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Journey mapping 101.

December 9, 2018 2018-12-09

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Journey maps are a common UX tool. They come in all shapes, sizes, and formats. Depending on the context, they can be used in a variety of ways. This article covers the basics: what a journey map is (and is not), related terminology, common variations, and how we can use journey maps.

In This Article:

Definition of a journey map, key components of a journey map, journey-map variations, why use journey maps.

Definition: A journey map is a visualization of the process that a person goes through in order to accomplish a goal.

In its most basic form, journey mapping starts by compiling a series of user actions into a timeline. Next, the timeline is fleshed out with user thoughts and emotions in order to create a narrative. This narrative is condensed and polished, ultimately leading to a visualization.

The terms ‘user journey map’ and ‘customer journey map’ can be used interchangeably. Both reference a visualization of a person using your product or service.

While the argument can be made that the term ‘customer’ does a disservice to the method (because, especially for certain business-to-business products, not all of end users are technically customers, i.e., product buyers), alignment on what you call the map is far less important than alignment on the content within the map.

Journey maps come in all shapes and sizes. Regardless of how they look, journey maps have the following 5 key elements in common:

Scenario + Expectations

Journey phases, actions, mindsets, and emotions, opportunities.

The actor is the persona or user who experiences the journey. The actor is who the journey map is about — a point of view. Actors usually align with personas and their actions in the map are rooted in data.

Provide one point of view per map in order to build a strong, clear narrative. For example, a university might choose either a student or a faculty member as actor — each would result in different journeys. (To capture both viewpoints, the university will need to build two separate maps, one for each of the two user types.)

The scenario describes the situation that the journey map addresses and is associated with an actor’s goal or need and specific expectations. For example, one scenario could be switching mobile plans to save money, and expectations for it include to easily find all the information needed to make a decision.

Scenarios can be real (for existing products and services) or anticipated — for products that are yet in the design stage.

Journey maps are best for scenarios that involve a sequence of events (such as shopping or taking a trip), describe a process (thus involve a set of transitions over time), or might involve multiple channels .

Journey phases are the different high-level stages in the journey. They provide organization for the rest of the information in the journey map (actions, thoughts, and emotions). The stages will vary from scenario to scenario; each organization will usually have data to help it determine what these phases are for a given scenario.

Here are some examples:

• For an ecommerce scenario (like buying Bluetooth speakers), the stages can be discover, try, buy, use, seek support.
• For big (or luxury) purchases (like buying a car), the stages can be engagement, education, research, evaluation, justification.
• For a business-to-business scenario (like rolling out an internal tool), the stages could be purchase, adoption, retention, expansion, advocacy.

These are behaviors, thoughts, and feelings the actor has throughout the journey and that are mapped within each of the journey phases.

Actions are the actual behaviors and steps taken by users. This component is not meant to be a granular step-by-step log of every discrete interaction. Rather, it is a narrative of the steps the actor takes during that phase.

Mindsets correspond to users’ thoughts, questions, motivations, and information needs at different stages in the journey. Ideally, these are customer verbatims from research.

Emotions are plotted as single line across the journey phases, literally signaling the emotional “ups” and “downs” of the experience. Think of this line as a contextual layer of emotion that tells us where the user is delighted versus frustrated.

Opportunities (along with additional context such as ownership and metrics) are insights gained from mapping; they speak to how the user experience can be optimized. Insights and opportunities help the team draw knowledge from the map:

• What needs to be done with this knowledge?
• Who owns what change?
• Where are the biggest opportunities?
• How are we going to measure improvements we implement?

There are several concepts closely related and thus easily confused with journey maps.

It is important to note that this section is only meant to help your personal understanding and clarification of these terms. It is not advised to debate or attempt to shift a whole organization’s language to abide by the definitions stated here. Instead, use these definitions to guide you towards aspects of another method that your team has not previously considered.

Journey Map vs. Experience Map

Think of an experience map as a parent to a journey map. A journey map has a specific actor (a singular customer or user of a product) and specific scenario (of a product or service), while an experience map is broader on both accounts — a generic human undergoing a general human experience.

The experience map is agnostic of a specific business or product. It’s used for understanding a general human behavior; in contrast, a customer journey map is specific and focused on a particular business or product.

For example, imagine the world before the ridesharing market existed (Uber, Lyft, Bird, or Limebike, to name a few). If we were to create an experience map of how a person gets from one place to another, the map would likely include walking, biking, driving, riding with a friend, public transportation, or calling a taxi. Using that experience map we could then isolate pain points: unknown fares, bad weather, unpredictable timing, paying in cash, and so on. Using these pain points, we would then create a future journey map for specific product: how does a particular type of user call a car using the Lyft app?

Journey Map vs. Service Blueprint

If journey maps are the children to experience maps, then service blueprints are the grandchildren. They visualize the relationships between different service components (such as people or processes) at various touchpoints in a specific customer journey.

Think of service blueprints as a part two to customer journey maps. They are extensions of journey maps, but instead of being focused on the user (and taking the user’s viewpoint), they are focused on the business (and take its perspective).

For the Lyft scenario above, we would take the journey map and expand it with what Lyft does internally to support that customer journey. The blueprint could include matching the user to a driver, contacting the driver, calculating fares, and so on.

Journey Map vs. User Story Map

User stories are used in Agile to plan features or functionalities. Each feature is condensed down to a deliberately brief description from a user’s point of view; the description focuses on what the user wants to do, and how that feature will help. The typical format of a user story is a single sentence: “As a [type of user], I want to [goal], so that [benefit].” For example, “As a checking account holder, I want to deposit checks with my mobile device, so that I don’t have to go to the bank.”

A user story map is a visual version of a user story. For example, take the user story above (“As a checking account holder, I want to deposit checks with my mobile device, so that I don’t have to go to the bank.”) and imagine writing out the different steps that the team plans for the user to take when using that functionality. These steps could be: logging in, beginning deposit, taking picture of check, and entering transaction details. For each step, we can document required features: enabling camera access, scanning check and auto filling numbers, and authorizing signature. In a user story map, these features are written on sticky notes, then arranged based on the product release that each functionality will be added to.

While, at a glance, a user story map may look like a journey map, journey maps are meant for discovery and understanding (think big picture), while user story maps are for planning and implementation (think little picture).

Although a journey map and user story map may contain some of the same pieces, they are used at different points of the process. For example, imagine our journey map for Lyft indicated that a pain point appeared when the user was in a large group. To address it, the team may introduce a multicar-call option. We could create a user story map to break this feature (multicar call) into smaller pieces, so a product-development team could plan release cycles and corresponding tasks.

The benefits of journey maps (and most other UX mappings ) are two-fold. First, the process of creating a map forces conversation and an aligned mental model for the whole team. Fragmented understanding is a widespread problem in organizations because success metrics are siloed; it is no one’s responsibility to look at the entire experience from the user’s standpoint. This shared vision is a critical goal of journey mapping, because, without it, agreement on how to improve customer experience would never take place.

Second, the shared artifact resulting from the mapping can be used to communicate an understanding of your user or service to all involved. Journey maps are effective mechanisms for conveying information in a way that is memorable, concise, and that creates a shared vision. The maps can also become the basis for decision making as the team moves forward.

Journey mapping is a process that provides a holistic view of the customer experience by uncovering moments of both frustration and delight throughout a series of interactions. Done successfully, it reveals opportunities to address customers’ pain points, alleviate fragmentation, and, ultimately, create a better experience for your users.

Additional articles are available, discussing: 

• When to create customer journey maps
• The 5-step process
• Journey mapping in real life

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How to create an effective user journey map

No matter what you’re working on, the key to customer satisfaction and business growth is understanding your users. A user journey map helps you uncover pain points, explore the touchpoints from their perspective, and learn how to improve your product.

Imagine you just launched a new ecommerce platform. Shoppers fill their carts with products, but they abandon their carts before checkout. With a user journey map, you can pinpoint where the customer experience is going wrong, and how to enable more successful checkouts.

Read on to find out:

• What is a user journey map, and how it captures user flows and customer touchpoints
• Benefits of user journey mapping to refine UX design and reach business goals
• How to make user journey maps in five steps, using FigJam’s user journey map template

What is a user journey map?

Think about the path a user takes to explore your product or website. How would you design the best way to get there? User journey maps (or user experience maps) help team members and stakeholders align on user needs throughout the design process, starting with user research. As you trace users' steps through your user flows, notice: Where do users get lost, backtrack, or drop off?

User journey maps help you flag pain points and churn, so your team can see where the user experience may be confusing or frustrating for your audience. Then you can use your map to identify key customer touchpoints and find opportunities for optimization.

How to read a user journey map

Most user journey maps are flowcharts or grids showing the user experience from end to end. Consider this real-life journey map example of a freelancing app from Figma's design community. The journey starts with a buyer persona needing freelance services, and a freelancer looking for a gig. Ideally, the journey ends with service delivery and payment—but customer pain points could interrupt the flow.

Start your user journey map with FigJam

5 key user journey map phases.

Take a look at another Figma community user journey template , which uses a simple grid. Columns capture the five key stages of the user journey: awareness, consideration, decision, purchase, and retention (see below). Rows show customer experiences across these stages—their thoughts, feelings, and pain points. These experiences are rated as good, neutral, and bad.

To see how this works, consider a practical example. Suppose a new pet parent wants to learn how to train their puppy and discovers your dog-training app. Here's how you might map out the five key user journey stages:

• Awareness. The user sees a puppy-training video on social media with a link to your product website. They're intrigued—a positive experience.
• Consideration. The user visits your product website to preview your app. If they can't find a video preview easily, this could be a neutral or negative experience.
• Decision. The user clicks on a link to the app store and reads reviews of your app and compares it to others. They might think your app reviews are good, but your price is high—a negative or neutral experience.
• Purchase. The user buys your app and completes the onboarding process. If this process is smooth, it's a positive experience. If not, the customer experience could turn negative at this point.
• Retention. The user receives follow-up emails featuring premium puppy-training services or special offers. Depending on their perception of these emails, the experience can range from good (helpful support) to bad (too much spam).

2 types of user journey maps—and when to use them

User journey maps are helpful across the product design and development process, especially at two crucial moments: during product development and for UX troubleshooting. These scenarios call for different user journey maps: current-state and future-state.

Current-state user journey maps

A current-state user journey map shows existing customer interactions with your product. It gives you a snapshot of what's happening, and pinpoints how to enhance the user experience.

Take the puppy training app, for example. A current-state customer journey map might reveal that users are abandoning their shopping carts before making in-app purchases. Look at it from your customers' point of view: Maybe they aren't convinced their credit cards will be secure or the shipping address workflow takes too long. These pain points show where you might tweak functionality to boost user experience and build customer loyalty.

Future-state user journey maps

A future-state user journey map is like a vision board : it shows the ideal customer journey, supported by exceptional customer experiences. Sketch out your best guesses about user behavior on an ideal journey, then put them to the test with usability testing. Once you've identified your north star, you can explore new product or site features that will optimize user experience.

How to make a user journey map in 5 steps

To start user journey mapping, follow this step-by-step guide.

Step 1: Define user personas and goals.

Gather user research and data like demographics, psychographics, and shopping behavior to create detailed customer personas representing your target audience.  In your dog-training app example, one key demographic may be parents. What’s their goal? It isn't necessarily "hire a puppy trainer"—it could be "teach kids how to interact with a puppy."

Step 2: Identify customer touch points.

Locate the points along the user journey where the user encounters or interacts with your product. In the dog training app example, touchpoints might include social media videos, app website, app store category search (e.g., pets), app reviews, app store checkout, in-app onboarding, and app customer support.

Step 3: Visualize journey phases.

Create a visual representation of user journey phases across key touchpoints with user flow diagrams , flowcharts , or storyboards .

Step 4: Capture user actions and responses.

For each journey stage, capture the user story: at this juncture, what are they doing, thinking, and feeling ? This could be simple, such as: "Potential customer feels frustrated when the product image takes too long to load."

Step 5: Validate and iterate.

Finally, show your map to real users. Get honest feedback about what works and what doesn’t with user testing , website metrics , or surveys . To use the dog-training app example, you might ask users: Are they interested in subscribing to premium how-to video content by a professional dog trainer? Apply user feedback to refine your map and ensure it reflects customer needs.

Jumpstart your user journey map with FigJam

Lead your team's user journey mapping effort with FigJam, the online collaborative whiteboard for brainstorming, designing, and idea-sharing. Choose a user journey map template from Figma's design community as your guide. With Figma's drag-and-drop design features, you can quickly produce your own professional, presentation-ready user journey map.

Pro tip: Use a service blueprint template to capture behind-the-scenes processes that support the user journey, bridging the gap between user experience and service delivery.

Ready to improve UX with user journey mapping?

Exploring User journey mapping in Design thinking: A beginner's guide

User journey mapping is a powerful tool in design thinking, offering a visual narrative of a user's experience with a product or service. It's more than a series of steps; it's a window into users' emotions, motivations, and satisfaction.

This article explores how user journey mapping aligns with user-centric design and design thinking principles. It uncovers methodologies, tools like Gleek, and the process of creating a user journey map.

What is User Journey Mapping?

User journey mapping is a visualization tool that allows designers and product managers to explore the user's experience. It is a narrative of your users' experiences with your product, service, or any other interaction they have with your brand. It tracks their journey from the initial contact or discovery, through the process of engagement, into a long-term relationship.

This journey is often depicted as a series of steps, which represent each interaction the user has with your product or service. These steps could range from a user's initial search to purchasing a product, getting customer support, and beyond. Each step is then evaluated to gauge the user's feelings, motivations, and questions, as well as their overall satisfaction.

The goal of a user journey map is to provide insights into the common paths users take when interacting with a product or service. This, in turn, helps identify pain points, moments of friction, and opportunities for improvement in the user experience.

Importance of User Journey Mapping in Design Thinking

In design thinking, user journey mapping plays an important role. Design thinking itself is a human-centric approach to problem-solving. It involves empathizing with users, defining their problems, ideating solutions, prototyping, and testing.

Make your own User Journey diagram .

