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Protocol Overview and Instructions: 
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The Empathy Map is a tool for emphatic target group analysis and helps users to perceive their own feelings better and to empathize with their own actions. The aim is to gain a deep insight into
potential users by answering as many open WH (who, what, where, when) questions as possible. Each interview or each test can be documented individually with an Empathy Map, in order to be able to create a persona from the
findings.


Empathy Map Protocol Template


Empathy Map Directions
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Educator Thoughts:

I tried Empathy Mapping in my World History class.  Students were asked to read an article about the Power of the Medieval Catholic Church.  The next day, students created empathy maps for the clergy, Pope, and lay people who lived during the Middle Ages.  They had to identify the things that these groups were thinking, hearing, seeing, saying, doing, and feeling.  

Overall I found this strategy to be successful. I heard students having good conversations about the article they read.  It was an excellent way to debrief the reading that encouraged collaboration, movement, and a creative way to think about the topic.  There were, of course, some students who didn’t engage properly, but they were the exception, not the rule.  The other concern I had was how much paper/sticky notes/resources it takes to complete this activity with five classes. 


“We get to use sticky notes?!?!  Yes!”

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Student Quotes:
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“Students were engaged, on-task, and productive during the time provided to complete the Empathy Map.  This is definitely a strategy that I will use again.”

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Meet the Educator:

​I am a 10th year social studies teacher at Hamilton High School.  I have been experimenting with PBL / design thinking for 5 years.  I have participated in the iChallengeU program for three years and the FuturePrep’d Academy for one.  Overall I have found PBL to be invigorating for my teaching.

     “Using PBL in my classroom has sparked fun, engagement, and creativity.  I find that the protocols are well-liked by students and help to keep my lessons more diverse and interesting.”