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UX/UI Design vocabulary · Personas and Journeys

Empathy map

Meaning in UX/UI design, with examples

nounCommon term

In UX/UI design, empathy map means: A simple diagram, usually split into four parts, that records what a user says, thinks, does and feels, helping a team understand them better.

In Turkish: empati haritası

How it is used

Teams fill in empathy maps with sticky notes after interviews, often in workshops, and use them as a step towards personas. Some versions add sections for pains and gains.

Example sentences

  1. After the interviews, we built an empathy map for each type of customer.

  2. The 'feels' section of the empathy map was full of worries about hidden fees.

Common collocations

  • create an empathy map
  • empathy map workshop
  • empathy mapping
  • says, thinks, does, feels
  • personaA fictional but realistic profile of a typical user, built from research, with a name, goals, needs and frustrations, that helps a team design for real people.
  • user interviewA one-to-one conversation with a user or potential user, usually 30 to 60 minutes long, to learn about their goals, habits, problems and opinions.
  • journey mapA visual timeline of a user's journey that shows each stage, what the person does, thinks and feels, and where pain points and opportunities appear.
  • design thinkingA problem-solving approach that starts with understanding people's needs and moves through defining the problem, generating ideas, prototyping and testing.

More terms: Personas and Journeys

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