User journey mapping fits seamlessly into this methodology. It provides a framework for empathizing with users by providing a visual representation of their experiences. It helps in defining their problems by identifying pain points along their journey. It aids in ideating solutions by highlighting areas of improvement. And it gives a reference point during the prototyping and testing phases.

Overview of User Journey Mapping Role in User-Centric Design

User journey mapping is fundamental in user-centric design, focusing on understanding user needs and integrating products or services into their lives. It aids by deeply exploring the user's world—clarifying not just their actions but also motivations, emotions, and pain points. This aligns product development closely with user expectations, ensuring not just usability but also delight, fostering higher satisfaction and loyalty. Essentially, user journey mapping elevates the design process by prioritizing user needs over business, external validation over internal assumptions, and experiences over mere features.

Understanding Design Thinking and its Principles

Design thinking as such is a methodical approach to problem-solving that prioritizes the user experience. It's characterized by its human-centric ethos, which zooms onto understanding users' needs, behaviors, and pain points. The goal of design thinking is to develop creative, practical solutions that enhance user satisfaction and address real-world problems.

Read our recent guide on how to create a User Journey diagram for a food ordering app .

The principles of design thinking are empathy, ideation, and experimentation. Empathy involves gaining a deep understanding of the user's problems and needs. Ideation is the process of generating a broad range of creative solutions. Experimentation involves prototyping and testing solutions to refine ideas based on user feedback and real-world application.

Phases of Design Thinking

Design thinking unfolds in five interconnected stages:

Empathize: This initial phase involves gaining a profound understanding of the users, their context, and their needs. It's about stepping into the user's shoes to understand their experiences, motivations, and feelings. Techniques such as interviews, observation, and user journey mapping are used to gather insights.

Define: Here, the problem is clearly articulated based on the insights gathered during the empathize stage. It involves defining the user's needs and the challenges they face. The goal is to formulate a user-centered problem statement that will guide the ideation process.

Ideate: In this creative phase, a wide range of potential solutions are brainstormed. The aim is to generate as many ideas as possible, deferring judgment. These ideas are then evaluated and refined. Gleek's diagramming capabilities can help visualize these ideas, making the ideation process more efficient and effective.

Prototype: A tangible representation of one or more solutions is created for further exploration and user testing. This prototype could be a physical model, a storyboard, or a digital interface. It serves as a tool for investigating the viability of ideas and their implementation in the real world.

Test: The effectiveness of the solution is evaluated in this final stage. The prototypes are tested with users, and their feedback is collected. The insights gained are used to refine the solution, and the cycle may begin anew with a deeper understanding of the user and the problem.

By following these stages, design thinking enables the creation of solutions that are not only technically viable but also desirable from a user perspective and feasible from a business standpoint.

User-Centricity and The Concept of User-Centric Design in Product Development

In product development, user-centricity is not just a buzzword. It's a philosophy that guides every decision and action. User-centric design puts the needs, experiences, and contexts of users at the core of the development process.

This user-centric approach ensures that the final product delivers value to the user, fits into their workflow seamlessly, and ultimately, enhances their experience. It's about making products that are not just usable, but also enjoyable and effective.

Significance of Understanding User Needs

Understanding user needs is paramount in crafting a product that truly resonates with the users. It's about uncovering what users want, what they value, and what problems they face. This deep understanding then informs the design decisions, ensuring that the product addresses the users' needs effectively. It helps identify opportunities for innovation, guide product development, and ensure that the product hits the mark with users.

How User Journey Mapping Aligns with User-Centric Design

User journey mapping is a tool that perfectly aligns with the principles of user-centric design. It provides a visual narrative of the user's experience, capturing their interactions, emotions, and touchpoints with your product or service.

By using Gleek to create user journey diagrams, you can visualize the path that users take, identify their needs at each stage, and uncover any pain points or moments of delight. This process allows you to empathize with your users, understand their perspective, and design solutions tailored to their specific needs.

In essence, user journey mapping with Gleek helps make the design process more user-centric by shifting the focus from internal assumptions to user insights, from features to experiences, and from business goals to user satisfaction.

Components and Process of User Journey Mapping

Defining personas and identifying touchpoints.

In user journey mapping, defining personas and identifying touchpoints are key initial steps. Personas are fictional representations of your primary users, based on user research. They provide a clear understanding of who the users are, what they need, and how they interact with your product or service.

Touchpoints, on the other hand, are the points of interaction between the user and your product or service. They can be anything from viewing a webpage, clicking a button, to receiving an email notification. Identifying these touchpoints provides an overview of the user's experience and helps uncover areas of friction or delight.

With Gleek, you can create a group of stages for each persona using "/g Stages group name." Then, for each stage, you can link relevant touchpoints by pressing TAB and inputting their names. This way, Gleek allows you to visualize the personas and their interactions with your product or service effectively.

Mapping User Emotions, Interactions, Pain Points, and Opportunities

Another critical aspect of user journey mapping is capturing the user's emotions, interactions, pain points, and opportunities. Understanding how users feel at each touchpoint, what actions they take, what difficulties they face, and where there's potential for improvement can provide invaluable insights into the user experience.

Gleek allows you to incorporate an emotional aspect into tasks by typing ":" followed by a number from 1 to 6. Ratings 0 to 2 signify negativity, 3 is neutral, and 4 to 6 indicate positivity. This feature enables you to map the user's emotions effectively across their journey.

By visualizing these aspects, you can gain a deeper understanding of your users and design solutions that address their needs and enhance their experience.

Process of Creating a User Journey Map

Creating a user journey map involves several steps:

Research: This involves gathering information about your users and their interactions with your product or service. It can be done through interviews, surveys, analytics, and other methods.

Persona Construction: Based on the research, create personas that represent your primary user groups. These personas should capture the users' demographics, behaviors, needs, and motivations.

Mapping: Start by defining the stages of the user journey, from the initial contact to the end goal. For each stage, identify the touchpoints, the user's actions, emotions, pain points, and opportunities. Use Gleek's keyboard-only diagramming to visualize this journey effectively.

Validation: Once the map is created, it should be validated with real users. Their feedback can help refine the map and ensure that it accurately represents their experiences.

Tools and Techniques for User Journey Mapping

Digital Tools and Software

Gleek: An online AI-powered diagramming tool designed for generating user journey diagrams using only the keyboard. Gleek's intuitive syntax allows easy creation of stages, tasks, touchpoints, and emotional aspects within tasks.

UXPin : A collaborative design platform allowing teams to create interactive user journey maps.

Miro : Online whiteboarding tools enabling teams to collaborate in real-time on creating visual journey maps.

2. Manual Techniques and Templates:

Sticky Notes and Whiteboards: Perfect for collaborative workshops, allowing teams to physically map out user journeys in real-time.

Journey Map Templates: Pre-designed templates available online or within design software, providing a structured starting point for mapping.

3. Customer Research and Data Collection Techniques:

Interviews and Surveys: Directly engaging with users to gather insights, pain points, and emotions at different touchpoints in their journey.

Analytics Tools: Utilizing web analytics or user tracking tools to gather quantitative data on user behavior and interactions.

4. Visualization Techniques:

Flowcharts and Diagrams: Representing the user journey in a structured flow, showcasing touchpoints, emotions, and pain points.

Storyboards: Visual storytelling technique to illustrate a user's journey step-by-step, ideal for presenting a narrative.

5. Integration with Design Thinking Methods:

Empathy Mapping: Understanding user needs and emotions deeply to enhance the accuracy of the journey map.

Persona Creation: Developing detailed personas to better align the user journey with specific user segments.

6. Prototyping and Testing Tools:

Prototyping Software: Integrating the journey map with prototyping tools like Adobe XD, Figma, or Sketch to create interactive prototypes based on the mapped journey.

Usability Testing Platforms: Conducting usability tests to validate the mapped journey through platforms like UserTesting or Lookback.

Conclusion: Recap and Future Trends

The process of user journey mapping is an essential component of user experience design. It allows us to understand users' needs, motivations, and pain points, helping us create more effective and user-friendly products or services. With tools like Gleek, this process becomes even more streamlined and efficient, allowing for quick generation of diagrams using keyboard shortcuts alone.

However, as we move forward, it's necessary to stay abreast of evolving trends. AI-powered tools are increasingly becoming more sophisticated, offering more features and capabilities for user journey mapping. Embracing these advancements will allow us to create more detailed, dynamic, and accurate user journey maps.

Additionally, as user behaviors and expectations continue to evolve, we must ensure our user journey maps remain up-to-date and reflective of these changes. This will involve regular reviews and updates of our maps, as well as ongoing user research.

In conclusion, while there are challenges and limitations in user journey mapping, by leveraging the right tools, techniques, and best practices, we can effectively navigate these obstacles and continue to improve our understanding of the user experience. Create a user journey map with Gleek to see how it works.

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Understanding various user paths: Examples of User journey maps

How to create a User Journey diagram for a food ordering app

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A Beginner’s Guide To User Journey Mapping

To design a great product, you need to understand what the user does with it. A user journey map will help you to answer that question for the product’s entire lifecycle.

“How do people actually use this product?” is a fundamental question that every product creator must answer. In order to do so, product designers need to understand the essence of the whole product experience from the user’s perspective. Fortunately, user journey mapping is an excellent exercise that can shed light on the ways in which the users interact with the product.

What Is a User Journey Map?

More From Nick Babich What Is Microcopy?

What Design Problems Does a User Journey Map Solve?

A user journey map is an excellent tool for UX designers because i t visualizes how a user interacts with a product and allows designers to see a product from a user’s point of view. This fosters a more user-centric approach to product design, which ultimately leads to a better user experience.

User journey maps help a product team to find the answer to the “What if?” questions. Also, a user journey map can be helpful when a company tracks quantitative key performance indicators . In this case, a user journey map can become a cornerstone for strategic recommendations.

The 8-Step Process of User Journey Mapping

Before creating a user journey map, review the goals of your business or service. This knowledge will help you align the business and user goals.

• Choose a scope.
• Create a user persona.
• Define the scenario and user expectations.
• Create a list of touchpoints.
• Take user intention into account.
• Sketch the journey.
• Consider a user’s emotional state during each step of the interaction.
• Validate and refine the user journey.

1. Choose a Scope

The scope of the user journey map can vary from a high-level map that shows end-to-end experience (e.g., creating a smart home in your house) to a more detailed map that focuses on one particular interaction (for instance, adding a new device to your smart home ecosystem).

2. Create a User Persona

Who is your user?

A user journey map is always focused on the experience of one main actor — a user persona who experiences the journey.

A user persona should always be based on information that you have about your target audience. That’s why you should always start with user research . Having solid information about your users will prevent you from making false assumptions.

Gather and analyze all available information about your target audience:

• Interview your real or potential users.
• Conduct contextual inquiry. This is an  ethnographic field study that involves in-depth observation of people interacting with your product.
• Conduct and analyze the results of user surveys.

3. Define the Scenario and User Expectations

The scenario describes the situation that the journey map addresses. It can be real or anticipated. It’s also important to define what expectations a user persona has about the interaction. For example, a scenario could be ordering a taxi using a mobile app with the expectation of getting the car in five minutes or less.

4. Create a List of Touchpoints

Touchpoints are user actions and interactions with the product or business. You need to identify all the main touchpoints and all channels associated with each touchpoint. For example, for the touchpoint “Buy a gift,” the associated channels could be purchasing online or buying in the store.

5. Take User Intention Into Account

What motivates your user to interact with your product? Similarly, w hat problem are users looking to solve when they decide to use your product? Different user segments will have different reasons for adopting it.

Let’s take an e-commerce website. There is a big difference between a user who is just looking around and one who wants to accomplish a specific task like purchasing a particular product.

For each user journey, you need to understand:

• Motivation. Why are the users trying to do this action?
• Channels. Where the interaction takes place.
• Actions . The actual behaviors and steps the users take.
• Pain points . What are the challenges users are facing?

Also, ensure that the user is getting a consistent experience across all channels.

6. Sketch the Journey

Put together all the information you have and sketch a journey in the format of a step-by-step interaction. Each step demonstrates an experience that the persona has with a service/product or another person.

You can use  a tool called a storyboard,  which is a graphic representation of how a user does something, step by step. It  can help you show how users can interact with a product. Using storyboards, you can visually depict what happens during each step.

7. Consider a User’s Emotional State During Each Step of the Interaction

What does a user feel when interacting with your product?

The products we design need to mirror the states of mind of our users. When we consider a user’s emotional state, this knowledge will help us to connect with them on a human level. That’s why it’s important to add an emotional lane to the user journey map. By visualizing the emotional ups and downs of the experience, you’ll find the areas that require refinement.

You can create an empathy map to better understand how the user feels. Try to mitigate the emotional downs and reinforce emotional ups with good design. 

8. Validate and Refine the User Journey

Journey maps should result in truthful narratives, not fairy tales. Even when a user journey is based on research, you must validate it. Use the information from usability testing sessions and app analytics to be sure that your journey resembles a real use case.

Gather and analyze information about your users on a regular basis. For example, user feedback can be used to improve your understanding of the user journey.

More in Design + UX Hey Designers, Stop Using Users

Map the User Journey

Remember that the goal of making a user journey map is to create a shared vision within your product team and stakeholders. That’s why, once you create a user journey map, you should share it with your peers. Make it possible for everyone in your team to look at the entire experience from the user’s standpoint and draw on this information while crafting a product.

Recent Expert Contributors Articles

Why All UX Designers Should Be Creating User Journeys, And Here’s How to Make One

Good design is all about the user. If designers truly want to create the best products, it’s important for them to see the product from the user’s perspective. That’s where a tool called a user journey comes in. It’s a powerful combination of storytelling and visualization that helps designers identify opportunities to create new and improved experiences for their users. In this article, I’ll introduce a concept of user journey along with some tips and specific examples.

What Is A User Journey?

A user journey is a visualization of the process that a person goes through in order to accomplish a goal. Typically, it’s presented as a series of steps in which a person interacts with a product. As opposed to the customer journey , which analyzes the steps before and after using the product , user journey only examines what happens inside the app/website. In context of e-commerce website, for example. user journey can consist of a number of pages and decision points that carry the user from one step to another in attempt to purchase a product.

What’s Required to Create A User Journey?

