What is the role of empathy maps in UX design?

Empathy maps play a crucial role in UX design by centering the focus on understanding the user's needs, feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. They help designers visualize and synthesize user insights gained from research, facilitating a deeper understanding of the target audience. This understanding is essential for creating user-centered designs that effectively address the challenges and pain points users may experience.

By utilizing empathy maps, designers can capture what users say, think, feel, and do, which informs the design process and helps ensure that solutions are tailored to actual user experiences. This relational aspect of empathy maps fosters a more profound connection between the designers and the users, ultimately leading to more empathetic and effective design outcomes.

While other options do address important business and marketing strategies, they do not specifically relate to the user's emotional and cognitive experience, which is central to the role of empathy maps in UX design.