures, what the user feels, and what he actually does to get the task done.

At this stage of your product development, you will have a unique prompt that describes the design concept.

Let’s say, the idea is to develop a responsive website for a neighborhood literary book club. It sounds like an easy idea, but let’s find out from actual prospective users how they actually will engage with the site.

Prompt: Design a responsive website for engaging in a neighborhood book club.

Script 3 to 4 interview questions and approach 5 participants for feedback

The research for the empathy map gets started with writing interview questions. They need to be simple, open-ended questions, and leave room for follow-up questions if the participant answers with a thoughtful insight.

For our prompt, the questions could be:

1. What motivates you to meet up with other literary readers?
2. Describe your ideal online book club experience.
3. How can you describe your engagement as a book lover?
4. What does a book club community mean to you?