The following elements are required to create a user journey:

• Persona: User journeys are tied back to personas. To create a realistic user journey, it is important to first identify the users and create personas for them. When creating a user journey, it’s recommended to use one persona per journey in order to provide a strong, clear narrative.
• Goal and Scenario: The exact goal to which the given journey belongs. The scenario presents a situation in which the persona tries to accomplish something. User journey is best for scenarios that describe a sequence of events, like purchasing something.
• Context: A context is defined by a set of facts that surround a scenario, like the physical environment in which the experience is taking place. Where is the user? What is around them? Are there any other factors which may distract them?

What Does A User Journey Look Like?

A user journey can take a wide variety of forms depending on the context and your business goals. In its most basic form, a user journey is presented as a series of user steps and actions following a timeline skeleton. This kind of layout makes it easier for all team members to understand and follow the narrative. A simple user journey only reflects one possible path during one scenario. A complex user journey can encompass experiences occurring during different times and scenarios.

While user journey maps can (and should) take a wide variety of forms, certain elements are generally included:

• A title summarizing the journey (e.g. ‘Purchasing an electronic device in the e-commerce store’)
• A picture of the persona the journey relates to.
• A series of steps. Everything real-world users would do as a separate activity counts as a step. Steps should provide a sense of progression (each step should enable the persona to get to the next one).
• An illustration of what’s happening in the step. This illustration includes touchpoints (times when a persona in the journey actually interacts with a product) and channels (methods of communication, such as the website or mobile app). For example, for the touchpoint ‘pay for product,’ the channels associated with this touchpoint could be ‘pay online’ or ‘pay in person.’
• The persona’s emotional state at each step. A user journey is the most important tool for designing emotions; at the heart of a user journey is what the user is doing, thinking, and feeling during each step. Are users engaged, frustrated, or confused? Emotional experiences can be supplemented with quotes from your research.

How Does A User Journey Fit Into The UX Design Process?

User journeys are typically created at the beginning of a project — during the product analysis phase , after personas are defined. Along with personas they can be one of the key design deliverables from this phase.

A user journey can be used to demonstrate either current or future user behavior:

• When a user journey is used to show the current user behavior (the way users currently interact with the product) it should provide a clear view of how easy or difficult it is for a typical user to reach their goal.
• When a user journey demonstrates the future state of the product (a ‘to-be’ experience), it should highlight any changes to pain points that a future solution will solve.

Why Should Designers Use a User Journey?

A user journey is used for understanding and addressing user needs and pain points. The entire point of the user journey is to understand user behavior, uncover gaps in the user experience, and then take action to optimize the experience.

There are many other benefits for designers when they invest time in user journeys. Properly-created user journeys can help designers better:

• Communicate design decisions to stakeholders: As a document, a user journey can be used to clearly explain the strengths and weaknesses of the product in terms of UX.
• Prioritize features: User journeys helps identify possible functionality at a high level. By understanding the key user’s tasks, it’s possible to define functional requirements that will help enable those tasks. This helps product teams scope out pieces of functionality in more detail and speed up the planning of a new version of the product.

On a company level, user journeys can:

• Shift a company’s view: Since user journeys are shorthand for the overall user experience, it’s possible to leverage them as a supporting component of an experience strategy. Creating a user journey could be the first step in building a solid plan of action to invest in UX and create one shared organization-wide vision.
• Promote collaboration between different departments: Because a user journey creates a vision of the entire user journey, it becomes a tool for creating cross-departmental conversation and collaboration. User journeys can engage stakeholders from across departments and spur collaborative conversation.

8 Tips for Creating and Using A User Journey

Before Creating A User Journey

1. A User Journey Should Have A Business Goal behind It

Each user journey should always be created to support a known business goal. A user journey that doesn’t align with a business goal won’t result in applicable insight. That’s why identification of the business goal that the user journey will support should be the first step in the process.

2. A User Journey Should Be Based on User Research

The effectiveness and importance of a user journey depends heavily on the quality of insights it provides. User journeys should be built from both qualitative and quantitative findings. The process of creating a user journey has to begin with getting to know users. If designers don’t have enough information to create a good user journey, they should conduct additional journey-based research (such as ethnographic research) to gain insights into the user experience.

When Creating A User Journey

3. Don’t Jump Straight to Visualization

The temptation to create an aesthetic graphic can lead to beautiful yet flawed user journeys. It’s recommended to start with sticky notes on a wall or visualize the path with a simple spreadsheet. It’s important to experiment and not accept the first idea as the best.

4. Don’t Make It Too Complex

While designing user journey it’s easy to get caught up in the multiple routes a user might take. Unfortunately, this often leads to a busy user journey. It’s recommended to start with a simple, linear journey (an ideal way to get the users to the given goal). Also, it’s better to avoid focusing too hard on a series of pages users go through. Instead, review what the users usually do and in what order.

5. More Ideas Lead to Better Design

It’s essential to involve all team members in the process of creating a user journey. The activity of creating a user journey (not the output itself) is the most valuable part of the process, and it’s helpful to have stakeholder participants from many areas of the organization involved in this activity. Mixing people who otherwise never communicate with each other can be extremely valuable, especially in large organizations.

Use Your User Journey

6. Assign Ownership

All too often, areas of negative friction in user journeys exist simply because no internal team or person is responsible for this area. Without ownership, no one has the responsibility or empowerment to change anything. That’s why it’s important to assign ownership for different parts of the journey map (e.g. key touchpoints) to internal departments or directly to responsible individuals.

7. Socialize Stakeholders

Getting stakeholders comfortable with user journeys is critical in moving your organization toward action. Reference your user journey during meetings and conversations to promote a narrative that others believe in and begin to use on a regular basis.

8. Maintain Journeys Over Time

Set a time each quarter or year to evaluate how your current user experience matches your documented user journeys. Consider when you may need to update the journey (such as after a major product release when the behavior of a user may change).

User journeys create a holistic view of user experience and this makes them an essential component in the process of designing a new product or improving the design of an existing one. By leveraging user journeys as a supporting component of an experience strategy it’s possible to keep users at the heart of all design decisions.

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User Journey Map Guide with Examples & FREE Templates

18 April, 2024

Senior UX Researcher

Customer journey mapping is also a popular workshop task to align user understanding within teams. If backed up by user data and research, they can be a high-level inventory that helps discover strategic oversights, knowledge gaps, and future opportunities.

Yet, if you ask two different people, you will likely get at least three different opinions as to what a user journey looks like and whether it is worth the hassle. Read on if you want to understand whether a UX journey map is what you currently need and how to create one.

You can get the templates here:

Click here to download a high-resolution PDF of this template.

What is user journey mapping?

Imagine your product is a supermarket and your user is the person wanting to refill their fridge. They need to: 

Decide what to buy, and in what supermarket will they be able to find and afford it

Remember to bring their coupons

Park there 

Find everything

Save the new coupons for the next shopping trip

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3 ways to understand customer journey maps

Now, there are at least three ways to look at the customer journey.

1. Workflow maps for usability optimization 

Some imagine a user journey map as a wireframe or detailed analysis of  specific flows in their app . This could be, for example, a sign-up flow or the flow for inviting others to a document. In our supermarket example, it’s a closer look at what they do inside your supermarket, maybe even only in the frozen section. Or you could define what you want them to do in the frozen aisle.

.css-61w915{margin-right:8px;margin-top:8px;max-height:30px;}@media screen and (min-width: 768px){.css-61w915{margin-right:38px;max-height:unset;}} The focus here is on getting the details of the execution right, not how it fits into the bigger picture of what the user needs.

It is more or less a wireframe from a user perspective. Such a product-focused understanding is not what we want to discuss in this article, though many examples for the best user journey maps you might come across are exactly this. There are good reasons to do such an analysis as well, since it helps you smooth out usability for the people who have already found their way into your supermarket because of your excellent ice cream selection. Workflow maps won’t help you notice that your lack of parking spots is one of the reasons why you are missing out on potential customers in the first place. By only looking at what they do inside the supermarket, you might also miss out on an opportunity for user retention: You could help them get their ice cream home before it melts.

2. Holistic user journey maps for strategic insights

With a more holistic view of what people experience when trying to achieve a goal, product makers gain strategic insights on how their product fits into the big picture and what could be in the future. Because this journey document covers so much ground, it is usually a linear simplification of what all the steps would look like if they were completed. Going back to our supermarket example, it would start from the moment the person starts planning to fill the fridge and ends when the fridge is full again — even if the supermarket building is only relevant in a few phases of this journey. Creating this version of a user journey map requires quite some time and research effort. But it can be an invaluable tool for product and business strategy. It is an inventory of user needs that can help you discover knowledge gaps and future opportunities.  Service blueprints   are the most comprehensive version of a user journey map  since they also lay out the behind-the-scenes of a service, usually called backstage. In our supermarket example, that could be:

the advertising efforts

logistics required to keep all shelves stocked

protocols the staffers follow when communicating with customers

3. Journey mapping workshops as an alignment method

In a user journey mapping workshop, stakeholders and team members share their knowledge and assumptions about the users. Some of these assumptions might need to be challenged — which is part of the process. The goal is not the perfect output, but rather to get everyone into one room and work out a common understanding of the users they are building products for. It forces everyone to organize their thoughts, spell out what they know and assumed was common knowledge — and ideally meet real users as part of the workshop. If done right, this establishes a more comprehensive understanding of what users go through and helps overcome the very superficial ideas one might have about the lives and needs of people outside their own social bubble.

Hence, such a workshop helps create aha moments and gives the consequences of great and poor product decisions a face. So at the end of the day, it is one of many methods to evangelize user-centricity in an organization.

What are the benefits of user experience (UX) mapping?

We already discussed the benefits and shortcomings of workflow maps, but what are the reasons you should consider a UX journey map and/or a journey mapping workshop ?

1. Switching perspectives

Empathy:  Like any other UX method and user research output, user journey maps are supposed to foster empathy and help product makers put themselves into the shoes of a user. Awareness:  It creates awareness of why users do all the things they do. And it challenges product makers to resist the temptation of building something because it’s feasible, not because it’s needed that way.

2. Aligned understanding

Given the team is involved in creating the user experience map (either as a workshop, in expert interviews, observing the user research, or at least as a results presentation), it forces a conversation and offers a shared mental model and terminology — the foundation for a shared vision. 

3. Seeing the big picture

Imagine the vastly different perceptions Sales reps, Customer Support teams, C-level, and backend engineers might have since they all meet very different segments at very different stages of their journey. Day-to-day, it makes sense to be an expert in the stages of a user journey you are responsible for. A journey map helps to step back from this and see the bigger picture, where your work fits in, and where assumptions about the majority of users were wrong. It might even help define KPIs across teams that don’t cancel each other out.

4. Uncovering blind spots and opportunities

A user journey map gives you a structured and comprehensive overview of which user needs are already tackled by your product and which ones are either underserved or solved with other tools and touchpoints. Which moments of truth do not get enough attention yet? These are the opportunities and blind spots you can work on in the future.

When is customer journey mapping just a waste of time?

In all honesty, there are also moments when creating a user journey map or running a journey mapping workshop is destined to fail and should better be put on hold. It’s a lot of work, so don’t let this energy go to waste.  User journey maps only make sense when there is an intention to collaboratively work on and with them.  Here are some of the scenarios and indicators that it’s the wrong moment for a journey map:

No buy-in for the workshop: The requirements of a successful journey workshop are not met, e.g., there is not enough time (60 minutes over lunch won’t do the trick), only a few team members are willing to attend, and/or key stakeholders refuse to have their assumptions challenged.

Isolated creation: The whole creation process of the user journey map happens isolated from the team, e.g., it is outsourced to an agency or an intern. Nobody from the team observes or runs the user research, or is consulted for input or feedback on the first drafts. There is no event or presentation planned that walks the team through the output. Finally, a very detailed, 10-foot-long poster appears in a hallway, and none of the team members ever find time to read, process, or discuss it with each other.

UX theater: For one reason or another, there is no time/resources allocated to user research or reviewing existing insights whilst creating the map (usability tests with non-users do not count in this case, though). Such an approach, also known as, can do more harm than good since the resulting user journey may only reinforce wrong assumptions and wishful thinking about your users.

Unclear objectives: The user journey map is only created because it is on your UX design checklist, but the purpose is unclear. If you are unsure what you or your stakeholders want to achieve with this journey map, clarify expectations and desired output before investing more energy into this. E.g., there is a chance you were only meant to do a usability review of a bumpy app workflow.

Lack of follow-through: Creating a user journey map is just the start. Without a plan to implement changes based on insights gathered, the map is merely a paper exercise. This lack of action can result from limited resources, lack of authority, or inertia. It's vital to establish a process for turning insights from the map into design improvements or strategy adjustments. This includes assigning tasks, setting deadlines, and defining success metrics to ensure the map drives real change and doesn't end up forgotten.

Overcomplication: Sometimes, to capture every nuance and detail of the user experience, teams can create an overly complex user journey map. This can make the map difficult to understand and use, particularly for team members who weren't involved in its creation. A good user journey map should balance detail and clarity, providing insightful and actionable information without overwhelming its users.

Failure to update: User expectations, behaviors, and the digital landscape constantly evolve. A user journey map that remains static will quickly become outdated. Regular reviews and updates are necessary to ensure that the map reflects the current state of user experiences. This requires a commitment to ongoing user research and a willingness to adjust your understanding of the user's path as new information becomes available.

The good news is: UX maturity in an organization can change rapidly, so even if you run into one of the obstacles above, it is worth revisiting the idea in the future. Once you’re good to go, you can get started with the user journey map examples and templates below.

User journey mapping: examples, templates & tools

There is more than one way to do it right and design a great user journey map. Every organization and industry has its own templates, tools and approaches to what elements are most important to them. The following examples and template will give you an idea of what a user journey map can look like if you decide to create one yourself. Make it your own, and change up the sections and design so they make sense for your product and use cases.

User journey map template and checklist

To give you a first orientation, you can use this user journey template and check the two fictional examples below to see how you could adapt it for two very different industries: instant meal delivery and healthcare.

Click here to download a high-resolution PDF of the user journey map template. 

