Tools for business model and management innovation · The Business Model Canvas
The Empathy Map
A survey says that 80% of a bank's customers want to save more, but only 5% turn on automatic savings in its app. If a company relies only on what people say, it designs products nobody uses. The empathy map makes you look also at what the customer sees, hears, thinks, and does, not just at what they tell you in a survey.
The four areas of the map
Unlike a market study with statistics (how many customers there are, how old they are, how much they earn), the empathy map describes one specific person: what they live through and what they feel. It helps complete the "Customer segment" block of the canvas with real behavior and not just demographic data.
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Explain what an empathy map is, what purpose it serves in business model design, and how it differs from a statistics-based market research study.
Explain what an empathy map is, what purpose it serves in business model design, and how it differs from a statistics-based market research study.
The classic empathy map has four quadrants: what they SEE, what they HEAR, what they THINK and FEEL, and what they SAY and DO. Categorise these observations of a…
The classic empathy map has four quadrants: what they SEE, what they HEAR, what they THINK and FEEL, and what they SAY and DO. Categorise these observations of a revision app user: "my friends use a different app", "too many ads pop up on the screen", "feels embarrassed to ask questions in class", and "says they will get serious this month, but statistics show only two study sessions".
The figure shows a customer empathy map, with three of its four sections filled in. Identify the missing section, marked with "?", and write two statements for that…
The figure shows a customer empathy map, with three of its four sections filled in. Identify the missing section, marked with "?", and write two statements for that section for a student using a revision app.
Complete an empathy map for a 16-year-old student preparing for university entrance exams using an app: write two mutually consistent statements for each area (sees,…
Complete an empathy map for a 16-year-old student preparing for university entrance exams using an app: write two mutually consistent statements for each area (sees, hears, thinks and feels, says and does).
At the bottom of the empathy map are pains (frustrations, fears, obstacles) and gains (wants, expected benefits). For this gym customer: "hates the 7 p.m. crowds",…
At the bottom of the empathy map are pains (frustrations, fears, obstacles) and gains (wants, expected benefits). For this gym customer: "hates the 7 p.m. crowds", "wants to get in shape before summer", "feels unmotivated to go alone", and "dreams of running a fun run", separate the pains and gains and explain how you would use this information.
What customers say and what they do don't always match
Two useful checks before you keep investing: ask for a real commitment (presale, waiting list with a deposit) and watch how people use a simple prototype.
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A potential customer states in a survey that they love the idea of a healthy cooking app, but never actually downloads it. Explain what this contradiction between what…
A potential customer states in a survey that they love the idea of a healthy cooking app, but never actually downloads it. Explain what this contradiction between what they say and what they do reveals, and what two checks you would carry out before investing further in the idea.
A ready-meal company believes its customers want a wider variety of dishes, yet sales are falling. An empathy map reveals that customers feel guilty about not cooking…
A ready-meal company believes its customers want a wider variety of dishes, yet sales are falling. An empathy map reveals that customers feel guilty about not cooking and perceive ready meals as unhealthy. Explain how the understanding of the problem changes thanks to the empathy map, and what two changes to the value proposition it suggests.
The canvas and the map complement each other. The "Customer segment" block says who they are (age, income, city); the map says how they live, what holds them back, and what they are looking for. That's why a segment like "families with elementary-school kids, high income, urban area" can be large and well-off and still not buy: it says nothing about their time, their distrust of apps, who makes the purchase decision, or what they actually do with their kids after school.
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An educational technology company launches an after-school tutoring app, defining its segment on its business model canvas as: “families with children in Primary…
An educational technology company launches an after-school tutoring app, defining its segment on its business model canvas as: “families with children in Primary education, annual income exceeding 45,000, pesos and living in urban areas.” Despite being a demographically broad and financially solvent market, subscriptions are almost nonexistent.
a) Justify why the sociodemographic description of the “Customer Segments” block proved insufficient and what critical aspects of user behavior it fails to capture on its own.
b) Explain how the canvas and the empathy map complement each other, and determine at what point in the validation process the latter should have been used to avoid wasting resources.
c) Propose two hypotheses regarding the fears or frustrations (pains) and two regarding the aspirations (gains) of these families that explain why a digital solution might generate pushback despite their income level.
You now have the map and the customer's main pain. What's left is deciding what to do with it. Creativity is not a mysterious gift: it is a process that can be trained, with two movements that alternate.
The two movements are not mixed: if you criticize each idea while you propose it, few will come out and they'll all be very similar. First you diverge, then you converge.
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Construct the empathy map of a teacher overwhelmed by marking, as a potential customer of an automated marking app: complete the four areas with two statements each and,…
Construct the empathy map of a teacher overwhelmed by marking, as a potential customer of an automated marking app: complete the four areas with two statements each and, based on them, write a one-sentence value proposition addressing their main frustration.
Go back to the beginning: the 80% who "want to save" and the 5% who do show that you have to look at what the customer does, and the empathy map is made for exactly that.
Summary
Let's practice! 3 medium exercises in this section