Today I want to talk about a method we’ve been using a lot lately. There are a view versions out there. Visit this link to find sth out about the basics of the Customer Empathy Map…
Although there are a view descriptions, I’d like to share mine with you 😉
Please ignore this ugly image. You’ll find a more beautiful version of that shortly on the mantro.net website.
Why do you do an empathy map?
Building a new product and service should be completely customer focussed. You have to know the customers wishes and problems before he can even formulate them themselves. Using empathy mapping you an change your perspective and put yourself in the role of a customer.
When do I create an empathy map?
We create it even before doing a business model canvas. We think that the customer need is the most essential factor of a new product and service. It also helps us to structure the discussion with our customer a lot since the “final product customer” gets more visible.
What are the 6 questions?
What does the costumer think and feel?
What is really important to the customer? What dreams and wishes are driving him? What moves him?
What does the customer see?
How does the environment of the customer look like? Which offers are targeting the customer everyday? Who are his friends? Which problems does he have to solve every day?
What does the customer say and do?
What does the customer say about the product or service? What might be the difference between what he says and what he really thinks? Are there any social factors regarding the product? (especially important for health care products for example)
What does the customer hear?
What is the public message that the customer hears about the product? What impact does the public message / opinion have on his purchase decision?
What’s the ‘like’ of the customer?
What does the customer want to reach? What’s his personal motivation, his most important inner wish? How does he measure his success?
What’s the ‘dislike’ of the customer?
What are the showstoppers in order to reach the goals of the customer? Which risks and fears is he facing?
How do we use this in a customer meeting?
We found out that it’s best to put in on a whiteboard. The digital version is not interactive enough. We also go from large to small as we start by throwing everything on the wall in groups (maybe after a brainstorming session) and grouping and structuring everything afterwards. In most cases we found different needs of the customer or different customers. It’s very important to not throw everything together afterwards again as you would fall back into the good old “I’m doing the big solution” procedure again. If you find different customer needs, solve them with different products!
Categories: method
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