31247 Chap.5 Stakeholder Analysis and Empathy Mapping
Stakeholder Analysis and Empathy Mapping
Who matters and how much
Stakeholder analysis lists everyone the problem touches, records what each hopes for and fears, and places them on a power and interest grid.
The quadrant decides how the team engages them, from managing closely to simply monitoring.
What it is like to be them
An empathy map then captures what one kind of user says, does, thinks, feels, hears and sees, with the pains to remove and the gains to deliver.
Both tools feed the problem definition in Assignment 1.
Why the two belong together
The grid answers whom to engage and how, while the empathy map answers what those people need. A stakeholder with high power and a pain the team has not understood is a risk to any solution, so the two tools are most useful when read side by side, one map for each important group on the grid.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Hopes and concerns of stakeholders
- 02
Power and interest defined
- 03
Four quadrants and their strategies
- 04
Questions for judging power and interest
- 05
Empathy map zones
- 06
Pains and gains
- 07
One map per user type
Worked example · free
Place the e-scooter stakeholders on a power and interest grid
- 1The council has high power and high interest, so it must be managed closely.
- 1The state road regulator has high power but limited day-to-day interest, so it should be kept satisfied.
- 1Riders and disabled footpath users have high interest but little power, so they should be kept informed and involved.
- 1Shop owners have low power and low interest for now, so they are monitored, with attention if footpath clutter starts to affect trade.
Key terms
- Stakeholder
- Any person or group affected by a problem or able to affect its solution.
- Project Sponsor
- The stakeholder who funds or authorises a project and can usually start or stop it.
- Pains and Gains
- The frustrations a user wants removed and the benefits they hope to receive.
Stakeholder Analysis and Empathy Mapping FAQ
What are the four quadrants of a power and interest grid?
High power and high interest stakeholders are managed closely; high power and low interest are kept satisfied; low power and high interest are kept informed; and low power and low interest are monitored without being overloaded with communication.
What goes in each zone of an empathy map?
What the user says, ideally quoted; what they do, from observation; what they think and feel, marked as interpretation unless they said it; and what they hear and see around them. Pains and gains are recorded in two strips beneath.
How do I decide a stakeholder’s power?
The stakeholder reading suggests asking what position they hold, how much authority that gives them over the project, and whether they can influence people with high power. Researching their past actions and speaking with them directly provides the evidence.
Should I draw one empathy map for all users?
No. Draw one for each important type of user. Comparing two maps often reveals the conflict at the heart of a wicked problem, where one group’s gain is another group’s pain.
Can a stakeholder move on the power and interest grid?
Yes. Positions change as the project changes. An agency that normally takes little interest becomes powerful the moment its approval is needed, so redraw the grid whenever the solution changes and say which version the report shows.
What is the difference between interest and power?
Power is a stakeholder’s authority to affect the project’s activities and decisions, including blocking or speeding them up. Interest is how concerned the stakeholder is about what the project does and how it affects them. A stakeholder can be high on one and low on the other.
Where should empathy-map entries come from?
From evidence: interviews, observation, context-mapping artefacts or published studies. Put quotations in the says zone and observed behaviour in the does zone, and mark your own interpretations in thinks and feels so they can be checked.
Assessment move
List every stakeholder in your project with one hope and one concern each, then place them on the grid with a sentence of evidence per placement. Interview at least one person from a key user group and sort your notes into an empathy map, keeping quotations in the says zone. Ask Sia to challenge two of your placements, and keep the ones you can defend.
Update both tools whenever your solution changes; positions and pains shift with it.
Working through Stakeholder Analysis and Empathy Mapping in 31247? Sia is AskSia’s AI Information Technology tutor — ask any 31247 Stakeholder Analysis and Empathy Mapping question and get a clear, step-by-step explanation grounded in how 31247 is taught and assessed. Read this chapter free, then take your hardest questions to Sia.