Turning Feelings into Insights: Empathy Maps and Beyond

After you’ve interviewed your friends, teachers, or family, you might have sticky notes filled with their quotes (like “I keep losing my math sheets!”) or observations (like noticing that someone’s phone battery always dies before they can finish studying). These details are gold—because they show real-life problems people face. But if you just dump them in a pile, you might miss important connections. That’s why we use empathy maps and other tools.

Building an Empathy Map

An empathy map usually has four sections:

• Say: Direct quotes (e.g., “I hate digging through old chats to find homework assignments.”)

• Think: What users might be thinking but not necessarily saying out loud (maybe they’re worried about asking silly questions).

• Do: Actions you observed (like scrolling through endless group chats or texting multiple friends to find a missing worksheet).

• Feel: Emotions—maybe stress, confusion, or relief.

By sorting your notes into these four categories, you quickly see patterns. For example, if three people say they’re overwhelmed by group chats, that’s a strong clue you need to make your design less chat-heavy or more organized.

Personas

A persona is like a pretend character that represents a group of real users.

• You give them a name, like “Study-Challenged Sam,” and note details: “Sam is 15 years old, hates math, always loses homework sheets.”

• You then list Sam’s goals, frustrations, and favorite ways to communicate (maybe Sam loves short texts but hates email).

Personas help you remember who you’re designing for. Every time you think of a new feature, you can ask, “Would Sam find this helpful?” If the answer is no, then maybe it’s not the right feature to add.

Journey Maps

A journey map breaks down each step someone takes when using your product or going through a specific process.

• For example, “Sam needs to study. Sam opens multiple group chats to find notes. Sam gets frustrated. Sam finally finds the right chat…”

• By writing each step (and how Sam feels at that moment), you see where things go wrong or get confusing. That’s where your design can step in and make life easier—maybe by adding a “One-Stop Homework Hub.”

Focus Groups

This is when a small group of people who fit your user type (like classmates) sit down together and discuss your idea or problem area.

• You, as the designer, can ask open-ended questions and just listen as they share opinions or debate different features.

• It’s a quick way to hear multiple viewpoints all at once—great for sparking fresh ideas.

From Insights to Action

After you use empathy maps, personas, journey maps, or any combination of these tools, you’ll have a much clearer idea of who you’re designing for and what they need. If a lot of people say they lose track of deadlines, you might add a simple calendar or reminder system. If they feel shy about asking questions, you might add a “private ask” feature.

The key is that your ideation phase (where you brainstorm solutions) becomes way easier and more focused. You’re no longer guessing—you’re building directly from real users’ feelings and experiences.

Wrapping up!

Gathering information about how people think, feel, and act might seem like a lot of work, but these empathy tools help you stay organized and see the bigger picture. By understanding your users deeply—through empathy maps, personas, journey maps, and focus groups—you’ll be better prepared to create something that truly helps them. So take those notes, draw out your maps, and have fun turning real feelings into real solutio