While there is no official standard, most other user journey maps contain the following elements or variations of them:

Key phases (or ‘stages’) start when users become aware of a problem they need to solve or a goal they want to achieve and may end when they evaluate whether they achieved their goal or enter a maintenance phase. E.g., user journeys for e-commerce could be structured along the classic funnel of:

Consideration

Delivery & use

Loyalty & advocacy

2. Jobs to be done

Whilst some other user journey templates might call this section ‘steps’ or ‘tasks’, it can be very beneficial to structure the stages into ‘jobs to be done’ (JTBD) instead. This framework helps you distinguish better between the actual goal of a user vs. the tasks required to get there . For example, safe online payments are never a goal of a user, this is just one of many jobs on the long way to get new sneakers on their feet. Ideally, users ‘hire’ your product/service to assist them with some of the JTBD on their journey. Phrase your JTBD as verb + object + context . Examples:

Install app on phone

Tip delivery driver

Buy new shoes

Naturally, the stages closest to your current (and future) solution require a more detailed understanding, so you might want to investigate and document deeper what JTBDs happen there.

3. Needs and pains

Users have needs and pains every step along the journey. Use this section to collect the most important needs and potential pains, even if not all apply in all cases. Ask:

What are the repeating themes, even the ones you are (currently) not able to solve with your product?

Phrase pains and needs as I- or me-statements from the user perspective, e.g., ‘I forgot my login details, ‘I am afraid to embarrass myself’ or ‘My day is too busy to wait for a delivery.’ 

Which are the pains and needs that are so severe that, if not solved, they can become real deal-breakers for your product or service?

On the last point, such deal-breaker and dealmaker situations, or ‘ moments of truth ’, require particular attention in your product decisions and could be visually highlighted in your journey. In a meal delivery, the taste and temperature of the food are such a moment of truth that can spoil the whole experience with your otherwise fantastic service.

4. Emotional curve

An emotional curve visualizes how happy or frustrated users are at certain stages of their journey. Emojis are commonly used to make it easy to understand and empathize with the emotional state of the user across the whole journey. It can be a surprising realization that users are not delighted with your witty microcopy, but you already did a great job by not annoying them. It is also a good reminder that what might personally excite you is perceived as stressful or overwhelming by most other users. Strong user quotes can be used for illustration.

5. Brand and product touchpoints

Here, you can list current and planned touchpoints with your brand and product, as well as. Whilst the touchpoints when using your product might be obvious, others early and late in the journey are probably less obvious to you but critical for the user experience and decision to use or return to your product. This is why it is worthwhile to include them in your map. Make sure your journey does not get outdated too soon, and don’t list one-off marketing campaigns or very detailed aspects of current workflows — just what you got in general so there is no major revision needed for a couple of years.

6. Opportunities for improvement

As you map out your user journey, it is important to not only identify the current touchpoints and experiences but also opportunities for improvement. This could include potential areas where users may become frustrated or confused, as well as areas where they may be delighted or pleasantly surprised.

By identifying these opportunities, you can prioritize making meaningful improvements to the user experience and ultimately creating a more positive, long-lasting relationship with your users.

7. Other tools and touchpoints

This may seem the least interesting aspect of your journey or a user interview, but it can tell you a lot about blind spots in your service or potential partnerships or APIs to extend your service. E.g., Google Maps or WhatsApp are common workaround tools for missing or poor in-app solutions.

User journey map example 1: health industry

The following example is for a fictional platform listing therapists for people in need of mental health support, helping them find, contact, schedule, and pay for therapy sessions. As you can see, the very long journey with recurring steps (repeated therapy sessions) is cut short to avoid repetition. 

At the same time, it generalizes very individual mental health experiences into a tangible summary. While it is fair to assume that the key phases happen in this chronological order, JTBD, timing, and the number of sessions are kept open so that it works for different types of patients.

You can also see how the journey covers several phases when the platform is not in active use. Yet, these phases are milestones in the patient’s road to recovery. Looking at a journey like this, you could, for example, realize that a ‘graduation’ feature could be beneficial for your users, even if it means they will stop using your platform because they are feeling better.

This user journey map is fictional but oriented on Johanne Miller’s UX case study  Designing a mental healthcare platform . 

User journey map example 2: delivery services

What the example above does not cover is the role of the therapist on the platform — most likely they are a second user type that has very different needs for the way they use the platform. This is why the second example shows the two parallel journeys of two different user roles and how they interact with each other. 

Nowadays, internal staff such as delivery drivers have dedicated apps and ideally have a designated UX team looking out for their needs, too. Creating a frictionless and respectful user experience for ‘internal users’ is just as critical for the success of a business as it is to please customers.

User journey map example: meal delivery. Please note that this fictional journey map is just an example for illustrative purposes and has not been backed up with user research.

For more inspiration, you can find collections with more real-life user journey examples and customer journey maps on  UXeria ,  eleken.co  &  userinterviews.com , or check out free templates provided by the design tools listed below.

Free UX journey mapping tools with templates

No matter whether you’re a design buff or feel more comfortable in spreadsheets, there are many templates available for free(mium) tools you might be already using. 

For example, there are good templates and tutorials available for  Canva ,  Miro  and even  Google Sheets . If you are more comfortable with regular design software, you can use the templates available for  Sketch  or one of these two from the  Figma (template 1 ,  template 2 ) community. There are also several dedicated journey map tools with free licenses or free trials, e.g.,  FlowMapp ,  Lucidchart  and  UXPressia , just to name a few.

Be aware that the first draft will require a lot of rearrangement and fiddling until you get to the final version. So it might help to pick where this feels easy for you. 

How do I collect data for my app user journey?

User journey maps need to be rooted in reality and based on what users really need and do (not what we wish they did) to add value to the product and business strategy. Hence, user insights are an inevitable step in the creation process.

However, it’s a huge pile of information that needs to be puzzled together and usually, one source of information is not enough to cover the whole experience — every research method has its own blind spots. But if you combine at least two or three of the approaches below, you can create a solid app user journey .

1. In-house expertise

The people working for and with your users are an incredible source of knowledge to start and finalize the journey. Whilst there might be a few overly optimistic or biased assumptions you need to set straight with your additional research, a user journey mapping workshop and/or  expert interviews  involving colleagues from very different (user-facing) teams such as:

customer service

business intelligence

customer insights

will help you collect a lot of insights and feedback. You can use these methods to build a preliminary skeleton for your journey but also to finalize the journey with their input and feedback.

2. Desk research

Next to this, it is fair to assume there is already a ton of preexisting documented knowledge about the users simply floating around in your company. Your  UX research repository  and even  industry reports  you can buy or find with a bit of googling will help. Go through them and pick the cherries that are relevant for your user journey. Almost anything can be interesting:

Old research reports and not-yet-analyzed context interviews from earlier user interviews

NPS scores & user satisfaction surveys

App store feedback

Customer support tickets

Product reviews written by journalists

Competitor user journeys in publicly available UX case studies

Ask your in-house experts if they know of additional resources you could check. And find out if there’s already a  long-forgotten old journey map  from a few years ago that you can use as a starting point (most organizations have those somewhere).

3. Qualitative user research

Qualitative research methods are your best shot to learn about all the things users experience, think, and desire before and after they touch your product.  In-depth interviews  and  focus groups  explore who they are and what drives them. You could show them a skeleton user journey for feedback or  co-creation . 

This could also be embedded into your user journey mapping workshop with the team. Alternatively, you can follow their actual journey in  diary studies ,  in-home visits  or  shadowing . However, in all these cases it is important that you talk to real users of your product or competitors to learn more about the real scenarios. This is why usability testing with non-users or fictional scenarios won’t help much for the user journey map.

4. Quantitative research

Once you know the rough cornerstones of your user journey map,  surveys  could be used to let users rate what needs and pains really matter to them. And what their mood is at certain phases of the journey. You can learn how they became aware of your product and ask them which of the motives you identified are common or exotic edge cases. Implementing micro-surveys such as  NPS surveys , CES , and  CSAT  embedded into your product experience can give additional insights.

5. Customer satisfaction (CSAT) survey

Customer satisfaction surveys (or CSATs for short) are important tools that measure your customers' satisfaction with your product or service. It is usually measured through surveys or feedback forms, asking customers to rate their experience on a scale from 1 to 5. This metric can give valuable insights into the overall satisfaction of your customers and can help identify areas of improvement for your product.

CSAT surveys can be conducted at different customer journey stages, such as after purchase or using a specific feature. This allows you to gather feedback on different aspects of your product and make necessary changes to improve overall satisfaction.

The benefit of CSAT lies in understanding how satisfied customers are with your product and why. By including open-ended questions in the surveys, you can gather qualitative insights into what aspects of your product work well and what needs improvement.

5. User analytics

User analytics is a beautiful source of information, even if it has its limits. Depending on what tools you are using (e.g., Google Analytics, Firebase, Hubspot, UXCam), you can follow the digital footprints of your users before and when they were using the product. This may include  acquisition channels  (input for brand touchpoints and early journey phases),  search terms  that brought them to your product (input for needs and pains), and how they navigate your product. 

Unlike a usability test, you can use  screen flows  and  heatmaps  to understand how your users behave naturally when they follow their own agenda at their own pace — and how often they are so frustrated that they just quit. Knowing this gives you pointers to negative user emotions at certain journey steps and even helps identify your product’s moments of truth. Whilst you cannot ask the users if your interpretations are correct, checking analytics already helps you prepare good questions and talking points for user interviews or surveys.

Curious to know how heatmaps will look in your app?  Try UXCam for free — with 100,000 monthly sessions and unlimited features.

How can I utilize UXCam to collect App User Journey data?

If you have UXCam set up in your mobile app, you can use it to support your user journey research. You can find many of the previously mentioned  user analytics  features ( screen flows  and  heatmaps , including  rage taps ) here as well. 

UXCam can also be an  invaluable asset for your qualitative research . Especially for niche products and B2B apps that normally have a lot of trouble  recruiting real users  via the usual user testing platforms. 

UXCam’s detailed segmentation options allow you to  identify exactly the users you want to interview  about their journey — and  reach out to them via either email or UXCam push notifications , which can include invitation links for your study, a survey or an additional screener.

Additionally, UXCam's session replay feature allows you to watch recordings of user sessions, providing valuable insights into how users interact with your app and where they may face challenges.

Where can I learn more?

Don’t feel ready to get started? Here are a few additional resources that can help you dive deeper into user journey mapping and create the version that is best for your project.

Creating user journey maps & service blueprints:

Mapping Experiences by Jim Kalbach

Journey Mapping 101

How to create customer journey maps

Customer Journey Stages for Product Managers

The Perfect Customer Journey Map

Planning and running user journey mapping workshops:

Journey mapping workshop

Jobs to be done:

The Theory of Jobs To Be Done

Moments of truth in customer journeys:

Journey mapping MoTs

What is a user journey map?

A user journey map is a visual representation of the process that a user goes through to accomplish a goal with your product, service, or app.

What is a user journey?

A user journey refers to the series of steps a user takes to accomplish a specific goal within a product, service, or website. It represents the user's experience from their point of view as they interact with the product or service, starting from the initial contact or discovery, moving through various touchpoints, and leading to a final outcome or goal.

How do I use a user journey map in UX?

User journey maps are an essential tool in the UX design process, used to understand and address the user's needs and pain points.

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User Journeys and UX: Mapping Your Way To Success

Mapping is an integral part of the UX design process. When it comes to designing user-focused digital products, maps serve crucial functions such as: 

• Giving the team a cohesive idea of what they’re working towards.
• Providing more profound insights into users’ thoughts, emotions, and pain points. 
• Serving as prototypes of products

In this post, we’ll be focusing on the User Journey Map (also known as a Customer Journey Map) and its role in UX design, as well as touching on other related UX mapping techniques.

This post will look at:

• User Journeys and UX

How To Make A User Journey Map

• User Experience Maps in UX Design
• User Flows in UX Design

What Is A User Journey Map?

A User Journey Map plots the interactions of a user with a product or service. These interactions are known as “touchpoints.” For each touchpoint, the map details what the user is thinking and feeling at that stage.

These maps can vary in scope. You might have a Journey Map for someone’s experience with your whole website, or focus on smaller interactions such as the checkout process on an e-commerce site.

User Journeys and UX Design

Creating User Journeys is crucial to UX Design. User Journeys give us insight into the emotional highs and lows of interacting with a product or service. You can think of it as a story where the protagonist (your user) goes through emotional beats:  anticipation, setbacks, conflict, and, finally, joyous resolution. UX Journey Maps outline these thoughts and feelings, allowing you to get a bird’s-eye view of a prototypical user’s experience. 

As you can imagine, this kind of perspective is invaluable to UX designers. What better way to build a user-centric product than to base it on a detailed outline of a user’s experience? Journey Maps can be used at any and all stages of the design process, and you’ll often have multiple maps covering different scenarios and personas. For a single website, you could have maps for a range of potential audiences as well as maps for different tasks within the site.

1. User Persona

The first step is defining a User Persona . This will be the protagonist of your journey. When creating a persona, you need to draw heavily from user research. Information from surveys, interviews, and user feedback will help you build a persona that accurately reflects your real audience.

2. Scenario and Expectations

Next, choose the scope of your map: the backdrop to your user’s journey. Will you be honing in on a small touchpoint or going broader? 

Then, think about your user persona’s expectations and motivations for this scenario.

What are they trying to achieve and why? What is motivating them, and what do they expect from the interaction?

3. Outline stages

Now that you’ve defined the user, you need to define their journey. Plot the phases they go through in your scenario. For example, stages for a sales funnel could be awareness, consideration, acquisition, service, and retention.

4. Actions/ Mindset/ Emotions

For each stage of their journey, you now add in what actions they take and what their thoughts and feelings are during each action. Using the persona you’ve created, put yourself in that person’s shoes with an empathetic mind to picture their experience of the touchpoints.

5. Opportunities

This is the exciting part for UX designers, where you get to use the data to start planning practical next steps. Reviewing the journey map, you can see the highs and lows of the experience. These observations and opportunities give you a solid groundwork from which to refine your UX. Pinpoint stages that were frustrating or even just not quite as exciting as they could be, and start brainstorming solutions.

