Why empathy is crucial in persona development

Why empathy is important

At the end of the 19th century, "homo economicus" entered the field of economics. It was assumed that homo economicus always weighed up costs and benefits, or costs and benefits, and behaved completely rationally according to the principle of maximizing benefits. However, it quickly became clear that "homo economicus" does not exist. We all make irrational gut decisions or pleasure decisions - especially when it comes to buying.
Even if we end up making a rational decision, our gut feeling will kick in at some point during the decision-making process.

Companies that want to market successful products must therefore not disregard the gut feeling aspect and the feelings of their users and customers. Otherwise, sales figures may be high for a short time, but long-term customer loyalty may be poor. In the worst case, products can even cause damage if the company loses sight of customers as people with feelings and weaknesses - addictive games, for example.

It is therefore not only important to observe the customers and users, collect data and classify them on the basis of this and present them as a persona; but the company must also understand what they FEEL on their customer journey. Based on this, the products can be developed in such a way that there are as few stumbling blocks as possible on the customer journey.

This is where empathy comes in: the ability to put ourselves in others' shoes, to feel WITH them. We all possess this human ability. The trick is to teach it to companies as well.

What is an empathy map?

Dave Gray's method is based on the Customer Journey Map, but focuses on what potential customers hear, see, say, do, and feel during their journey. The empathy map thus illustrates the feelings of customers. If it is done well, the company can use the map to get to know the customers' emotional world and act accordingly.

Two types of factors play a role here: external factors, such as "the state of the nation," what is going on in a person's working world, their company or their industry; and what is an issue in the social environment. This results in problems, challenges, needs, fears and desires. These internal factors play an important role in purchasing decisions and are therefore the focus of the Empathy Map.

The Empathy Map is divided into six segments:

• What does the person see? (What does the social environment do, what happens at work, what influences him or her?)
• What is the person listening to? (What are the dominant discourses in the environment, what do others say that influences their thinking?)
• What is she thinking or feeling? (What is important in your life/everyday life, what worries does she have, what does she wish for?)
• What does she do? (How does the person present him/herself, how does he/she behave towards others, has his/her behavior changed and since when?)
• Pain: What fears, doubts, or challenges does the person see?
• Gain: what does she hope/wish for, what does she aspire to?

How is an empathy map created?

An empathy map is created in teamwork, ideally in a workshop. It is important that employees with close customer contact are involved. The team brainstorms possible answers to the questions in the six segments of the empathy map. The results of the brainstorming are based on experience, customer conversations, customer feedback, etc. Workshop participants can also make assumptions if they take care to remain realistic. Intra-team discussions help with this.

The results can also be supplemented with data from customer surveys on purchasing behavior.

A good way to get at least a little closer to the customers' emotional world is also to let the team members use the product in question themselves over a certain period of time. They can then understand the strengths and weaknesses of the product firsthand and put themselves in the customers' shoes better. In this way, the company can optimize the product to meet the needs of the customers.

If a company has sufficient time and resources, an additional workshop with customers is ideal. This allows first-hand statements to flow into the empathy map and makes it as authentic as possible. If this is possible, the company management can compare the results of both workshops. This reveals whether the team correctly assessed the customers and, if not, where the errors lay. Based on these findings, the product can then be perfectly tailored to the customers and their emotional world.

Empathy Map vs Persona

In contrast to the data-based persona, the empathy map does not include demographic data such as age, income, living situation, education, etc. It is solely about the emotional world of the customer and how to put oneself in their place. The empathy map contains information from the customer journey, the successful completion or termination of which is largely determined by emotions.

The persona thus gives the target group a face, a name and a reality of life, while the empathy map illustrates their feelings and personal motivation.
By combining persona and empathy map, customers can therefore be depicted with maximum clarity. In this way, the product, sales channels, marketing, and advertising can be ideally adapted so that customer satisfaction and thus corporate success are achieved in the end.

Just like personas, empathy maps should be updated regularly, because when customers' external circumstances change, this inevitably affects their emotional world and their demands on a product.