Your Hero Map

What is a Hero Map?

A Hero Map is a collection of 4 to 9 people who have genuinely shaped how you think. Not who you think you should pick — your actual heroes. A family member, a scientist, a fictional character, a coach, an artist. Anyone whose way of seeing the world has influenced yours.

This is Chris Moore's exercise adapted for Private Language. The idea: your heroes reveal patterns in your thinking that you might not see on your own.

Why it matters

Your Hero Map is the raw material for everything that comes next in the course. When you brainstorm with Hero Lens, the AI generates ideas by looking at your BIG need through each hero's perspective. The richer your hero entries, the more specific and useful those ideas become.

Private Language also finds connections between your heroes automatically — shared qualities, overlapping domains, complementary approaches. These connections often surface patterns in how you think about problems.

How to add a hero

Navigate to your personal project, then click the Hero Map tab. Click Add Hero and fill in four fields:

• Name — Who is this person? Real, fictional, historical, living — all valid. Examples: "Richard Feynman", "my grandmother", "Sherlock Holmes", "Ira Glass".

• Domain / Field — What world do they operate in? Examples: "Physics and education", "Community organizing", "Detective fiction", "Storytelling and radio".

• Qualities — Comma-separated traits that make them remarkable to you. Don't list their resume — list what drew you to them. Examples: "relentless curiosity, comfort with not knowing, playfulness", "patience, pattern recognition, deep listening".

• Relationship to your BIG Need — This is the most important field. How does this hero connect to the idea generation challenge you wrote during onboarding? Be specific. Example: "Her skepticism of authority helps me question assumptions in my research design" or "His ability to find stories in mundane data mirrors what I want to do with neuroscience findings."

How many heroes?

Chris recommends 4 to 9. You'll see a counter showing where you are. Under 4, you'll get a gentle reminder to add more. The cap is 9 — Hero Maps work best when you choose thoughtfully rather than exhaustively.

You don't have to add them all at once. Start with 3 or 4 that come to mind immediately, then add more over the next few days as you think about it.

Privacy guarantee

Your Hero Map is private. Other students cannot see it. Instructors cannot see it. This is enforced at the database level, not just the interface.

The exercise works because it's private. You should feel free to include unconventional choices — a YouTube creator, a grandparent, a character from a novel. There's no judgment here. The only person who sees your heroes is you.

What happens next

Once you have heroes saved, the Brainstorm tab unlocks Hero Lens — AI-generated ideas from each hero's perspective on your BIG need. Read the Brainstorm guide to see how it works.