8 empathy map templates for a deeper understanding of your customers
Discover how to peel back the curtain on customer motivations, decision-drivers, and feelings.
Nov 28, 20237 MIN READ
What if you could step inside your customers' heads? Imagine understanding exactly what keeps them up at night, what motivates their decisions, and what they want from your products or services.
This is possible with empathy maps.
These tools allow you to step into your customers' shoes and see the world from their perspective — and that's incredibly valuable. This enables you to shift from reactive to proactive, anticipate customer needs, and tailor your strategies accordingly.
This article will explore ten empathy map templates offering insights into your customers' unique experiences.
What if you could step inside your customers' heads? Imagine understanding exactly what keeps them up at night, what motivates their decisions, and what they want from your products or services.
This is possible with empathy maps.
These tools allow you to step into your customers' shoes and see the world from their perspective — and that's incredibly valuable. This enables you to shift from reactive to proactive, anticipate customer needs, and tailor your strategies accordingly.
This article will explore ten empathy map templates offering insights into your customers' unique experiences.
What is an empathy map template?
An empathy map template is a visual tool that captures a specific customer segment's thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and motivations. Cross-functional team members from marketing, design, sales, and customer service collaboratively create the asset to ensure a 360-degree understanding of the customer experience.
Empathy maps usually include four quadrants:
Think and Feel
See
Hear
Say and Do
These quadrants provide stakeholders a glimpse into their target customers’ pain points and how they may react to your product or service.
Empathy map vs. customer journey vs. customer persona
It's easy to get confused between customer empathy maps, customer journeys, and customer personas—aren't they all just tools to understand your customers?
Yes, but they serve different purposes. Here’s how:
An empathy map is a deep dive into your customers' minds that captures their feelings and motivations, typically used in the initial marketing strategy or product development stages.
A customer journey tracks your customers' path from first contact to purchase and is best for optimizing the customer experience.
A customer persona is a detailed profile that summarizes the key characteristics of your target audience, like demographics and psychographics. It’s a great tool for both the planning and execution phases of product design and campaigns.
Who benefits from an empathy map?
Short answer: Any customer-facing or product development team can benefit from an empathy map. It's especially useful for sales representatives, marketers, product designers, and customer service personnel, providing deep insights into customer needs, experiences, and motivations.
Here’s how each of these teams uses empathy maps:
Sales: Empathy maps enable sales teams to understand the client's perspective better, leading to more personalized and effective sales strategies that resonate with the client's specific challenges and goals.
Marketing: Marketers use empathy maps to create targeted campaigns, and messaging that align with the audience's emotional drivers, preferences, and buying behaviors.
Product design: Product and customer experience designers use empathy maps to create user-centric designs and experiences. Design teams ensure both product features and overall customer interactions match end-user needs and desires during design thinking.
Customer service: Empathy maps assist customer service reps and help desk teams to anticipate customer issues and identify their underlying concerns, allowing for more empathetic and tailored support solutions.
How to build an empathy map
Start creating empathy maps with these guidelines:
1. Define your user and target personas
Define your user and target personas to get crystal clear on whom you’re designing for.
You have the option of creating empathy maps for a broad target persona. Here, you create a composite character representing a group of users with similar traits. This method is less granular but more practical for understanding and catering to larger customer segments.
You can’t go wrong with user persona maps if you want to dig in. User-based empathy maps focus on individual users. They're incredibly detailed, diving deep into one specific customer's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
For example, here’s an example of an empathy map of someone navigating an insurance website:
Quadrant | Example |
|---|---|
Thinks and feels | Feels overwhelmed by the complexity of policies. Worries about choosing the wrong plan. |
Hears | Hears friends talk about their positive experiences with competitor websites. Listens to recommendations from family |
Sees | Sees a cluttered homepage with too much technical jargon. Notices customer testimonials. |
Says and does | Says 'It’s hard to find the information I need.' Does multiple searches for terms and policies. |
Choose the route that fits into your team's needs and goals. You can even brainstorm multiple empathy maps for each key persona or group if you have the resources.
2. Gather qualitative research
Start by collecting insights directly from your customers through interviews, focus groups, listening sessions, customer service transcripts, or even observing them in their natural environment.
Listen to what they say, but also pay attention to what they don't say. Understand their experiences, feelings, and motivations on a deeper level and get to the heart of their emotional and psychological state by asking open-ended questions such as:
How do you feel about [product/service/brand]?
