Empathy mapping is a collaborative visualization tool that helps teams develop deeper understanding of users and stakeholders by mapping their experiences across four key dimensions: what they say, think, do, and feel.
Originally developed for user experience design, empathy maps create shared understanding by capturing both observable behaviors (what people say and do) and internal experiences (what they think and feel). The process involves placing a person or persona at the center and filling in insights around the four quadrants, ideally based on real research rather than assumptions.
Quality engineers can use empathy mapping to understand both end users and internal stakeholders. For users, it helps identify quality characteristics that matter most in real-world usage. For stakeholders like product managers or developers, it reveals how they experience quality trade-offs and what motivates their decisions, making quality advocacy more effective.
