HUMAN CENTERED DESIGN | DEFINE

Journey Map

30+ Min

Journey Map is a tool used at various points (research, design, and prototyping) of the design process. It is used to document different stages, touch-points, interactions and emotions a respondent goes through as part of an end-to-end experience. Journeys may differ for different kinds of users, and for different use cases of a product or service.

USE CASES

Map products, services and systems as end-to-end user experience journeys.
Document current experiences for users.
Reveal opportunities for improving experience at each step.
Reimagine future experiences for users.

LIMITATIONS

The use of the Journey Map tool is dependent on the designer's ability to accurately map all steps of an end-to-end experience, and focus on the details.

Journey Mapping | Playbook

UNDERSTANDING THE TOOL

The ‘Timeline’ is the section meant to note the scope of journey being mapped, is it end-to-end or a part of the experience?
The ‘What do users do?’ section should be a description of key user activities and tasks at each stage of the journey.
The ‘What do users like/not like’ sections should describe positive and negative aspects of the user's experience at each step of the journey.
The ‘Opportunities’ section is meant to map ideas that either elevate positive experience, or address negative experience.

STEP BY STEP

Define the scope: Journey maps can be used to document end-to-end journeys, or a part of a journey. They may vary for different users/personas and for varied use cases. Decide what fits in scope.
Map the experience: Go through each step of the journey and map interactions and touch-points that are key to the experience. Next, based on the information gathered from users, map positive and negative experiences through the course of the journey. If imagining a new journey, map what is intended at each step.
Identify opportunities: Discuss how positive experiences can be elevated, and negative experiences addressed, at each stage of the experience.

HOW TO FOR FACILITATORS

At the start: Make sure participants understand the flow of the activity and the directions. Refer to facilitation questions if they are feeling stuck.
During the exercise: Help participants choose an appropriate journey to map. Assist them as they think through positive and negative aspects of the journey. Help them define opportunities at each step.
At the close: Have participants explain the flow of their journeys, and discuss opportunities identified.

FACILITATORS QUESTION BANK

If our focus is on current experiences, do we have enough information to build journey maps?
Which user type or persona are you building the journey for?
Do you think the journey changes for another kind of user? Which other user type would you want to build journeys for?
What are the steps of the journey that we want to cover? Where does it start and end? Which steps are the clearest?
What does the user do at each of the steps; What are users required to do? What do they actually do?
Which parts of the experience were positive for the user? Why so?
Which parts of the experience were negative for the user? Why so?
What are the opportunities at each step? Which step do we think has the greatest potential for intervention?
What would be the ideal end-to-end experience journey?

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