What do you value most in a [product/service/brand]?
Can you tell me about a time when you were frustrated with [product/service/brand]?
This research provides the raw material for your empathy map and gives you a rich, nuanced understanding of your customers.
3. Categorize the research according to each quadrant
Once you’ve gathered your research, categorize it into each quadrant of the empathy map.
Pro tip: organize the user research individually first. A diverse team may interpret the same information differently, and this can lead to deeper insights.
Do this in real time on an online whiteboard for detailed discussions. Every individual then places sticky notes into each quadrant to visualize and group the research.
Apart from ensuring different points of view are included, this collaborative process promotes a comprehensive understanding of the customer. You better picture your customer's experience and mindset by categorizing your findings into these areas.
4. Synthesize the research to identify key themes
Look for patterns and commonalities across the different quadrants. Analyze the information and synthesize it into key themes.
Focus on these areas:
Emotional state: What are your customers' main emotions and feelings? Are there any recurring patterns?
Needs and desires: What do your customers want or need from your product/service/brand? What motivates them to seek out your business?
Pain points: What are your customers' frustrations, challenges, or obstacles about your product/service/brand?
Delightful moments: Are there any positive experiences or moments your customers have had with your product/service/brand? What made these experiences memorable for them?
Note down outliers, too. Any unexpected findings or information that doesn’t fit into the four quadrants can be just as valuable in providing insights.
Freshworks’ Customer Service Benchmark Report
8 empathy map templates to leverage
The more specific your empathy map, the better. Below, we’ve created eight empathy map templates for different types of customers to help you get started.
1. Basic empathy map template
This empathy map canvas covers the four main quadrants: Think, Feel, See, and Hear. It applies to any general customer research, making it a great starting point for beginners.
Quadrant | Questions |
Thinks and feels | What emotions is the user experiencing during their interaction? What are their main concerns or fears about the product or service? What motivates them to use this product/service? How does the user perceive your offer's value or benefits? What aspirations or goals are driving their behavior? |
Hears | What feedback or opinions are they receiving from friends or family? What are industry experts or influencers saying that might affect their perception? How do social media and advertising impact their views? What are common themes in conversations or reviews they hear? What kind of advice or recommendations are they exposed to? |
Sees | What elements of the website or product design catch their attention? What aspects of the brand image or advertising do they notice? How do they react to the visual layout and user interface? What do they see in their physical environment while using the product/service? What kind of imagery or symbols resonate with them? |
Says and does | What specific phrases or language do they use to describe their experience? What actions do they take as a result of their experience? How do they describe their needs or problems? What suggestions or complaints do they voice? How do they interact with the product/service (click paths, usage patterns, etc.)? |
2. Empathy map template for small businesses
A small business owner or entrepreneur has a unique perspective and set of challenges compared to larger businesses. Small business owners can use this empathy map template to understand their customers’ needs and behaviors.
Quadrant | Questions |
Thinks and feels | What are the customer's primary concerns when choosing products or services from a small business? How does the customer feel about supporting local or small businesses? What personal or emotional needs are they looking to fulfill through their purchases? |
Hears | What are they hearing from their community about local/small businesses? How do word-of-mouth and social media influence their opinions about small businesses? What are common perceptions or myths they hear about the quality and service of small businesses? |
Sees | What visual elements (like branding, store layout, or website design) do they notice in small businesses? How do they perceive the advertising or promotional material of small businesses? What observations do they make about the presence of small businesses in their locality or online? |
Says and does | What kind of feedback or comments do they provide about their experience with small businesses? What actions do they take when they are satisfied or dissatisfied with a small business's service or product? How do they interact with small businesses (in-store, online, via social media)? |
3. Empathy map template for real estate businesses
Real estate professionals constantly interact with a diverse group of individuals, each with unique needs and concerns. Providing exceptional service and creating successful transactions requires understanding buyers' and sellers' emotions and motivations.
