Cognitive Scaffold

Preparing your thinking workspace

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MENTAL MODEL · M8403

Empathy Map

Empathy Map
Learn & MetacognitionHigh supportCognitive Science
Included
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

Says: What the user says. Does: What the user does. Thinks: What the user is thinking. Feels: How the user feels. Scaffolding role: Internalizing the user's perspective. Forces designers to think from the user's cognition and emotions, avoiding design biases of projecting oneself onto the user.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Internalizing the user's perspective. Forces designers to think from the user's cognition and emotions, avoiding design biases of projecting oneself onto the user.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

The empathy map divides the user into four quadrants: Says, Does, Thinks, Feels, forcing designers to start from the user's cognition and emotions, avoiding projecting oneself onto the user.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Practice this model in one real situation:

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Source support: Explicit

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    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empathy_mapZH · Explicit
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