Summary: AI can help you organize research you’ve already collected, but it can’t create research evidence about the specific, messy experience of real users.

Empathy mapping depends on real research, and real research takes time. When the workshop is on the calendar and the data isn’t there, reaching for an AI tool feels like a reasonable fix. Ask it to think like a frustrated user, and within seconds, you have a page full of sticky notes. However, what the sticky notes are created from matters more than how quickly they are created.

What Is an Empathy Map?

Plausible AI-Generated User Content Isn’t User Research

Where AI Can Help in Empathy Mapping

Conclusion

What Is an Empathy Map?

An empathy map is a visualization that articulates what a team knows about a particular type of user, organized into four quadrants: Says , Thinks , Does , and Feels .

An empathy map consists of four quadrants that capture what a team knows about a particular user.

Empathy maps create a shared reference point for the…