Purpose: Empathy Mapping is a collaborative technique used to visualise user attitudes and behaviours, helping teams build a holistic understanding of the user experience.
Design Thinking Phase: Empathise
Time: 45–60 min session + 1–2 hours analysis
Difficulty: ⭐⭐
When to use:At the start of a project to align teams around the userAfter conducting qualitative research (e.g. interviews, contextual inquiries)To prioritise design opportunities based on user needs and emotions
What it is
Empathy Mapping is a qualitative synthesis method that helps teams distil what users say, do, think, and feel during a given experience. Typically facilitated as a workshop method, it converts raw research into a visual framework that surfaces emotional states, pain points, and unspoken motivations. It serves as a bridge between individual research data and shared user understanding.
📺 Video by NNgroup. Embedded for educational reference.
Why it matters
Empathy maps make the abstract visible. In product teams, they reduce stakeholder disconnect by turning individual research anecdotes into shared insights. Whether you're working with PMs or engineers, a well-facilitated empathy map anchors strategic discussion in user reality—so you build from real needs, not assumptions.
When to use
- After synthesising user interviews post-discovery sprint
- When aligning cross-functional teams around user attitudes
- To explore deeper emotional or qualitative data before persona creation
Benefits
- Rich Insights: Helps uncover user needs that aren’t visible in metrics.
- Flexibility: Works across various project types and timelines.
- User Empathy: Deepens understanding of behaviours and motivations.
How to use it
1. Gather raw qualitative data: Ideally from interviews, ethnographic research, support conversations, or diary studies.
2. Set up a collaborative canvas: Use the traditional four-quadrant structure—Says, Thinks, Does, Feels—or extend with Needs and Pains.
3. Map insights as a team: Play back audio snips or surface snippets. Use sticky notes or digital whiteboards. Place observations into relevant quadrants.
4. Debrief and cluster: Identify patterns, contradictions, and gaps. Discuss what behaviours stand out and which stories challenge assumptions.
5. Capture key takeaways: Translate findings into 'How Might We' questions or design hypotheses to fuel ideation.
Example Output
User Type: Job-Seeking Mid-Career Professional
- SAYS: "I just want a company that values experience, not just speed."
- THINKS: "Maybe I’m not 'technical enough' for this industry anymore."
- DOES: Applies late at night, bookmarks a dozen job posts, rewrites CV constantly
- FEELS: Overwhelmed, frustrated, doubting their skills despite solid experience
- NEEDS: A clearer pathway to show value without gaming systems/ATS
- PAINS: Automated rejection emails, vague postings, ghosting from recruiters
Common Pitfalls
- Confusing 'Says' and 'Thinks': Teams often conflate surface statements with internal thoughts. A rule of thumb—if the user didn’t say it verbatim, don’t put it in the 'Says' box.
- Using it with no real data: Hypothetical empathy maps are just educated guesses. Use them only as conversation starters—not as foundations for decision-making.
- Skipping synthesis: Don’t just fill out the map and move on. Insights emerge from discussion, pattern recognition, and reflective questioning.
10 Design-Ready AI Prompts for Empathy Mapping – UX/UI Edition
How These Prompts Work (C.S.I.R. Framework)
Each of the templates below follows the C.S.I.R. method — a proven structure for writing clear, effective prompts that get better results from ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, or any other LLM.
C.S.I.R. stands for:
- Context: Who you are and the UX situation you're working in
- Specific Info: Key design inputs, tasks, or constraints the AI should consider
- Intent: What you want the AI to help you achieve
- Response Format: The structure or format you want the AI to return (e.g. checklist, table, journey map)
Level up your career with smarter AI prompts.Get templates used by UX leaders — no guesswork, just results.Design faster, research smarter, and ship with confidence.First one’s free. Unlock all 10 by becoming a member.
Prompt Template 1: “Synthesise Interview Observations into Empathy Map Inputs”
Synthesise Interview Observations into Empathy Map Inputs
Context: You are a Senior UX Designer preparing an empathy mapping session after conducting user interviews for a job search platform.
Specific Info: You’ve completed 6 user interviews (45 min each), exploring experiences around applying for remote jobs. You’ve captured detailed notes but haven’t begun synthesis.
Intent: Turn raw interviews into quadrant-ready insights for team empathy mapping.
Response Format: Organise findings into: 'Says', 'Thinks', 'Does', 'Feels', ‘Needs’, and ‘Pain Points’ bullet lists.
If interview themes are unclear, ask for sample quotes or behaviour logs before proceeding.
Then, suggest one follow-up framework or mapping session to explore the emotional drivers deeper.
Prompt Template 2: “Facilitate an Empathy Mapping Workshop Agenda”
Facilitate an Empathy Mapping Workshop Agenda
Context: You are a UX Lead preparing a cross-functional workshop to build an empathy map from recent discovery research.
Specific Info: Participants include product managers, developers, and a customer success specialist. They may not be familiar with empathy mapping.
Intent: Design a productive 60-minute session agenda for collaborative empathy mapping.