6. Validate Your Findings

Journey Mapping aims to provide a deeper understanding of how people react to your product. Even if it’s based on user research, a Journey Map is still essentially a hypothesis. Using data from user testing and analytics, you can see how well your hypothesis holds up against reality. 

Experience Maps

What are experience maps.

Experience Maps (or User Experience Maps) are very similar to Journey Maps, as they follow the actions of a user persona and their thoughts and emotions throughout. However, rather than dealing specifically with your product or service, they relate to a person’s overall experience.

So, for example, instead of looking at how someone uses your website to buy headphones, you would look at what the entire experience of getting a new pair of headphones entails. Why were they dissatisfied with their old headphones? Are they overwhelmed when researching headphone features? Do they prefer to shop in stores or online? What would they consider reliable sources of advice for this purchase? 

Experience Maps And UX

Experience Maps are extremely useful in UX design as they can locate pain points you didn’t know were there. By looking from a more general perspective, you get a sense of where your product can fit in the larger scheme of things and what problems it will solve. 

UX Experience Maps: Summarised

• Shows a whole human experience
• Doesn’t involve a specific product 
• Highlights pain points to influence design
• Shows where your product/service can fit into an experience 
• Leads into a User Journey Map

User Flows & UX 

What is a user flow.

A User Flow plots the specific paths a user takes on a site to accomplish a task. They are essentially a more “zoomed in” user journey map.

A detailed user flow will show all the potential options a user could take. For example, during the checkout process, a user might change their mind about a particular product and go back to find an alternative. Or they could become deterred by the final price, shipping costs, or by filling out too many forms, and leave the site entirely.

User Flow looks at many of the same problems as User Journeys: what does the user want? What will encourage them down the sales funnel, and what will deter them? The main difference is that with User Flows, you look at the specific content and site elements that influence the user. 

User Flows And UX

In UX Design, User Flows and User Journeys work synergistically with each other. Using the opportunities you’ve found in your Journey Map, User Flows helps you plan practical ways to optimise your design. For instance, if you find that a lot of people are frustrated with the checkout process on your site, a user flow will identify the areas that can be tweaked to optimise the experience. 

UX User Flows: Summarised  

• Plots the interaction between a user and an app or website 
• Shows every potential step a  user can take 
• Helps with plotting on-site content and navigation 
• Useful for optimising user journeys 

Learn More About UX Mapping

The importance of User Journey Maps for UX design cannot be overstated. They are invaluable tools for understanding products from a user’s perspective and can offer crucial insights that lead to better, user-focused solutions. There is, of course, a lot more to say about UX mapping than we’ve covered in this post, but we hope that this has served as an exciting overview of UX maps. If you want to see more of what can be done with mapping, you can check out some of the projects we’ve worked on at Drewl. And if you fancy getting a few maps involved in your own project, feel free to get in touch!

Read some more...

Beginner's Guide to User Flows in UX Design

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Customer Journey Maps

What are customer journey maps.

Customer journey maps are visual representations of customer experiences with an organization. They provide a 360-degree view of how customers engage with a brand over time and across all channels. Product teams use these maps to uncover customer needs and their routes to reach a product or service. Using this information, you can identify pain points and opportunities to enhance customer experience and boost customer retention.

“ Data often fails to communicate the frustrations and experiences of customers. A story can do that, and one of the best storytelling tools in business is the customer journey map.” — Paul Boag, UX designer, service design consultant & digital transformation expert

In this video, Frank Spillers, CEO of Experience Dynamics, explains how you can include journey maps in your design process.

• Transcript loading…

Customer Journey Maps – Tell Customer Stories Over Time

Customer journey maps are research-based tools. They show common customer experiences over time To help brands learn more about their target audience. 

Maps are incredibly effective communication tools. See how maps simplify complex spaces and create shared understanding.

Unlike navigation maps, customer journey maps have an extra dimension—time. Design teams examine tasks and questions (e.g., what-ifs) regarding how a design meets or fails to meet customers’ needs over time when encountering a product or service. 

Customer journey maps should have comprehensive timelines that show the most essential sub-tasks and events. Over this timeline framework, you add insights into customers' thoughts and feelings when proceeding along the timeline. The map should include: 

A timescale - A defined journey period (e.g., one week). This timeframe should include the entire journey, from awareness to conversion to retention.

Scenarios - The context and sequence of events where a user/customer must achieve a goal. An example could be a user who wants to buy a ticket on the phone. Scenarios are events from the first actions (recognizing a problem) to the last activities (e.g., subscription renewal).

Channels – Where do they perform actions (e.g., Facebook)?

Touchpoints – How does the customer interact with the product or service? What actions do they perform?

Thoughts and feelings – The customer's thoughts and feelings at each touchpoint.

A customer journey map helps you understand how customer experience evolves over time. It allows you to identify possible problems and improve the design. This enables you to design products that are more likely to exceed customers’ expectations in the future state. 

How to Create a Customer Journey Map for Exceptional Experiences?

© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0

Define Your Map’s Business Goal

Before creating a customer journey map, you must ask yourself why you're making one in the first place. Clarify who will use it and what user experience it will address.

Conduct Research

Use customer research to determine customer experiences at all touchpoints. Get analytical/statistical data and anecdotal evidence. Leverage customer interviews, surveys, social media listening, and competitive intelligence.

Watch user researcher Ditte Hvas Mortensen talk about how user research fits your design process and when you should do different studies. 

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Review Touchpoints and Channels

List customer touchpoints (e.g., paying a bill) and channels (e.g., online). Look for more touchpoints or channels to include.

Make an Empathy Map

Pinpoint what the customer does, thinks, feels, says, hears, etc., in a given situation. Then, determine their needs and how they feel throughout the experience. Focus on barriers and sources of annoyance.

Sketch the Journey

Piece everything—touchpoints, timescale, empathy map output, new ideas, etc.). Show a customer’s course of motion through touchpoints and channels across the timescale, including their feelings at every touchpoint.

Iterate and Refine

Revise and transform your sketch into the best-looking version of the ideal customer journey.

Share with Stakeholders

Ensure all stakeholders understand your map and appreciate how its use will benefit customers and the organization.

Buyer Journey vs User Journey vs Customer Journey: What's the Difference?

You must know the differences between buyer, user, and customer journeys to optimize customer experiences. A customer journey map is often synonymous with a user flow diagram or buyer journey map. However, each journey gives unique insights and needs different plans.

Customer Journey

The customer journey, or lifecycle, outlines the stages a customer goes through with a business. This journey can vary across organizations but includes five key steps:

1. Awareness : This is the first stage of the customer journey, where the customers realize they have a problem. The customer becomes aware of your brand or product at this stage, usually due to marketing efforts.

2. Consideration : Once customers know about your product or service, they start their research and compare brands.

3. Purchase : This is the stage where the customer has chosen a solution and is ready to buy your product or service.

4. Retention : After the purchase, it's about retaining that customer and nurturing a relationship. This is where good customer service comes in.

5. Advocacy : Also called the loyalty stage, this is when the customer not only continues to buy your product but also recommends it to others.

The journey doesn't end when the customer buys and recommends your solution to others. Customer journey strategies are cyclical and repetitive. After the advocacy stage, ideally, you continue to attract and retain the customers, keeping them in the cycle. 

There is no standard format for a customer journey map. The key is to create one that works best for your team and product or service. Get started with customer journey mapping with our template:

This customer journey map template features three zones:

Top – persona and scenario. 

Middle – thoughts, actions, and feelings. 

Bottom – insights and progress barriers.

Buyer Journey

The buyer's journey involves the buyer's path towards purchasing. This includes some of the steps we saw in the customer journey but is specific to purchasing :

1. Awareness Stage : This is when a prospective buyer realizes they have a problem. However, they aren't yet fully aware of the solutions available to them.

2. Consideration Stage : After identifying their problem, the buyer researches and investigates different solutions with more intent. They compare different products, services, brands, or strategies here.

3. Decision Stage : The buyer then decides which solution will solve their problem at the right price. This is where the actual purchasing action takes place.  

4. Post-Purchase Evaluation : Although not always included, this stage is critical. It's where the buyer assesses their satisfaction with the purchase. It includes customer service interactions, quality assessment, and attitudinal loyalty to the brand.

All these stages can involve many touchpoints, including online research, social media interactions, and even direct, in-person interactions. Different buyers may move through these stages at different speeds and through various channels, depending on a wide range of factors.

User Journey

The user journey focuses on people's experience with digital platforms like websites or software. Key stages include:

1. Discovery : In this stage, users become aware of your product, site, or service, often due to marketing efforts, word-of-mouth, or organic search. It also includes their initial reactions or first impressions.

2. Research/Consideration : Here, users dig deeper, exploring features, comparing with alternatives, and evaluating if your offering suits their needs and preferences.

3. Interaction/Use : Users actively engage with your product or service. They first-hand experience your solution's functionality, usability, and usefulness to achieve their goal.

4. Problem-solving : If they encounter any issues, how they seek help and resolve their issues fall into this stage. It covers user support, troubleshooting, and other assistance.

5. Retention/Loyalty : This stage involves how users stay engaged over time. Do they continue using your product, reduce usage, or stop altogether? It includes their repeated interactions, purchases, and long-term engagement over time.

6. Advocacy/Referral : This is when users are so satisfied they begin to advocate for your product, leaving positive reviews and referring others to your service.

Download this user journey map template featuring an example of a user’s routine. 

Understanding these stages can help optimize the user experience, providing value at each stage and making the journey seamless and enjoyable. 

Always remember the journey is as important as the destination. Customer relationships start from the first website visit or interaction with marketing materials. These initial touchpoints can influence the ongoing relationship with your customers.

© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 3.0

Drawbacks of Customer Journey Maps

Customer journey mapping is valuable yet has limitations and potential drawbacks. Recognize these challenges and create more practical and realistic journey maps.

Over-simplification of Customer Experiences

Customer journey maps often risk simplifying complex customer experiences . They may depict varied and unpredictable customer behaviors as straightforward and linear. This simplification can lead to misunderstandings about your customers' needs and wants. As a result, you might overlook customers' diverse and unique paths. 

Always remember that real customer experiences are more complex than any map. When you recognize this, you steer clear of decisions based on simple models.

Resource Intensity

Creating detailed customer journey maps requires a lot of resources and time. You must gather extensive data and update the maps to keep them relevant. This process can strain small businesses or those with limited resources. 

You need to balance the need for comprehensive mapping with available resources. Efficient resource management and prioritization are crucial to maintaining effective journey maps.

Risk of Bias

Creating customer journey maps carries the inherent risk of biases . These biases can arise from various sources. They can impact the accuracy and effectiveness of the maps. 

Alan Dix, an expert in HCI, discusses bias in more detail in this video.  

Common biases in customer journey mapping include:

Assumption Bias: When teams make decisions based on preconceived notions rather than customer data.

Selection Bias: When the data doesn’t represent the entire customer base..

Confirmation Bias : When you focus on information that supports existing beliefs and preferences. Simultaneously, you tend to ignore or dismiss data that contradicts those beliefs.

Anchoring Bias : Relying on the first information encountered (anchor) when making decisions.

Overconfidence Bias : Placing too much trust in the accuracy of the journey map. You may overlook its potential flaws.

These biases may misguide the team, and design decisions based on these maps might not be effective.

To address these biases, review and update journey maps with real user research data. Engage with different customer segments and gather a wide range of feedback to help create a more accurate and representative map. This approach ensures the journey map aligns with actual customer experiences and behaviors.

Evolving Customer Behaviors

Customer behaviors and preferences change with time. A journey map relevant today can become outdated. You need to update and adapt your maps to reflect these changes. This requires you to perform market research and stay updated with trends and customer feedback. 

Getting fresh data ensures your journey map stays relevant and effective. You must adapt to evolving customer behaviors to maintain accurate and valuable customer journey maps.

Challenges in Capturing Emotions

Capturing emotions accurately in customer journey maps poses a significant challenge. Emotions influence customer decisions, yet you may find it difficult to quantify and represent them in maps. Most journey maps emphasize actions and touchpoints, often neglecting the emotional journey. 

You must integrate emotional insights into these maps to understand customer experiences. This integration enhances the effectiveness of customer engagement strategies. You can include user quotes, symbols such as emojis, or even graphs to capture the ups and downs of the users’ emotions..

Misalignment with Customer Needs

Misalignments in customer journey maps can manifest in various ways. It can impact the effectiveness of your strategies. Common misalignments include:

Putting business aims first, not what customers need.

Not seeing or serving the varied needs of different customer types.

Not using customer feedback in the journey map.

Thinking every customer follows a simple, straight path.

Engage with your customers to understand their needs and preferences if you want to address these misalignments. Incorporate their direct feedback into the journey map. This approach leads to more effective customer engagement and satisfaction.

Over-Reliance on the Map

Relying too much on customer journey maps can lead to problems. These maps should serve as tools rather than definitive guides. Viewing them as perfect can restrict your responsiveness to customer feedback and market changes. Treat journey maps as evolving documents that complement direct customer interactions and feedback. 

Make sure you get regular updates and maintain flexibility in your approach. Balance the insights from the map with ongoing customer engagement. This approach keeps your business agile and responsive to evolving customer needs.

Data Privacy Concerns

Collecting customer data for journey mapping poses significant privacy concerns. Thus, you need to create a balance. You must adhere to data protection laws and gather enough information for mapping. 

You need a careful strategy to ensure customer data security. Stay vigilant to adapt to evolving privacy regulations and customer expectations. This vigilance helps maintain trust and compliance.

Learn More about Customer Journey Maps

Take our Journey Mapping course to gain insights into the how and why of journey mapping. Learn practical methods to create experience maps , customer journey maps, and service blueprints for immediate application.

Explore this eBook to discover customer journey mapping .

Find some additional insights in the Customer Journey Maps article.

Questions related to Customer Journey Maps

Creating a customer journey map requires visually representing the customer's experience with your product or company. Harness the strength of visual reasoning to understand and present this journey succinctly. Instead of detailing a lengthy narrative, like a book, a well-crafted map allows stakeholders, whether designers or not, to grasp the journey quickly. It's a democratized tool that disseminates information, unifies teams, and aids decision-making by illuminating previously unnoticed or misunderstood aspects of the customer's journey.

