---
title: Empathy Maps · A Faster Way to Synthesize Customer Research | RGM®
url: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/frameworks/empathy-maps-customer-research/
updated: 2026-06-10
source_html: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/frameworks/empathy-maps-customer-research/
---

**Attribution.** The Empathy Map was developed by Dave Gray at XPLANE in the mid-2000s and popularized through his book *Gamestorming* (with Sunni Brown and James Macanufo, 2010). It has since become standard in design thinking practice. This article reviews the tool and adds practical guidance.

## The four quadrants

The classic empathy map is a single page split into four quadrants, with the customer at the center. Each quadrant captures a different dimension of the customer's experience.

- **Says.** What the customer says out loud — direct quotes from interviews, support tickets, reviews, social mentions. Real language, not summaries.
- **Thinks.** What the customer is thinking but not necessarily saying. Inferred from behavior, body language during interviews, between-the-lines reading.
- **Does.** Observed behavior. What the customer actually does in the situation — separate from what they say they do (often different).
- **Feels.** The customer's emotional state. Frustration, anxiety, hope, relief, confidence. Often inferred from tone, word choice, and context.

Updated versions of the empathy map add two more sections: **Pains** (frustrations, obstacles, fears) and **Gains** (desires, hopes, what success looks like). These overlap with the [Value Proposition Canvas](/learn/frameworks/value-proposition-canvas/).

## How to build one

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1. Pick a specific customer or persona. Empathy maps work best when narrowly focused — one customer in one situation, not "all customers" in general.
2. Gather research inputs: interview transcripts, support tickets, survey responses, sales call recordings, review excerpts.
3. Workshop with the team. Each person silently adds sticky notes (or virtual cards) to each quadrant based on the research.
4. Cluster and synthesize. Group related notes. Surface tensions (what they say vs what they do is often the most revealing).
5. Identify implications. What does this empathy map tell us we should change about the product, marketing, or experience?

## Where empathy maps fit

Empathy maps are most useful as a synthesis layer between raw customer research and operational outputs. They are not a substitute for the research itself — they're a way to make research insights visible and shareable across the team.

The full hierarchy of customer research artifacts:

| Artifact | Purpose |
| --- | --- |
| Interview transcripts | Raw source material |
| Empathy maps | Quick synthesis, team alignment |
| Buyer personas | Detailed archetype documentation |
| Customer journey maps | End-to-end experience visualization |
| Value proposition canvas | Product-customer fit mapping |
| Jobs-to-be-Done statements | Decision-driver framing |

**Empathy maps are starter artifacts.** They're fast to produce and good for getting the team on the same page. For deeper, longer-lasting customer documentation, build personas and journey maps. For decision-driver clarity, build JTBD statements. The empathy map's value is speed and accessibility, not depth.

## Common mistakes

**Building empathy maps from internal opinion.** Like personas and journey maps, empathy maps are only as good as the research behind them. Filling one in based on "what we think the customer feels" produces fiction.

**Filing the artifact and never using it.** An empathy map that sits in a Notion doc and never influences product, marketing, or support decisions is wasted effort. Use it to drive actual decisions.

**Trying to map the average customer.** The empathy map works best for one specific persona in one specific moment. Trying to capture "all customers always" produces vague, generic content.

### Related on RGM

- [Buyer personas](/learn/personas-icp/buyer-personas/) — the deeper artifact that empathy maps feed.
- [Customer journey mapping](/learn/frameworks/customer-journey-mapping/) — adjacent artifact.
- [Voice of Customer research](/learn/frameworks/voice-of-customer-voc-research/) — the research practice that feeds all these artifacts.

Sources & further reading

1. Gray, D. *Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers* (2010, with Brown & Macanufo). O'Reilly.
2. Gray, D. *Updated Empathy Map Canvas* (2017). XPLANE blog.
3. Osterwalder, A. (2014). *Value Proposition Design*. Wiley. (Empathy map predecessor for VPC.)
4. IDEO Method Cards — empathy mapping in design thinking.
5. RGM operator notes — empathy mapping in client workshops 2023–2026.