2. WhatisJourneyMap
Journey mappingis atool companies use tohelp themsee whattheircustomers trulywant – thereal
moment's of truthandthewaysin whichcustomers go aboutachievingtheirneeds
3. WhatisCustomerJourneyMap
A Customer Journeymap is avisual or graphicinterpretationof theoverall story fromanindividual’s
perspectiveof theirrelationshipwithanorganization,service, product or brand, over time andacross
channels.
YoutubeVideo
4. What Components Does a
Journey Map Include?
Personas:
the main characters that illustrate the needs, goals, thoughts,
feelings, opinions, expectations, and pain points of the user
Persona UX
Timeline:
a finite amount of time (e.g. 1 week or 1 year) or variable phases
(e.g. awareness, decision-making, purchase, renewal)
Emotion:
peaks and valleys illustrating frustration, anxiety, happiness etc.
5. WhatComponentsDoesaJourneyMapInclude?
Touchpoints:
customer actions and interactions with the organization. This is the WHATthe customer is doing
Channels:
whereinteraction takes place and the context of use (e.g. website, native app, call center, in-store). This is the
WHERE they are interacting.
6. The Process
Review Goals
Consider organizational goals for the product or service at large,
and specific goals for a customer journey mapping initiative.
Gather Research
Review all relevant user research, which includes both
qualitative and quantitative findings to provide insights into the
customer experience. If more research is needed, get those
research activities in the books. Some of my favorite research
methods include customer interviews, ethnography & contextual
inquiry, customer surveys, customer support/complaint logs,
web analytics, social media listening, and competitive
intelligence.
7. TheProcess
Touchpointand Channelbrainstorms
As a team, generatea list of thecustomer touchpoints and thechannels on which those touchpoints occur today. Then
brainstorm additional touchpoints and/orchannels that can be incorporated in thefuture journeys you willbe
mapping. For example,the touchpoint could be “pay a bill”, and the channelsassociatedwiththat touchpoint could be
“pay online”, “pay via mail” or “pay inperson”.
Empathy map
Empathy maps area depiction of thevarious facetsof a persona and his or her experiencesin a given scenario.This
exercisehelpsmeorganize my observations, build a deeperunderstanding of customers’experiences,and drawout
surprisinginsights into what customersneed.Empathy maps also provide a foundation of materialto fueljourney
mapping.The goal is to geta well-roundedsenseof how it feelsto be that personainthis experience,specifically
focusing on what they’rethinking, feeling,seeing,hearing,saying and doing.
8. TheProcess
Brainstorm with lenses
Thegoal of lensed brainstormingis to generateasmany ideas as possible in a shortperiod of time. To gain
focus asI generateideas I use“lenses”—words representing keyconcepts, brand attributesor mindsets that
helpus look ata problem or scenarioin a different way.For thisexercise I recommend thattheteam agree
on 3-5 lens words (for example: accessible, social, comforting), thenset theclock for 2 minutes per lens
word. Eachperson individuallywritesdown as manyideas as theycanthinkof inthattime. After2 minutes
switchtothe nextlens word untilall lenswords have been used asidea inspiration.Thisensuresthatevery
voice on theteam is heardand generatesa hugeinventory of ideas.
9. TheProcess
Affinity diagram
This is a method to visually organizeideas and find cohesion inthe team’s concepts. Affinity diagramming helps
us shift from casting a wide net in exploring manypossibilities, to gaining focus on the rightsolutions for this
audience. All team members should put their ideas generated in the lensed brainstorming activity up onthe wall.
Have someone sort the ideas into categories and label them. As a group,begin to consider whereyoumight
combine, refine,and removeideas to form a cohesive vision of the futurecustomer experience.
10. TheProcess
Sketch the journey
Drumroll, please. This is the part you’vebeen waiting for!It’s now time to put together all the pieces: timeline,
touchpoints, channels, emotional highs and lows, and all the wonderful newideas the team generated for how to
improvethe futurecustomer journey.Get creative with how youlayit out—it doesn’t haveto be a standard left
to righttimeline. It could be circularor helical. Itcould beone large map or it could bean interactive, clickable
piece with embedded video. Thereare no templates, and thereare infinitepossibilities.
11. TheProcess
Refine and digitize
Journeysdon’t always become a sophisticated deliverable—sometimes they begin and end as stickynotes on a
wall or sketcheson a whiteboard. But most of thetime, whenyougo through the activities to arriveat a solid
customer journeymap, youwant to polish it, leverage it inyour workand share it with colleagues across the
organization. If visual design isn’t yourstrong suit, consider collaborating closely with a visual designer who can
transform thejourneymap sketch into an impressive artefact.
12. TheProcess
Share and use
It can bebeneficial to maintainjourneymaps over time. For example, youcould set a time each quarteror yearto
evaluate how yourcurrentcustomer experience matchesyourdocumented vision journeys.If yourorganization
tracks quantitative KPIs, youcan integrate these into a journeybenchmarkingprocess. Socializing journeys
among stakeholders is critical in moving yourorganization toward action.
Inaddition to prioritization, the output of a journeymap can serve as a backbone for strategic recommendations
and more tactical initiatives.
For example, if you’rea mortgage companyand youidentify the closing process as a keyarea of frustration,
anxiety and opportunity for engaging with the customer and designing for the“moment of truth”, then mark this
as a highpriority and get that on yourstrategic roadmap.