The customer journey encompasses five distinct stages that guide a customer's interaction with a brand or product:

Awareness: The customer becomes aware of a need or problem.

Consideration: They research potential solutions or products.

Purchase: The customer decides on a solution and makes a purchase.

Retention: Post-purchase, the customer uses the product and forms an opinion.

Advocacy: Satisfied customers become brand advocates, sharing their positive experiences.

For a comprehensive understanding of these stages and how they intertwine with customer touchpoints, refer to Interaction-Design.org's in-depth article .

A perspective grid workshop is a activity that brings together stakeholders from various departments, such as product design, marketing, growth, and customer support, to align on a shared understanding of the customer's journey. These stakeholders contribute unique insights about customer needs and how they interact with a product or service. The workshop entails:

Creating a matrix to identify customers' jobs and requirements, not initially linked to specific features.

Identifying the gaps, barriers, pains, and risks associated with unmet needs, and constructing a narrative for the journey.

Highlighting the resulting value when these needs are met.

Discuss the implied technical and non-technical capabilities required to deliver this value.

Brainstorming possible solutions and eventually narrowing down to specific features.

The ultimate aim is to foster alignment within the organization and produce a user journey map based on shared knowledge. 

Learn more from this insightful video:

Customer journey mapping is vital as it harnesses our visual reasoning capabilities to articulate a customer's broad, intricate journey with a brand. Such a depiction would otherwise require extensive documentation, like a book. This tool offers a cost-effective method to convey information succinctly, ensuring understanding of whether one is a designer or lacks the time for extensive reading. It also helps the team to develop a shared vision and to encourage collaboration.  Businesses can better comprehend and address interaction points by using a journey map, facilitating informed decision-making and revealing insights that might otherwise remain obscured. Learn more about the power of visualizing the customer journey in this video.

Pain points in a customer journey map represent customers' challenges or frustrations while interacting with a product or service. They can arise from unmet needs, gaps in service, or barriers faced during the user experience. Identifying these pain points is crucial as they highlight areas for improvement, allowing businesses to enhance the customer experience and meet their needs more effectively. Pain points can relate to various aspects, including product usability, communication gaps, or post-purchase concerns. Explore the detailed article on customer journey maps at Interaction Design Foundation for a deeper understanding and real-world examples.

Customer journey mapping offers several key benefits:

It provides a holistic view of the customer experience, highlighting areas for improvement. This ensures that products or services meet users' needs effectively.

The process fosters team alignment, ensuring everyone understands and prioritizes the customer's perspective.

It helps identify pain points, revealing opportunities to enhance user satisfaction and loyalty.

This visualization allows businesses to make informed decisions, ensuring resources target the most impactful areas.

To delve deeper into the advantages and insights on journey mapping, refer to Interaction Design Foundation's article on key takeaways from the IXDF journey mapping course .

In design thinking, a customer journey map visually represents a user's interactions with a product or service over time. It provides a detailed look at a user's experience, from initial contact to long-term engagement. Focusing on the user's perspective highlights their needs, emotions, pain points, and moments of delight. This tool aids in understanding and empathizing with users, a core principle of design thinking. When used effectively, it bridges gaps between design thinking and marketing, ensuring user-centric solutions align with business goals. For a comprehensive understanding of how it fits within design thinking and its relation to marketing, refer to Interaction Design Foundation's article on resolving conflicts between design thinking and marketing .

A customer journey map and a user journey map are tools to understand the experience of users or customers with a product or service.

A customer journey map is a broader view of the entire customer experience across multiple touchpoints and stages. It considers physical and digital channels, multiple user personas, and emotional and qualitative aspects.

A user journey map is a detailed view of the steps to complete a specific task or goal within a product or service. It only considers digital channels, one user persona, and functional and quantitative aspects.

Both are useful to understand and improve the experience of the users or customers with a product or service. However, they have different scopes, perspectives, and purposes. A customer journey map provides a holistic view of the entire customer experience across multiple channels and stages. A user journey map provides a detailed view of the steps to complete a specific task or goal within a product or service.

While user journeys might emphasize specific tasks or pain points, customer journeys encapsulate the entire experience, from research and comparison to purchasing and retention. 

Customer journey maps and service blueprints are tools to understand and improve the experience of the users or customers with a product or service. A customer journey map shows the entire customer experience across multiple touchpoints and stages. It focuses on the front stage of the service, which is what the customers see and experience. It considers different user personas and emotional aspects.

A service blueprint shows how a service is delivered and operated by an organization. It focuses on the back stage of the service, which is what the customers do not see or experience. It considers one user persona and functional aspects. What are the steps that the customer takes to complete a specific task or goal within the service? What are the channels and devices that the customer interacts with at each step?

For an immersive dive into customer journey mapping, consider enrolling in the Interaction Design Foundation's specialized course . This course offers hands-on lessons, expert guidance, and actionable tools. Furthermore, to grasp the course's essence, the article “4 Takeaways from the IXDF Journey Mapping Course” sheds light on the core learnings, offering a snapshot of what to expect. These resources are tailored by industry leaders, ensuring you're equipped with the best knowledge to craft impactful customer journey maps.

Literature on Customer Journey Maps

Here’s the entire UX literature on Customer Journey Maps by the Interaction Design Foundation, collated in one place:

Learn more about Customer Journey Maps

Take a deep dive into Customer Journey Maps with our course Journey Mapping .

This course will show you how to use journey mapping to turn your own complex design challenges into simple, delightful user experiences . If you want to design a great shopping experience, an efficient signup flow or an app that brings users delight over time, journey mapping is a critical addition to your toolbox. 

We will begin with a short introduction to mapping — why it is so powerful, and why it is so useful in UX. Then we will get familiar with the three most common types of journey map — experience maps, customer journey maps and service blueprints — and how to recognize, read and use each one. Then you will learn how to collect and analyze data as a part of a journey mapping process. Next you will learn how to create each type of journey map , and in the final lesson you will learn how to run a journey mapping workshop that will help to turn your journey mapping insights into actual products and services. 

This course will provide you with practical methods that you can start using immediately in your own design projects, as well as downloadable templates that can give you a head start in your own journey mapping projects. 

The “Build Your Portfolio: Journey Mapping Project” includes three practical exercises where you can practice the methods you learn, solidify your knowledge and if you choose, create a journey mapping case study that you can add to your portfolio to demonstrate your journey mapping skills to future employers, freelance customers and your peers. 

Throughout the course you will learn from four industry experts. 

Indi Young will provide wisdom on how to gather the right data as part of your journey mapping process. She has written two books,  Practical Empathy  and  Mental Models . Currently she conducts live online advanced courses about the importance of pushing the boundaries of your perspective. She was a founder of Adaptive Path, the pioneering UX agency that was an early innovator in journey mapping. 

Kai Wang will walk us through his very practical process for creating a service blueprint, and share how he makes journey mapping a critical part of an organization’s success. Kai is a talented UX pro who has designed complex experiences for companies such as CarMax and CapitalOne. 

Matt Snyder will help us think about journey mapping as a powerful and cost-effective tool for building successful products. He will also teach you how to use a tool called a perspective grid that can help a data-rich journey mapping process go more smoothly. In 2020 Matt left his role as the Sr. Director of Product Design at Lucid Software to become Head of Product & Design at Hivewire. 

Christian Briggs will be your tour guide for this course. He is a Senior Product Designer and Design Educator at the Interaction Design Foundation. He has been designing digital products for many years, and has been using methods like journey mapping for most of those years.  

All open-source articles on Customer Journey Maps

14 ux deliverables: what will i be making as a ux designer.

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What are Customer Touchpoints & Why Do They Matter?

• 3 years ago

How to Visualize Your Qualitative User Research Results for Maximum Impact

How to Resolve Conflicts Between Design Thinking and Marketing

How to Create a Perspective Grid

• 11 mths ago

4 Takeaways from the IxDF Journey Mapping Course

• 2 years ago

The Power of Mapping

User Story Mapping in Design

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How to design a customer journey map (A step-by-step guide)

A customer journey map is a visual representation of how a user interacts with your product. Learn how to create a customer journey map in this practical step-by-step guide.

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Successful UX design is rooted in empathy. The best designers are able to step into their users’ shoes and imagine what they think, feel, and experience as they interact with a product or service. 

One of the most effective ways to foster user empathy and consider different perspectives is to create customer journey maps—otherwise known as customer journey maps.

If you’re new to journey mapping, look no further than this guide. We’ll explain:

• What is a customer journey map?

Why create customer journey maps?

When to create customer journey maps, what are the elements of a customer journey map, how to create a customer journey map (step-by-step).

If you want to skip straight to the how-to guide, just use the clickable menu to jump ahead. Otherwise, let’s begin with a definition. 

[GET CERTIFIED IN UX]

What is a customer journey map? 

A customer journey map (otherwise known as a user journey map) is a visual representation of how a user or customer interacts with your product. It maps out the steps they go through to complete a specific task or to achieve a particular goal—for example, purchasing a product from an e-commerce website or creating a profile on a dating app. 

Where does their journey begin? What’s their first point of interaction with the product? What actions and steps do they take to reach their end goal? How do they feel at each stage? 

You can answer all of those questions with a user journey map.

A user journey map template from Miro . 

Creating customer journey maps helps to:

• Centre the end user and foster empathy. Creating a user/customer journey map requires you to step into the end user’s shoes and experience the product from their perspective. This reminds you to consider the user at all times and fosters empathy.
• Expose pain-points in the user experience. By viewing the product from the user’s perspective, you quickly become aware of pain-points or stumbling blocks within the user experience. Based on this insight, you can improve the product accordingly.
• Uncover design opportunities. User journey maps don’t just highlight pain-points; they can also inspire new ideas and opportunities. As you walk in your end user’s shoes, you might think “Ah! An [X] feature would be great here!”
• Get all key stakeholders aligned. User journey maps are both visual and concise, making them an effective communication tool. Anybody can look at a user journey map and instantly understand how the user interacts with the product. This helps to create a shared understanding of the user experience, building alignment among multiple stakeholders. 

Ultimately, user journey maps are a great way to focus on the end user and understand how they experience your product. This helps you to create better user experiences that meet your users’ needs. 

User journey maps can be useful at different stages of the product design process. 

Perhaps you’ve got a fully-fledged product that you want to review and optimise, or completely redesign. You can create journey maps to visualise how your users currently interact with the product, helping you to identify pain-points and inform the next iteration of the product. 

You can also create user journey maps at the ideation stage. Before developing new ideas, you might want to visualise them in action, mapping out potential user journeys to test their validity. 

And, once you’ve created user journey maps, you can use them to guide you in the creation of wireframes and prototypes . Based on the steps mapped out in the user journey, you can see what touchpoints need to be included in the product and where. 

No two user journey maps are the same—you can adapt the structure and content of your maps to suit your needs. But, as a rule, user journey maps should include the following: 

• A user persona. Each user journey map represents the perspective of just one user persona. Ideally, you’ll base your journey maps on UX personas that have been created using real user research data.
• A specific scenario. This describes the goal or task the journey map is conveying—in other words, the scenario in which the user finds themselves. For example, finding a language exchange partner on an app or returning a pair of shoes to an e-commerce company.
• User expectations. The goal of a user journey map is to see things from your end user’s perspective, so it’s useful to define what their expectations are as they complete the task you’re depicting.
• High-level stages or phases. You’ll divide the user journey into all the broad, high-level stages a user goes through. Imagine you’re creating a user journey map for the task of booking a hotel via your website. The stages in the user’s journey might be: Discover (the user discovers your website), Research (the user browses different hotel options), Compare (the user weighs up different options), Purchase (the user books a hotel).
• Touchpoints. Within each high-level phase, you’ll note down all the touchpoints the user comes across and interacts with. For example: the website homepage, a customer service agent, the checkout page.
• Actions. For each stage, you’ll also map out the individual actions the user takes. This includes things like applying filters, filling out user details, and submitting payment information.
• Thoughts. What is the user thinking at each stage? What questions do they have? For example: “I wonder if I can get a student discount” or “Why can’t I filter by location?”
• Emotions. How does the user feel at each stage? What emotions do they go through? This includes things like frustration, confusion, uncertainty, excitement, and joy.
• Pain-points. A brief note on any hurdles and points of friction the user encounters at each stage.
• Opportunities. Based on everything you’ve captured in your user journey map so far, what opportunities for improvement have you uncovered? How can you act upon your insights and who is responsible for leading those changes? The “opportunities” section turns your user journey map into something actionable. 

Here’s how to create a user journey map in 6 steps:

• Choose a user journey map template (or create your own)
• Define your persona and scenario
• Outline key stages, touchpoints, and actions 
• Fill in the user’s thoughts, emotions, and pain-points
• Identify opportunities 
• Define action points and next steps

Let’s take a closer look.

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1. Choose a user journey map template (or create your own)

The easiest way to create a user journey map is to fill in a ready-made template. Tools like Miro , Lucidchart , and Canva all offer user/customer journey map templates that you can fill in directly or customise to make your own. 

Here’s an example of a user journey map template from Canva:

2. Define your persona and scenario

Each user journey map you create should represent a specific user journey from the perspective of a specific user persona. So: determine which UX persona will feature in your journey map, and what scenario they’re in. In other words, what goal or task are they trying to complete?

Add details of your persona and scenario at the top of your user journey map. 

3. Outline key stages, actions, and touchpoints

Now it’s time to flesh out the user journey itself. First, consider the user scenario you’re conveying and think about how you can divide it into high-level phases. 

Within each phase, identify the actions the user takes and the touchpoints they interact with. 

Take, for example, the scenario of signing up for a dating app. You might divide the process into the following key phases: Awareness, Consideration, Decision, Service, and Advocacy . 

Within the Awareness phase, possible user actions might be: Hears about the dating app from friends, Sees an Instagram advert for the app, Looks for blog articles and reviews online. 

4. Fill in the user’s thoughts, emotions, and pain-points

Next, step even further into your user’s shoes to imagine what they may be thinking and feeling at each stage, as well as what pain-points might get in their way. 

