user journey for a website

A comprehensive guide to effective customer journey mapping

A brand's user experience shapes its target audience's entire perception of your organization. Maximize audience engagement with customer journey mapping.

Discover key challenges today's marketing teams are facing, as well as opportunities for businesses in 2024.

Incorporating customer journey mapping into your web design process helps elevate consumer engagement to drive loyalty and sales.

Many in-house teams and web designers strive to better serve users by optimizing their customer experience (CX). Considering how your customers use your platform or service helps you see your website from a user perspective, letting you shape your design to better meet their needs. To achieve this, web designers can look to customer journey mapping.

A particularly handy tool for user experience (UX) design , this process helps teams understand who their users are and how to fulfill their expectations, guiding development decisions for improved audience engagement. Learn more about customer journey mapping and how you can implement it to enhance your CX.

User journey mapping: an overview

User journey mapping, also known as customer journey mapping (CJM), maps a website visitor's experience from their perspective. Presented through a visual diagram, the customer journey map charts the user’s path as they seek information or solutions, starting at the homepage and tracking their routes across other menus and links.

To create a customer journey map, you begin by researching who users are, what they want from your site, and how positive or negative their experiences have been. 

There are two main purposes for mapping your customers’ journey.

1. Improve customer experience

This is the ultimate goal of CJM. Site navigation can be especially tricky to assess because you’re already familiar with the layout. A fresh perspective on your site often uncovers overlooked details such as navigation issues or broken links.

By conducting research on UX trends and visually mapping your results, you’ll identify any parts of your design that confuse or frustrate visitors. This process also reveals areas that work well, which you can repurpose elsewhere in the design.

2. Maintains ease-of-use as your site grows

A customer journey map can make even a simple site more straightforward to navigate. When your website or business grows, you may need to add content and features to accommodate the expansion. Implementing customer journey mapping ensures your website's fundamental flow remains intuitive and that new material and features are easily discoverable and usable.

Primary user journey map types

There are various ways to approach customer journey mapping based on the specific insights you’re seeking. The end result of each map will look similar, but the focus of each is different — which changes the information it offers. Here are three standard types of maps to get you started.

Current state

The current state map is the most common type. It evaluates your website’s present state to better understand visitors’ current experiences, helping identify improvement opportunities for its existing design.

Future state

A future state map explores a hypothetical "ideal" website, considering the visitor’s experience if every site component were optimized. This map is helpful when planning a total redesign or a specific change. When you collect user research and translate the results into your map, you can present a visual outline to your client or company for a straightforward explanation.

Persona-based

A persona-based map lays out the journey of a single designated type of user, or persona (which we will define below). This type of diagram is useful when optimizing your website for a specific sector of your audience with particular needs.

Learn best practices for integrating the workflows between design and development in this free webinar.

The 5-step customer journey mapping process

Once you’ve set clear goals for your map’s achievements, you can select the appropriate diagram type. To begin visualizing your user journey, follow this five-step process.

1. Define the map’s scope

Your map may focus on just one customer interaction or outcome, such as finding the newsletter sign-up sheet or making a payment, or it could cover the entire website’s navigation. A focused scope helps you troubleshoot a problem area or ensure an especially critical element functions properly. Alternatively, a larger-scope map provides a big-picture perspective of how the site works as a whole. Creating a comprehensive map is more complex, but high-level mapping helps comprehend the entire user experience from beginning to end.

2. Determine your user personas

A persona describes a particular type of visitor using your site. When imagining and defining these users, you can assign a name to each and include details about who they are, what they’re looking for, and why.

Focus on users who contribute most to your business goals, consulting your marketing or sales teams for insights. To define your customer personas, explore current user behavior through surveys, online reviews, and email list responsiveness.

For example, if you’re creating a website for a store that sells artisanal coffee-making tools, your personas could be:

• The gift giver. This user only knows a little about coffee but wants to select an impressive gift for someone else. They’ll need help with purchase decisions, so they might interact with an FAQ or chat feature before visiting the products page. They may also leave your site if overwhelmed by options, so it’s important to offer helpful information proactively. This will keep them engaged and more likely convert them to paying customers.
• The coffee nerd. This person is knowledgeable and always seeks the highest-quality tools, so easily accessible product details and customer reviews are important to them. To support their user experience and encourage them to purchase, ensure these elements are easily discoverable.
• The tourist. This user is on vacation and looking for a cute brick-and-mortar shop to visit. They aren't interested in your online store, but an appealing photo of your physical store with easily accessible hours and location information may convince them to come by in person.

