Which design thinking tool helps teams develop a shared understanding of the customer?

The empathy map is an effective design thinking tool that facilitates teams in developing a shared understanding of the customer by focusing on the user's experiences, needs, and feelings. This tool encourages teams to visualize and articulate what they know about their users, including what customers say, think, feel, and do.

By using the empathy map, teams can gather insights that lead to a deeper understanding of the customer’s motivations and pain points. This understanding is crucial as it helps in aligning team efforts in creating products or services that genuinely meet customer needs. The collaboration during this process also fosters a sense of shared knowledge and empathy among team members, ensuring that everyone is on the same page regarding customer perspectives.

Other tools, like story maps, journey maps, and personas, while valuable in their own rights, serve different purposes. Story maps help in organizing and visualizing user stories in a way that aligns with the product's functionality; journey maps illustrate the full experience a customer has with a product or service; and personas are fictional representations of customer segments, offering insights into user behaviors and needs but not as dynamically as the empathy map in promoting a shared understanding across the team.