Brand
Get all logo versions.
Download 
An empathy map is a simple grid that captures what a user says, thinks, does, and feels about a task or product, in one shared picture. This template is the classic four-quadrant version, with Says, Thinks, Does, and Feels around a central user and a short definition on the board. UX designers and product teams use it to turn scattered research into a single view of who they're designing for.
An empathy map is a snapshot of one user type's inner state: what they say, think, do, and feel at a given moment. A customer journey map is a timeline, tracing the steps, touchpoints, and emotions a user moves through to reach a goal. Use an empathy map to build shared understanding of who the user is. Use a journey map to see how their experience unfolds, stage by stage.
The four quadrants are Says, Thinks, Does, and Feels. Says holds the user's direct quotes. Thinks captures what's on their mind that they may not voice. Does records their observable actions and behavior. Feels notes their emotions and state of mind. Together they build a rounded picture of one user type, drawn from research rather than assumption.
An empathy map is a snapshot of one user's inner state, what they say, think, do, and feel, at a moment in time. A customer journey map is a timeline: it traces the steps, touchpoints, and emotions a user moves through to reach a goal. Empathy maps answer 'who is this person?'; journey maps answer 'what happens, step by step?'.
A persona is a profile of a fictional user, with a name, demographics, goals, and a short narrative. An empathy map is a synthesis of research into what a real user segment says, thinks, does, and feels. Personas describe who the user is; empathy maps capture how they experience a task. Teams often build the map first, then the persona from it.
Start by naming the user the map is about. Then work through your research, interviews, surveys, observation, and place each finding in the matching quadrant: quotes in Says, unspoken thoughts in Thinks, actions in Does, emotions in Feels. Look for repeated themes and contradictions, then pull out the pains and needs worth designing for.
Empathy mapping is the tool used in the empathy stage of design thinking, the first phase, where teams build a deep understanding of users before defining problems or generating ideas. By sorting research into what users say, think, do, and feel, the team grounds later decisions in real user insight rather than guesses. It's usually a collaborative, sticky-note exercise.