Quadrant | Questions |
Thinks and feels | What are the client's main concerns about buying or selling property? How do they feel about the current real estate market? What are their aspirations for their new home or property investment? What fears or hesitations do they have about the real estate process? How do financial considerations impact their emotional state? |
Hears | What are they hearing about market trends from friends and family? How do media reports on real estate affect their expectations? What feedback or advice are they receiving from previous clients? What are real estate experts or influencers saying that influences them? What kind of neighborhood or community information are they exposed to? |
Sees | What do they notice first about property listings or marketing materials? How does the presentation of properties (photos, virtual tours) affect their perception? What aspects of a real estate agent's branding or reputation catch their eye? What do they observe in different neighborhoods or during property viewings? What visual elements of the real estate website or app appeal most to them? |
Says and does | What questions do they frequently ask about the buying or selling process? What actions do they take when searching for or listing a property? How do they describe their ideal property or real estate service? What are common concerns or objections they voice during discussions? How do they interact with online real estate platforms (search behaviors, engagement)? |
4. Empathy map template for B2B SaaS businesses
B2B SaaS users are often busy professionals looking for solutions to streamline their workflow and increase productivity. Build empathy maps using this template:
Quadrant | Questions |
Thinks and feels | What are the clients' primary concerns or challenges in their business operations? How do they feel about integrating new technology into their existing systems? What are their expectations regarding ROI and efficiency improvements from the SaaS product? What apprehensions do they have about data security and privacy? How does the decision-making process impact their stress levels or confidence? |
Hears | What are they hearing from industry peers about similar SaaS solutions? What feedback are they receiving from their teams about adopting new software? How do industry trends and expert opinions influence their decision-making? What do they hear about customer service and support from existing users of the SaaS product? What are common concerns or praises they hear about SaaS products in their industry? |
Sees | What do they observe regarding market trends and competitors' software choices? How do they perceive the SaaS product's user interface and design elements? What are their impressions of the brand's online presence and marketing materials? What do they see regarding case studies or success stories provided by the SaaS company? How do they view the pricing and value proposition compared to other solutions? |
Says and does | What specific queries or concerns do they express during sales presentations or demos? How do they describe their goals and needs related to the SaaS product? What actions do they take to seek trials, demos, or consultations? How do they communicate their decision-making process and criteria for selection? What steps do they take to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of the SaaS solution post-implementation? |
5. Employee-centric empathy map template
Employee empathy maps offer a glimpse into the day-to-day experiences and feelings of employees within an organization.
Quadrant | Questions |
Thinks and feels | What are employees' key concerns or worries about their work or workplace? What motivates them to perform well in their job? How do they feel about their work-life balance and job security? What are their career aspirations and personal goals related to their job? How do they perceive the company culture and their role within it? |
Hears | What kind of feedback are they receiving from their managers and peers? What are they hearing about company changes or updates (e.g., policy changes, company news)? How do they perceive the communication style and messages from upper management? What are common themes in workplace discussions or rumors they hear? What external opinions (like industry trends or news) influence their perspective about their job? |
Sees | How do they view the physical work environment and its impact on their productivity? What do they observe about team dynamics and interdepartmental relationships? What kind of support or resources are provided for personal and professional growth? How transparent do they perceive management's actions and decisions? What visual cues in the workplace influence their mood and performance (like office layout, company branding)? |
Says and does | How do employees describe their work and the company to others? What actions do they take to address challenges or opportunities at work? How do they express their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their job? What suggestions or ideas do they voice for workplace improvements? How do they interact with workplace systems and processes (like feedback mechanisms, productivity tools)? |
6. Healthcare patient empathy map template
No industry focuses more on empathy than healthcare, which puts patients' well-being first. This empathy map examines healthcare patients' perspectives and behaviors to improve their hospital or doctor's office experience.
Quadrant | Questions |
Thinks and feels | What are the patient's primary concerns or fears regarding their health condition? How does the patient feel about the healthcare services and treatments they are receiving? What are their expectations and hopes for their health outcomes? How do they perceive the support and care provided by healthcare professionals? What emotional states (anxiety, hope, frustration, etc.) do they experience throughout their healthcare journey? |
Hears | What are patients hearing from their doctors and healthcare providers? How do friends, family, and fellow patients influence their perceptions of healthcare? What kind of health-related advice or stories are they exposed to in their community or media? How do they interpret the communication they receive from healthcare systems (e.g., appointment reminders, health tips)? What feedback or concerns are they hearing from others regarding their health decisions? |
Sees | What is the patient's impression of the healthcare environment (hospital, clinic, etc.)? How do they perceive the accessibility and clarity of information provided (brochures, websites)? What visual aspects of healthcare marketing or public health campaigns catch their attention? How does the patient view healthcare settings' cleanliness, safety, and comfort level? What are their observations regarding the demeanor and professionalism of healthcare staff? |
Says and does | What specific feedback or questions does the patient express about their health or treatment? How does the patient describe their symptoms or health concerns to providers? What actions do they take to manage their health (appointments, medication adherence, lifestyle changes)? How do they communicate their needs, preferences, or dissatisfaction in healthcare settings? What health-related behaviors (seeking information, following medical advice, etc.) are they engaging in regularly? |
7. User experience (UX) empathy map template
A user experience (UX) empathy map details what a person thinks, feels, sees, says, and does about the product’s functionality.
