Empathy Mapping: Exploring Customer Behavior Using Design Thinking

Trying to understand one’s users is one of the most important tasks a company or a startup could set out to do. Many tools will help you in this endeavor. There are buyer personas and customer journey maps. Data collection tools like surveys and questionnaires may get you closer to your goal.

We would like to talk about a design thinking tool that offers a much more micro-level analysis of your customer. A tool that considers the complex workings of the human mind and tries its best to make sense of it. Empathy maps are at the core of every UX design journey, and their benefits in marketing cannot be stressed enough.

In this article, we look at how to create empathy maps and what they are comprised of. We look at the various benefits and limitations associated with the mapping process. We also use the latter half to talk about how empathy maps are different from customer journey maps and personas.

What Is an Empathy Map?

An empathy map is a visual representation of the attitudes and behaviors of customers. Mind you, individual empathy maps are not a large-scale representation of a multitude of users across various demographics. Each empathy map will use user data to figure out the thoughts and emotions of ONE person at a time.

On the other hand, aggregated empathy maps represent different individual empathy maps to figure out new insights and patterns. Aggregated empathy maps are often viewed as a stepping stone in creating a persona. However, empathy maps do not replace personas.

The empathy map was invented by Dave Gray, founder of Xplane strategy consultants, in an attempt to curb the miscommunication that takes place between users and researchers. Everything that you can learn about your users' behaviors, from the things they say to subtle cues like their facial expressions and body language, can be captured on an empathy map.

Why Use Empathy Maps?

Empathy maps are primarily used to identify user needs and preferences. The user-centered design of an empathy map helps you get inside your customers' heads. It indicates a user's decision-making process before purchasing your product.

Empathy mapping bridges the gap between a brand and its customers. There needs to be a foolproof way in which brands know what users are thinking and feeling and create relevant, tailor-made products and services.

Effective empathy mapping eliminates the possibility of brands incorporating preconceived notions about their customers into their marketing and sales strategies. Consumers’ needs and preferences are often multifaceted and are difficult to encapsulate in a simple written format. This is where empathy maps come in.

Creating an Empathy Map Template

An ideal empathy map template consists of different elements that help researchers visualize their users' needs efficiently. Let’s take an in-depth look at the mapping exercise.

Elements of an empathy map

An empathy map canvas is divided into four quadrants, each representing what your customer does, says, thinks, and feels. Think of it as a whiteboard divided into 4 quarters where you jot down information.

Does

This section deals with the user's actions and how they do them. For example, they close the tab after viewing page one.

Feels

This section will tell you the user's emotional state. Does he feel frustrated with your website’s layout? Is he unhappy with the site's loading speed? You can list out all the emotions that the user is going through and then jot down why they are feeling this way.

Thinks

This section will tell you what your user might be thinking, but is too hesitant to put into words. It is up to the researcher to glean this information from qualitative research.

Says

This section will consist of all the things that the user says during data collection. These may be direct quotes gathered during user interviews or surveys.

Summarizing your findings in the empathy mapping session

After the mapping session, it is essential to conclude specific customer needs. Needs can be categorized based on functionality, aesthetics, and accessibility. Identification of your customers’ needs will form the bedrock of your research process.

While analyzing the contents of the map, it is natural to find contradictions between the two quadrants. Something that the user has said may be in stark contrast to what he feels. It is up to the researcher to find the cause of this conflict and resolve it.

Then, you have to draw your insights from the user experience. What are your users looking for? What are they complaining about? How will you address their grievances? Once you have successfully answered these questions and created an action framework, you can implement them in your sales and marketing strategy.

Empathy Map vs Customer Journey Map

While empathy maps provide information about a particular part of the buying process, customer journey maps focus on the buying process. Empathy maps will tell you about the thoughts and emotions of a user while he is using a particular part of a service.

Journey maps will outline the entire trajectory of your target audience, from the time they feel that they need a particular product to when they buy it. This will show you all the possible areas in the customers’ journey where you can make necessary improvements to maximize ROI.

Customer journey maps give you the macro-level picture, while empathy maps give you the micro-level picture. An effective marketing strategy will utilize both these tools in tandem. Identify all the weak points in your sales and marketing strategy through journey maps, then delve deep into them with empathy maps.

Empathy Map vs Persona

Though empathy maps and personas may serve the same purpose of telling you more about your customers, they do it in distinct ways. The fundamental difference is that empathy maps only portray a part of the customer journey. It only tells you about a specific part of the buying process, like online shopping or something similar.

Personas focus on providing a complete profile of your ideal customer. They tell you about your customers’ demographic information, social media activity, interests and hobbies, the kind of content they watch, preferred communication channels, the brands they purchase from the most, and so on.

The data required to build empathy maps can be collected through a single interview or survey; however, with personas, data is collected from various sources like web analytics, social media, and third-party sources. Both empathy maps and personas have their uses in the marketing journey of a company and must be used accordingly.

Benefits of Empathy Maps

Empathy maps have several benefits, ranging from better product design to increased customer satisfaction. Let us look at some of them.

Improved product design

The primary reason for using empathy maps is to find out more about your customers' experiences. It is no secret that a good customer experience is directly proportional to the quality of your products. So, by learning more about your customers’ experience, you will learn more about the flaws associated with your product and make changes accordingly.

Better understanding of customers

Empathy maps help you understand your customers better by examining their thoughts and feelings about using your product. They let you know things about your customers that they may not be able to articulate correctly. You will also be able to segment your customers better, which results in higher customer satisfaction.

Better communication within the organization

Since empathy maps outline the workings of your customers’ minds, you will be able to articulate to your team members the tasks that need to be done in the most efficient way possible. The four quadrants of a map, looking at various aspects, will allow for better delegation of work within your organization.

Simplified data

The workings of the human mind can sometimes be incomprehensible, particularly in making purchase decisions. Empathy maps can greatly help in simplifying the needs and preferences of your customers. Empathy maps help you identify the pain points of your customers that require immediate addressing.

Limitations of Empathy Maps

Empathy maps are not always perfect when it comes to understanding the thoughts and behaviors of users. Let us look at the possible drawbacks of an empathy mapping session.

Problem of perspective

‘The customer is always right’ is a phrase that is often heard in marketing. But is this always the case? Customers may not be well-informed about the products or services they are using. They may foster unrealistic expectations about the services being provided to them; hence, brands must always make sure to cross-check the findings of their user research.

Lack of context

Sometimes, details surrounding how a product is being used are as important as how it is made. For instance, if a customer uses an electronic device for longer than the prescribed hours, there is no use complaining about the product malfunctioning. The context surrounding usage is very important, which may be missing from empathy maps.

Lack of complete information

An empathy map only provides you with a part of the picture, not the complete one. Marketing decisions cannot be made based on partial information. Empathy maps must be supplemented with information from research tools like surveys, questionnaires, and focus groups.

Unchanged nature of empathy maps

Human emotions are constantly fluctuating, and empathy maps do not account for this particular aspect of human nature. You must constantly update your empathy maps with real-time data monitoring to ensure you do not miss crucial marketing insights.

Wrapping Up

Empathy maps are a vital cog in your marketing arsenal that already includes useful tools like customer journey maps and personas. Empathy maps will help you understand your customers better, which will inevitably improve the design and functionality of your products. While conducting user research, empathy maps will simplify data to a great extent.

Empathy maps will help you remove possible biases from your research and make sure everyone on the team agrees on the way forward. Contrary to popular belief, the customer is not always right, and empathy maps will help uncover issues that even the customer may not be aware of.