To continue with our dating app example, the user’s thoughts during the Awareness phase might be: “ I’ve never used online dating before but maybe I should give this app a try…”

As they’re new to online dating, they may be feeling both interested and hesitant. 

While looking for blog articles and reviews, the user struggles to find anything helpful or credible. This can be added to your user journey map under “pain-points”. 

5. Identify opportunities

Now it’s time to turn your user pain-points into opportunities. In our dating app example, we identified that the user wanted to learn more about the app before signing up but couldn’t find any useful articles or reviews online.

How could you turn this into an opportunity? You might start to feature more dating app success stories on the company blog. 

Frame your opportunities as action points and state who will be responsible for implementing them.  

Here we’ve started to fill out the user journey map template for our dating app scenario:

Repeat the process for each phase in the user journey until your map is complete.

6. Define action points and next steps 

User journey maps are great for building empathy and getting you to see things from your user’s perspective. They’re also an excellent tool for communicating with stakeholders and creating a shared understanding around how different users experience your product. 

Once your user journey map is complete, be sure to share it with all key stakeholders and talk them through the most relevant insights. 

And, most importantly, turn those insights into clear action points. Which opportunities will you tap into and who will be involved? How will your user journey maps inform the evolution of your product? What are your next steps? 

Customer journey maps in UX: the takeaway

That’s a wrap for user journey maps! With a user journey map template and our step-by-step guide, you can easily create your own maps and use them to inspire and inform your product design process. 

For more how-to guides, check out:

• The Ultimate Guide to Storyboarding in UX
• How to Design Effective User Surveys for UX Research
• How to Conduct User Interviews

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Storytelling: Designing the user’s journey with UX story mapping

We are inveterate storytellers, “who create our own identities around a story,” says philosopher Owen Flanagan. It seems appropriate that story (without the definitive article) is a powerful design thinking tool.

Task and user flows are ubiquitous industry-standard design tools, yet they lack the human factor, leading to a less engaging way to bring the user journey to life. Using story to map out how a user might interact with a product is a key way of predicting the user’s experience with your product or service.

Story mapping is a powerful, fresh, and enjoyable way to map and visualize the user’s journey through your product or service in a visual and dynamic manner. For the designer and product team, it breathes life into design challenges, opens our mind to ideas, and discovers potential obstacles to overcome.

N.B., this technique should not be confused with Agile story mapping, popularized by Jeff Patton , as this technique is more concerned with the prioritization and implementation of software features.

What is story mapping?

The power of story mapping, when to use story mapping.

• Start: Who is it for and what is their goal?
• Trigger: What is the call to action that drives the user’s action?
• Rising action: What steps does the user need to take to complete their goal?
• Crisis: What are the impediments to the user’s journey?
• Resolution: How do our users overcome obstacles?
• Falling action: What happens when the user completes their goal?
• The end: Where does the user end up?
• Expand (add-on): Which psychological principles or biases might affect the user on their journey?

Let me tell you a story

This is a true story about addiction and loss. It’s not quite the Dickensian story you are hoping for, but it is a story of a young boys’ intrepid journey through the digital underworld.

When I was 12, I received a ZX Spectrum 48K as a Christmas present. This was a big deal. It was 1983 and home computers were at their peak of popularity.

Manic Miner was my first home gaming experience, and it came free with the computer. Our protagonist was a cute pixelated Miner who, for unknown reasons, needed to journey through ingenious mazes and avoid fiendishly complex traps. As soon as the cassette finished loading eight minutes later (imagine waiting eight minutes for anything), I was hooked by the clunky 8-Bit graphics, horrid sound effects and lagging gameplay.

My parents were getting concerned, as I refused to play outside with my friends for two weeks. Occasionally, I would even sneak down at midnight to bask in the soothing irradiated light.

I mastered the game quickly, although the last few levels were difficult. If I died on level twenty, I would have to replay all twenty levels again as there was no save option. It was maddening. I was getting close to triumph, only a few levels to go. What could possibly happen?

Think of any film, be it a film by Michael Bay or Park Chan-wook. It begins by introducing the character or characters. An event occurs that changes their situation. This causes conflicts that are resolved in some manner by the end. This is story structure.

The origins of this approach go back to Aristotle, the originator of the classical story structure . He told us that a story has “a beginning and middle and end.”

In 1863, the German playwright and novelist Gustav Freytag updated the three-act structure by investigating ancient Greek drama and plays of Shakespeare. He identified common patterns and introduced the five-act story arc. He represented this structure as a pyramid, which is still in use today.

Donna Lichaw , a strategy consultant, has specifically used Freytag’s Pyramid as the basis for story mapping: “What’s great about ‘story’ is that it provides you with a framework for turning your customers into heroes.” This is where the use of story really shines for product design. This is the user’s journey, and the user is the hero of our story. Let us venture forth.

Let’s break down the reasons that story mapping is so powerful into two parts.

Communicate ideas easily

Story mapping is about engaging your audience and quickly communicating concepts to the product team. People can grasp concepts far more quickly when presented graphically. Contrast this with the use of abstract feature centric diagrams. Story mapping is a highly collaborative and inspirational tool.

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There may be some in the audience that think we are descending into some sort of arts-and-crafts design hell by using this technique. Far from it. Renowned psychologist Jerome Bruner argues that story provides a means of structuring and reflecting on our experiences. It is an appropriate tool that allows us to organize our stream of ideas and experiences, order them, and work out meaning in our design flow.

Uncover potential flaws

Story mapping is about uncovering strengths, weaknesses, gaps, and opportunities that you might otherwise miss. Instead of focusing on the “how” things are done, we can answer the “who, what, where, when, and why.”

It lets us map out the smallest feature, single interaction, full project, or even a family holiday. Using the story arc also models how we interact with products as events plotted out with natural peaks and troughs of tension and release. Mapping these user flows onto a story arc helps us see the flow of ideas and interactions as your users might experience them.

Story mapping can be used at any stage in the design process. These are a few key places to keep it in mind.

Always thinking about story

Having this philosophy constantly in the forefront of your mind when designing anything big or small is a useful mindset to develop.

Thinking through a new flow

I started out using this technique when creating a large user journey, say onboarding or search flow. It works well by taking our attention away from the UI and design patterns and instead focusing on what the user might like to do.

Reviewing a potential flow

I now use it to uncover flaws in a conceptual flow full of assumptions and default thinking. I then apply this technique to it, mapping out the steps that we have and finding the potential flaws in it.

Planning a dinner party

Sorry? No, I’m not sorry and I’m not joking: you can plan a dinner with story mapping. It can even be used for personal events like weddings, anniversaries, parties, and kids’ events if you want to inject some excitement into proceedings.

What’s the goal of story mapping?

For a story to be worthwhile, it must have a point. The user’s goal is that point. If you don’t have a point, you won’t have an interesting story. I like to use job stories for this part.

Create a job story

Let’s discover the user’s motivations and goals first. I like to use the job story format for the jobs the user needs to do.

• When a … (the situation that the user is in),
• They want to … (the motivation of the user),
• So they can … (the goal that the user wants to accomplish).

Our example job story

• When a: Project Manager needs a team member to do a task done,
• They want to: assign a task to a team member,
• So they can: delegate multiple jobs and make a team member responsible for each project

Let’s begin story mapping

All you need to storymap are Post-It Notes, markers, and a firm wall, or you can use a white-boarding tool like Miro . Let’s break down the process.

We will take a simplified task flow as our example. At each stage, we have story stages such as “trigger” and “crisis,” then below these, our user actions on the green cards and psychological biases and principles on the orange cards.

There are seven stages and one add-on:

• Start : Who is it for and what is their goal?
• Trigger : What is the call to action that drives the user’s action?
• Rising action : What steps does the user need to take to complete their goal?
• Crisis : What are the impediments to the user’s journey?
• Resolution : How do our users overcome obstacles?
• Falling action : What happens when the user completes their goal?
• The end : Where does the user end up? This can be merged with the falling action stage.
• Expand (add-on) : Which psychological principles or biases might affect the user on their journey?

You can mix and match these stages in whatever way you think is appropriate. The important thing to keep in mind is the natural arc these stages create. How the user starts, what they do, and how they end their journey is what you should take away from this.

1. Start: Who is it for and what is their goal?

The user, in this case, could be a manager who needs to assign tasks to his team. This gives us context to move forward.

2. Trigger: What is the call to action that drives the user’s action?

This is a problem our user wants to overcome. If there is no problem, there should be something enticing to get the user to act. (If there is no problem, then maybe you shouldn’t be doing it.) In our case, the manager needs to create a task.

3. Rising action: What steps does the user need to take to complete their goal?

This is the journey, and it should build to a climax. There might be many steps or just a few, but the fewer steps to a goal, the better. Our manager creates his task.

4. Crisis: What are the impediments to the user’s journey?

These are the potential issues the user may have. It’s the dragon at the gate or the military in your way. Issues here could be difficulty in recalling team members’ names, lack of feedback, too many options. It’s the low point for the user experience.

5. Resolution: How do our users overcome obstacles?

This is how the user overcomes the obstacles. The knight comes to the rescue.

What we really want here is for the user to never know there were potential issues at all. They can go about their task with a minimum of fuss. See how I have tied the “resolution” items to the “crisis” points. We can map as many of these as we want.

6. Falling action: What happens when the user completes their goal?

The feedback we give the user at this stage is important in how they remember the experience. Peak-end rule is a psychological heuristic that predicts that people “remember a memory or judge an experience based on how they felt at the peak moments, as well as how they felt at the end.”

Finish the experience gracefully. “Congratulations, we’re giving you free chocolate for life” always works.

7. The end: Where does the user end up?

Don’t shove them out the door into the rain. Give them an umbrella or possibly hail a cab for them.

When the user has completed all the actions in the flow, let them have a place to go. Examples are returning them back to a dashboard, home page, or giving them options to do another task. Similar to falling action, the end should have a satisfying experience.

8. Expand (add-on): Which psychological principles or biases might affect the user on their journey?

Under each plot point, note down which action we assume the user will take, layer it with detail, such as what psychological behaviours we might expect and what principles we can employ. Reference the Design with Intent cards to guide us. I try to keep it as simple as possible.

The goal in story mapping is to frame the user as the protagonist and the hero of your product story. These stories can be as short and long as you like.

But a word of caution: if the story becomes too complex, it will become unwieldy. If you feel frustrated, stop and pare back your story, and work on smaller chunks at a time.

The sense of an ending

I realized that there is a correlation between reflecting on the design process and story mapping as a tool. Storytelling can investigate our design process, and highlight interesting stories at the end of a design sprint. This process can explain what happened during our design thinking phase, what issues arose, and how best to learn from it.

By combining Job Stories with story mapping, we can create a powerful user-centric approach to design, and the more you think in story arcs, the more the user will become the hero of your design journeys.

So what happened with Manic Miner? I had reached level 18, Amoebatrons’ Revenge, and a few levels away from triumph. Then the cassette got jammed. Yes, the tape literally got stuck in the tape recorder as I loaded it up for the next attempt, twisted and snapping as I tried to pry it out of the machine. To say I was heartbroken was an understatement. So much for state-of-the-art technology.

I tried again 22 years later. Older and wiser, and using an emulator , I battled and rediscovered the old joy again. I finally got to level 20, The Final Barrier.

This is the moment that Manic Miner ends.

I was waiting for something spectacular. Why is Manic Miner stuck in the air ? I thought. Has the game crashed?

There was no message.

No “congratulations, we’re giving you free chocolate for life.” No falling action. No fanfare. Nothing.

The game just started again.

I felt cheated and still do to this day.

What’s the moral of this story? Always remember to make your user the hero of the story, and make sure their journey is worthwhile.

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The ultimate guide to user journey mapping

User journey mapping enables you to identify pain points, optimize interactions, and ultimately enhance user experience and satisfaction. In this article, we will delve into this method: We will discuss what user journeys are, explain their elements, explore examples, and guide you through the process of creating user journey maps.

• What is a user journey?

What is a user journey map?

• What is the process of user journey mapping?
• Why is it important?
• When to create a user journey?
• How to create a user journey map

Differentiating between different concepts

• User journey examples
• Tools for user journey mapping

Key take aways

What is the user journey.

Let’s start with a definition of user journey:

A user journey refers to the complete sequence of steps that an individual takes while engaging with a product, service, or platform. It encompasses every experience from the initial point of entry to the final outcome or goal achieved.

... by the way: what is the definition of a user?

A "user" typically refers to an individual that interacts with a system, platform, software, website, or any other technological or digital interface. Users engage with these systems to perform tasks, access information, or achieve specific goals. The term user can apply to a wide range of contexts, including software and applications, websites and online platforms, social media, etc.

However, the concept of a user is not limited to digital or technological contexts. In broader terms, a user refers to anyone who interacts with, utilizes, or engages with a product, service, system, or environment, regardless of whether it's digital or analog. Thus, it e.g. also applies to: physical products, services, physical spaces, education, transportation, etc.

Later in this article you will learn why it is importat to differentiate between different kinds of users.

A user journey map is a visual representation that outlines the complete process and stages a user goes through while interacting with a product, service, or platform. It depicts the user's actions, emotions, and goals at each step of their journey, highlighting touchpoints, pain points, and moments of engagement. User journey maps put a strong focus on cross-channel experience, analyzing the user journey holistically.

By presenting this information graphically, a user journey map offers a comprehensive view of the user's experience, enabling you to understand, analyze, and enhance the overall user interaction on all online and offline channels.

What is user journey mapping?

User journey mapping is a technique from user experience (UX) design and product development. It describes the process of visually illustrating and analyzing the various stages, touchpoints, and emotions that a user undergoes while interacting with a product or service. It involves creating a detailed narrative or diagram that outlines the steps, touchpoints, emotions, and motivations of users throughout their entire journey.

User journey mapping is a technique used within the design thinking process to understand and visualize the user's experience, their needs and emotions as they interact with a product, service, or system. It helps teams identify pain points and opportunities for improvement.

The purpose of user journey mapping is to gain a deep understanding of the user's perspective and uncover insights that can inform the design and optimization of the user experience. It helps identify pain points, gaps, and opportunities for improvement, allowing designers and developers to align their efforts with user needs and expectations.

Why are user journeys important? What are their benefits?

