When to create empathy maps

Empathy maps are most useful at the beginning of the design process, right after user research. Creating empathy maps helps synthesize research observations, reveal deeper insights into users' needs, and see things from their points of view.

Empathy maps provide you with the information needed to develop requirements and concepts. You must understand users' attitudes and behaviors before creating solutions — be it content ideas, webpage design, app prototypes, or a new service offering.

They can also be used throughout the design process and revised as new data becomes available. A sparsely populated map indicates where more user research needs to be done.