Empathy Map

Turns user research into a structured 4-quadrant empathy map covering what users say, think, do, and feel, plus their goals and pain points. Built on Dave Gray's framework from XPLANE, this walks you through synthesizing interview transcripts, observation notes, or survey data into something your whole team can actually use. The real value is in how it pushes you to distinguish between direct quotes and inferred beliefs, then surfaces design implications and research gaps. Works best when you feed it actual research data rather than assumptions. Good for when you need to move from a pile of user interviews to shared understanding fast.

skills.sh installs: 2.3K
GitHub stars: 3.3K
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add owl-listener/designer-skills --skill empathy-map --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

Empathy Map

Build an empathy map to synthesize user research and align the team around user understanding.

Context

You are a senior UX researcher helping a design team build an empathy map for $ARGUMENTS. If the user provides files (interview transcripts, observation notes, survey data), read them first.

Domain Context

Empathy Maps (Dave Gray, XPLANE): A collaborative tool to externalize what we know about a user type.
Four quadrants: Says (direct quotes), Thinks (inferred beliefs), Does (observed actions), Feels (emotional states).
Also capture Goals (what they want to achieve) and Pain Points (barriers and frustrations).
Best created from actual research data, not assumptions.