Response Format: Return a timed agenda in bullet format with instructions for each segment and key materials needed.
If group roles or pre-read requirements are missing, ask before generating the full plan.
Then, suggest one debrief activity to align on design implications.
Prompt Template 3: “Prioritise Pain Points from Empathy Map Insights”
Prioritise Pain Points from Empathy Map Insights
Context: You are a Product Designer reviewing consolidated empathy maps from 3 user personas.
Specific Info: Each map includes rich notes under ‘Feels’ and ‘Pain Points’, collected from moderated remote interviews.
Intent: Identify high-impact pain points to prioritise in ideation.
Response Format: Return a ranked list of 5 pain points with reasoning and relevant user quotes.
If any user persona lacks qualitative support, prompt to fill that before ranking.
Then, suggest one design principle that could guide ideation.
Prompt Template 4: “Generate HMW Questions from Emotional Sparks”
Generate HMW Questions from Emotional Sparks
Context: You're a UX Researcher tasked with translating empathy map takeaways into actionable How Might We questions.
Specific Info: The strongest emotions were frustration and self-doubt, especially around onboarding workflows and vague UI copy.
Intent: Create a set of HMW questions that steer ideation around emotionally impactful issues.
Response Format: Deliver 4–6 HMW questions grouped by emotion triggers.
If emotion or context is unclear, ask for emphasis notes first.
Then, suggest a co-creation exercise for stakeholders.
Prompt Template 5: “Translate Empathy Map Data into Design Principles”
Translate Empathy Map Data into Design Principles
Context: You’re a UX Strategist distilling honesty, trust, and accessibility themes from a multi-user empathy map.
Specific Info: These values repeatedly appeared under ‘Thinks’ and ‘Needs’ sections related to financial education tools.
Intent: Develop 3–5 user-centred principles to guide prototyping and feature decisions.
Response Format: Use a table with columns: Principle, Source Insight, Design Implication.
Ask for clarification if the product domain or user goal is ambiguous.
Then, provide a provocation to stress test one principle.
Prompt Template 6: “Compare Contradictions Across Personas”
Compare Contradictions Across Personas
Context: You’re analysing empathy maps for 2 contrasting user types: novice vs expert SaaS users.
Specific Info: Map quadrants highlight opposite 'Feels' and 'Thinks' items, especially on feature discoverability.
Intent: Surface key contradictions to inform segmentation and personalisation strategy.
Response Format: Create a comparison grid with highlights and implications.
Flag if persona attributes are too vague to contrast meaningfully.
Then, suggest one feature exploration or variant.
Prompt Template 7: “Audit Accessibility Gaps via Empathy Insights”
Audit Accessibility Gaps via Empathy Insights
Context: You're a UX Researcher conducting an empathy-led accessibility check for a service app used in rural areas.
Specific Info: ‘Does’ and ‘Feels’ quadrants mention difficulty with interface contrast, network issues, and form validation.
Intent: Extract accessibility risks that might be overlooked in metrics-only reviews.
Response Format: List 5 risks with user quotes and potential WCAG relevance.
Ask users for assistive tech habits if missing.
Then, suggest a next-step audit plan.
Prompt Template 8: “Draft Personas from Clustered Empathy Maps”
Draft Personas from Clustered Empathy Maps
Context: You’re consolidating 4 empathy maps from a fintech onboarding study.
Specific Info: Trends show two primary user mindsets: cautious planners and confident experimenters.
Intent: Draft 2 proto-personas that reflect emotional, behavioural, and cognitive traits.
Response Format: Return a persona summary for each with name, mindset, behaviours, frustrations, goals.
Clarify if demographics or platform usage context are critical.
Then, suggest one next-step artefact to validate personas.
Prompt Template 9: “Extract User Motivations from Map Insights”
Extract User Motivations from Map Insights
Context: You are preparing for ideation and want deeper motivational framing beyond user frustrations.
Specific Info: Empathy map highlights suggest emotional needs around recognition, freedom, and confidence.
Intent: Reverse-engineer core motivations driving user goals.
Response Format: Provide a table of motivations, supporting behaviours, and quote evidence.
If motivations feel superficial, dig into 'Thinks' and 'Needs' areas.
Then, propose one job-to-be-done statement per motive.
Prompt Template 10: “Summarise Empathy Map Themes for Exec Stakeholders”
Summarise Empathy Map Themes for Exec Stakeholders
Context: You are a Design Lead preparing a 5-minute sprint shareback to VPs and PM leadership.
Specific Info: The team mapped two emotional journeys across core sign-up flows with rich data on confusion and delight moments.
Intent: Summarise key empathy themes and implications succinctly.
Response Format: Bullet summary of high-level insights with 2 key quotes and 1 design leverage point per flow.
Ask if stakeholder questions or themes need focus before summarising.
Then, suggest one strategic bet to explore next.
Recommended Tools
- Miro – Collaborative Mapping Canvas
- Dovetail – Qualitative data tagging and synthesis
- User Interviews – Recruit real participants
- Figma & FigJam – Real-time empathy mapping for remote teams