Quadrant | Questions |
Thinks and feels | What emotions do users experience when interacting with our product/service? What are their main concerns or frustrations during usage? What aspects of the user experience bring them joy or satisfaction? How do they perceive the usability and aesthetic of the interface? What aspirations or goals drive their interaction with the product? |
Hears | What do users hear about similar products or services from peers or social media? What kind of feedback or suggestions are they receiving from their network? How do industry trends or news influence their expectations or opinions? What are common misconceptions or myths they might hear about this type of product/service? What expert opinions or reviews do they trust and listen to? |
Sees | What do they notice first about the product interface or design? How do they react to the visual branding and style of the product? What design elements catch their attention or cause confusion? What comparisons do they make with other products they see in the market? How do marketing materials or advertisements they see impact their perception? |
Says and does | What feedback or comments do they share about their user experience? What actions do they take when they encounter usability issues? How do they describe the product to others? What features or functionalities do they frequently use or ignore? How do they integrate the product into their daily routines or specific tasks? |
8. Product development empathy map template
How can you build a product that truly meets your users' emotional and practical needs? A product development empathy map gives you insight into your target audience's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Quadrant | Questions |
Thinks and feels | What are users' primary concerns about using new products? How do users feel about the innovation and usability of new products? What are their expectations regarding product quality and reliability? What kind of satisfaction or frustration do they experience with similar products? How do users perceive the impact of this product on their daily life? |
Hears | What are users hearing about industry trends and new technologies? What feedback are they getting from peers or social media about similar products? How do industry experts influence their perception of new products?
What are common praises or complaints users hear about existing solutions? How do market predictions or news affect their anticipation for new products? |
Sees | What do users observe in current market offerings that excites or disappoints them? How does branding and packaging influence their perception of quality? What design elements (color, shape, interface) attract them to a product? How do they perceive the advertising and marketing of similar products? What trends or standards in product development do they notice? |
Says and does | What do users say about their needs and preferences in new products? What actions do they take when searching for or purchasing new products? How do they describe their ideal product features or functionalities? What feedback or reviews do they provide about products they use? How do usage patterns and interaction with products inform their preferences? |
Discover how to create effortless customer experiences in the digital-first era
Create your own empathy maps
An empathy map template is the best starting point to get a sneak peek into your users' minds.
But don't just fill in the blanks—immerse yourself in the process. Reflect on the data, consider different perspectives, and really put yourself in their shoes. Use these Freshworks templates to embolden cross-functional teams to provide more personalized, data-backed experiences. Ultimately, your customers — whether internal or external — will ultimately thank you!
FAQ
How do I create an empathy map?
To create an empathy map, identify your target user or customer. Then, divide a paper or digital canvas into four quadrants labeled 'Thinks and feels', 'Hears', 'Sees', and 'Says and does'. Gather qualitative data about your user and fill each quadrant with insights, focusing on their experiences and perspectives.
What is an empathy map template?
An empathy map template is a collaborative visual tool used to gain deeper insights into a target audience's needs and experiences. It typically consists of four quadrants—Thinks and feels, Hears, Sees, and Says and does—helping teams understand and empathize with users, guiding more effective and user-centered decision-making.
How often should empathy maps be updated?
You should update empathy maps regularly, ideally whenever you gather new customer data or insights. This often means revising them quarterly or more frequently if your market or user behaviors change rapidly. Keeping them current ensures that your strategies and decisions align with your customers' evolving needs and perspectives.
Who uses empathy maps?
A variety of professionals, such as product managers, designers, marketers, and user experience (UX) teams, use empathy maps. They employ these tools to gain deeper insights into customer perspectives and experiences, helping them develop more user-centric products, services, and marketing strategies.
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