User journeys are commonly used in user experience (UX) design to understand and optimize the user's experience. By understanding and optimizing the user journey, organizations can enhance user satisfaction, increase conversions, and improve overall user experience.

By visualizing the user journey, stakeholders can better empathize with users, identify frustrations, and develop solutions that enhance the overall user experience.

User journey maps are important for several reasons, as they help organizations better understand and improve the user experience. Here are some key benefits and reasons why user journey maps are important:

• Gain deep insights into the user perspective
• Uncover pain points
• Find potential for delighting experiences
• Reveal unknown areas for innovation
• Identify gaps in the service delivery
• Create products that resonate with users
• Identify bottlenecks as well as potential synergies
• Foster informed decision-making
• Foster a human-centered culture within an organization

When to create a user journey map?

Creating a user journey map is a valuable exercise at various stages of a product or service's lifecycle.

For example in these cases:

• Research and discovery : This helps teams gain insights into potential user behaviors, pain points, and needs, informing the creation of user-centered solutions.
• Redesign or optimization : If you're looking to improve an existing product or service, creating a user journey map can identify areas that need refinement. By understanding current user experiences, you can identify opportunities for enhancement.
• New features : a user journey map can guide the integration process, for example for SaaS journeys . It ensures that the new elements align with the existing user experience and provide value.
• UX testing and evaluation : user journey maps can be used to track how users interact with the product and pinpoint any obstacles they encounter. This helps refine the user experience.
• ‍ User-centric workshops : these can help to bring cross-functional teams together to collaboratively map out user experiences, fostering a shared understanding and aligning strategies.
• ‍ Marketing and sales strategies : User journey maps can help create targeted campaigns that address specific stages of the user journey, enhancing customer engagement.

Ultimately, the timing for creating a user journey map depends on the specific goals and context of your project. However, integrating user journey mapping early and consistently in your design and development process can lead to more user-centric and effective solutions.

How to create a user journey map?

A user journey map typically starts from the initial point of user contact, such as discovering a product or visiting a website, and extends until the desired goal or outcome is achieved.

1 Develop your user persona

Differentiating between user personas is crucial because it allows for a more nuanced understanding of user diversity and needs. Each persona represents a distinct segment of the user base, and tailoring experiences to these segments ensures that products or services effectively address a range of user requirements. This differentiation enables you to create more targeted strategies, features, and user journeys, ultimately leading to improved user satisfaction and engagement.

2 Define the project scope

Defning the scope, or zoom-level of your work, is essential. For example, you could focus on the onboarding phase, the payment process, or a very detailed experience with a specific page.

3 Create a user journey map using the key elements

Start to list steps and touchpoints on an assumption-based user journey map; this serves as a great starting point. In the next step you will verify/falsify these assumptions.

The most important elements of a user journey map are:

• Persona : a user persona is key to understand different needs, expectations and wishes from different user types
• Steps / actions / touchpoints : this illustrates the single experiences a user has along the journey
• Stages : A user journey often includes pases like: Awareness, research,  consideration, conversion, onboarding, actual usage, support, retention, advocacy
• Emotions : emotions like joy, frustration, surprise and anxiety are crucial to take note of
• Satisfaction : user journey maps usually include satisfaction scores, indicating satisfaction on a scale from very satisfied (+2) to very unsatisfied (-2)
• Pain points and opportunities : Pain points are specific areas in the user journey where users encounter challenges, obstacles, or frustrations that hinder their progress or satisfaction. Opportunities are moments within the user journey where you can address these pain points.
• Storyboard : adding images, photos and screenshots to a user journey map fosters a immediate understanding of the situation, helps to create empathy, and on top makes navigating the journey map much easier
• Importance : showing how important an experience is to the users helps to prioritize pain points and focus resources onto the experiences that need it the most

4 Gather richt user experience data

To make a user journeys that really helps with decision making, they should always be based research, user testing, and data analysis to ensure they accurately reflect the user's actual perspective and needs. Experience research is essential to gain real data. User journey analytics goes beyond Google Analytics and includes offline data. For example, the context in which a person uses a product can have strong impact on the user experience.

5 Identify pain points and opportunities

Identifying pain points involves recognizing specific challenges or frustrations users encounter during their interactions with a product or service. Opportunities, on the other hand, entail pinpointing moments where improvements or innovations can be implemented to enhance the user experience and address those pain points effectively.

6 Develop solutions and optimize the user journey

Developing solutions involves designing and implementing changes, features, or improvements to address the identified pain points and capitalize on the opportunities within the user journey. Optimization focuses on refining the user journey by streamlining processes, enhancing user interface elements, and aligning touchpoints to ensure a smoother and more satisfying experience for users.

7 Iterate, iterate, iterate

Iteration is crucial because it allows for continuous improvement based on user feedback and changing needs. By repeatedly refining and adjusting design, features, and interactions, products and services can stay aligned with user expectations and remain competitive in an evolving landscape.

Having a shared language and understanding of different concepts is key to effective communication and collaboration. Therefore here come’s an overview of how user journey mapping differs from related concepts:

What is the difference between user journey vs customer journey?

User journeys and customer journeys basically describe the same concept, just with a different focus persona at the core of the journey:

• A user is anyone who interacts with a product, service, or platform, regardless of whether they've made a purchase.
• A customer , on the other hand, refers specifically to individuals who have made a transaction or purchase, indicating a financial relationship with the business. In essence, all customers are users, but not all users are necessarily customers.

What is the difference between user journey vs user flow?

A user journey provides a holistic view of the complete experience a user goes through while interacting with a product or service, emphasizing emotions, touchpoints, and goals. It's a narrative that spans the user's entire engagement. In contrast, a user flow is a more focused representation, detailing the specific paths and steps a user takes to accomplish a particular task within the product or service, without necessarily delving into the broader context or emotions.

What is the difference between user journey vs user experience?

In essence, the user journey is a component of the user experience, contributing to the overall assessment of how well a product or service meets user needs and expectations.

• A user journey focuses on the chronological sequence of steps and interactions a user takes while engaging with a product or service, detailing their actions, emotions, and goals. It is a visualization of the user's pathway through the experience.
• On the other hand, user experience (UX) is a broader term encompassing the overall perception and satisfaction a user derives from using a product or service, considering factors beyond just the sequence of steps, including usability, aesthetics, efficiency, and the emotional response elicited throughout the entire interaction.

What is the difference between user journey vs service blueprint?

A user journey outlines the step-by-step sequence of interactions a user has with a product or service, focusing on their actions, emotions, and goals. In contrast, a service blueprint provides a broader view by illustrating the end-to-end service delivery process, including both user-facing interactions and backend operations. Service blueprints encompass user journeys but also incorporate internal processes, actors, and touchpoints, offering a more comprehensive understanding of how a service functions.

User journey map examples

Example #1: user journeys in e-commerce.

Our first user journey example from e-commerce shows how the user persona carl navigates through different channels to finally buy a book online

Expand e-commerce journey map

Example #2: user journey in online banking

The second user journey map example comes from a banking product and visualizes the experience of a user subscribing to banking services.

Expand banking journey map

You can find many more examples on our journey map examples collection .

What’s the best user journey mapping tool?

The best user journey mapping tool depends on factors like purpose, team dynamics and other specific needs. However, here’s a selection of the most popular user journey mapping tools:

• Smaply : a user journey tool that lets you create user journey maps online, combined with tools for personas and stakeholder maps for a holistic analysis
• Miro : a collaborative whiteboard tool providing full flexibility, especially useful for user journey workshops
• Lucidchart : A powerful diagramming tool that offers user journey templates
• Pen-and-paper : Yes, sometimes even simple tools can be useful – especially at the beginning, workshop templates for user journeys are better than any digital tool

User journey mapping empowers you to create better user experiences, optimize processes, and drive innovation by gaining a deeper understanding of their users' interactions and emotions.

A simple user journey map consists of touchpoints, pain points and opportunities and can be created with digital tools or even pen-and-paper.

In general, user journey mapping is an ongoing process and iteration is key to success.

Isabel Grillmayr

Isabel has a multifaceted background that seamlessly weaves together business acumen, sustainability expertise, and a profound understanding of tourism management. A true marketer at heart, she is driven by her passion for crafting exceptional experiences through service design, all while prioritizing sustainability and fostering innovation. Currently pursuing a master's degree in sustainability management, Isabel's commitment to shaping a more responsible and forward-thinking business landscape shines through her inspirational articles.

Related articles

Use cases and types of customer journey maps: workshop, project, and management maps

Case study: Shaping employee experience at Bayer

What is the candidate journey and how to successfully recruit with journey maps

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User Journey: Design Flows Instead of Screens

Dávid Pásztor

We, designers, are easily obsessed with screens. As features and screens pile up, it gets more difficult to see apps with our users' eyes. Familiar? It is the point to switch and think in flows instead of screens. A user journey shows how your people reach their goals in your app. This article introduces the basics of creating a user journey with some tips and specific examples.

Why should you design flows?

Before we start drawing screens, we design the flows people go through. They can be signing up, checking out in a webshop, or steps to upload photos in a social media app.

These processes determine the path through an app’s use and what experiences it provides. Creating user flows or user journeys can serve as a tool for designing processes. As opposed to the customer journey , which analyzes all online and offline steps before and after using the product, user journeys only examine what happens inside the actual app.

The customer journey strives to get a picture of the environment where users apply the product and to get assistance as to what functions are still lacking. User journey details its use as a map. Beyond creating it, we are also examining how to educate users with a good onboarding process and what flows and loops are needed to lure them back later.

What is a user journey?

When starting to map how visitors will move through an app, many people tend to draw a large spider web. It contains all the pages and screens, with lines connecting all the possible routes. This results in a huge mess that requires extra effort and guidance to be used by anyone else. Such an approach often makes things unnecessarily complex for yourself too.

A User Journey represents a linear process: the process step by step  through which the user achieves a specific goal. Each of the steps is then captured in more or less detail, always from the user’s point of view.

Make sure you do not examine processes from a technical point of view in this early stage. Do not design a series of pages or screens, rather review what the users will do and in what order. Decide later from a technological aspect what to put on one screen and what on separate pages.

How to create a user journey for your project?

Knowing users’ problems and motivations, determine the two or three most important goals to achieve with your product. Think of the ideal way (flow) to get the users to each given goal – the presence of many branches indicates a probable mistake. 

The journey is divided into mental steps. What the users would formulate as a separate activity (if asked what had happened to them) counts as a step. In the case of a webshop:

• Search for the shoes.
• Pick favorite.
• Check for correct size and price.

For each journey, write down the persona’s name and exact goal to which the given journey belongs. One journey, one goal. It is up to the designer to decide how elaborated to make the journey. If necessary, it may need great detail. Many times, seeing the processes at large requires the opposite.

Today’s menu: thoughts and feelings

The image below shows one of the user journeys of the Right Now service.

In this app, amateur artists can create embedded “Buy now” buttons for their blogs which can help visitors buy the work from the blog post with one click. It is precisely determined to which user persona and goal the journey belongs to, what force drives the persona, and what kind of environment the process takes place in.

Regarding certain steps, it is worth writing down what the persona is thinking and feeling. Write imaginary thoughts above the steps, as a quote, or draw emoticons. The most important tool for designing emotions is the user journey. Emotions are always reactions to something that happened. A few examples of emotions felt while using applications include

• Joy – at succeeding at something;
• Sadness – at bad news;
• Concentration, focus – when really wanting to do something;
• Confusion, insecurity – when not understanding;
• Frustration, anxiety – with annoyances;
• Pride – in achievement;
• Fear – of an unforeseen obstacle;
• Surprise – either pleasant or not (WTF and WOW)
• Enthusiasm – about starting something;
• Interest, curiosity, suspenseful thrill – when trying out a new thing;
• Anger, disappointment – at undesired results;
• Carefulness, distrust – when making an important decision or paying for something;
• Hurry, rush – when just wanting to get it over with;
• Boredom – when nothing exciting happens.

We design the screens of the app completely differently if we know which emotions to expect on them. Reflect these emotions, and strengthen them with the design.

A success message at the end of a web checkout process can mirror the user’s joy. Fireworks and a cute dog congratulating come in handy — if it suits our user persona, of course. However, when the user is filling out the order form, the same little dog only annoys and distracts.

More ideas = better design

Create user journeys in the early stages of product design process . This is still the experimental phase, so never stop at one idea. The goal is to find out many different versions for each journey.

It may be surprising that the majority of designers come up with the same idea for a similar problem set.

Sometimes there are good first ideas, but usually these are not the best solutions. For this reason, create at least three different journeys for each goal. Then, having come up with several solutions, decide on the winner.

No ideas? Easily create new journeys from existing ones, by mixing up the steps. Sometimes orders which at first seem a bit strange work great in reality. Delete steps from the process or add new ones. Combine steps or divide them into smaller ones. The most important thing is to experiment and not accept the first idea as the best.

Diagrams come in handy when trying out several solutions during the design phase, but it is not the only way to represent user journeys. Telling the process as a story is a good idea. For this, use comics or a storyboard. These are especially useful to help others understand the given situations.

What is a good user journey like?

The question of which version works better comes up when experimenting with different journeys. A user flow succeeds if reaching the goal comes as easily and as quickly as possible.

Take webshop checkouts as an example again. Designers in the past thought if they put all the form fields on a single page, it would significantly shorten the checkout process, which in turn would improve things for the user.

This thinking created the monster below.

Although all the necessary fields are on one page, it does not help. This does not mean a good single-page checkout is impossible. But the fact that there is technically one page, does not mean that the process is better, either.

Virgin America’s webpage presents a counterexample. They separate every step to its own page. The process consists of many steps, but each requires choosing and deciding on only one thing.

There is no general rule for the number of steps. How to break it down? It always depends on the given product, the users, the required and displayed data.

People find the decision-making situations the most difficult cognitively, but filling in forms can be annoying, too. Every step of the flow should be designed to be straightforward, clear and easy to accomplish. This way, the users will not lose their enthusiasm along the way.

And naturally, combine connected things into one step.

Have you tried designing a user journey before? I’d love to hear your story. Please share this article with those who you think struggle with designing screens instead of flows.

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