These three types of users have very different needs and goals when visiting your website. To capture all of their business, create a map for each of them to ensure you accommodate their specific wants and circumstances.

3. Give the personas context

User context is the “when” and “how” of each persona visiting your site. A user will have a different experience loading your site on a mobile device than on a laptop. Additionally, someone in no rush may use your website differently than someone looking more urgently with a specific purpose.

Figure out when, how, and in what mindset your personas most commonly visit your site to map their experience accurately. This context has very concrete impacts on your finished design. If visitors tend to look for one specific page whenever in a hurry (like contact or location information), placing those details on the front page or prominently linking to it will smooth the user experience for those users.

Here’s an example of how to place a persona in context.

Persona: Jo is an apartment hunter in her early 20s and is still in college. She's looking for off-campus housing for herself and some roommates. The collective group values location and cost more than apartment features.

Context : Jo is in a hurry and trying to visit as many apartments as possible. She’s looking at property rental websites that clearly state apartment addresses in each listing.

Method : Jo is browsing the sites on her iPhone.

4. List persona touchpoints

Touchpoints mark when the user makes a purchase decision or interacts with your user interface (UI) . They include visitors' actions to move toward their goals and consider each associated emotion. The first touchpoint is how they reach your website — such as tapping a social media ad, clicking on a search result, or entering your URL directly.

First, list each action the visitor took and their corresponding emotional reactions. Subsequent touchpoints include instances when they navigate a menu, click a button, scroll through a gallery, or fill out a form. When you diagram the route through your site in an A-to-Z path, you can place yourself in the persona's mind to understand their reactions and choices.

A met expectation — for example, when clicking a "shop" button takes them to a product gallery — will result in a positive emotional reaction. An unmet expectation — when the “shop" link leads to an error page — will provoke an adverse reaction.

5. Map the customer journey

Illustrate the user journey by mapping these touchpoints on a visual timeline. This creates a narrative of users’ reactions across your entire service blueprint. To represent your users’ emotional states at each touchpoint, graph their correspondences like this:

The map helps you understand the customer experience as a whole. 

For example, based on the diagram above, touchpoint 3 is the largest navigation challenge on the website. The graph also shows that the user's mood eventually rebounds after the initial setback. Improving the problem element in touchpoint 3 will have the biggest impact on elevating the overall user experience.

Customer journey mapping best practices

Now that you understand the mapping process, here are some best practices to implement when charting your customer journey. 

• Set a clear objective for your map: Define your CX map’s primary goal, such as improving the purchase experience or increasing conversions for a specific product.
• Solicit customer feedback: Engage directly with customers through surveys or interviews so you can implement data-driven changes. Ask users about their journey pain points and invite both positive and negative feedback on the overall navigation.
• Specify customer journey maps for each persona: To specifically serve each customer persona, consider charting separate paths for each based on their behaviors and interests. This approach is more customer-centric, as not all user types interact with your website the same way.
• Reevaluate your map after company or website changes: As your business scales, your website must evolve — and so will your customer’s path. Review your map when making both large and small website adjustments to ensure you don’t introduce new user challenges. Navigational disruptions can frustrate visitors, causing would-be customers to leave your site and seek competitors .

Optimize your user journey map with Webflow

A user journey map is only as effective as the improvements it promotes. When redesigning your website based on insights your map provides, explore Webflow’s vast resource bank to streamline your design processes. 

Webflow offers web design support with diverse guides , tutorials , and tools for straightforward web design. Visit Webflow today to learn how its site hosting , e-commerce , and collaboration resources support enhanced user experience for better engagement.

Webflow Enterprise gives your teams the power to build, ship, and manage sites collaboratively at scale.

Subscribe to Webflow Inspo

Get the best, coolest, and latest in design and no-code delivered to your inbox each week.

Related articles

Empathy mapping: Bridging the gap between design and user experience

Learn how the four quadrants of empathy mapping uncover your audience’s preferences and use them to create user-centric website experiences.

What is customer experience? An essential guide

Learn why customer experiences are essential for your bottom line, and discover practical strategies to implement across your digital channels.

Why is content mapping crucial for website building?

Websites revolve around content, so content mapping is essential. Learn how to build effective sites that deliver results for your brand.

How to create marketing personas that start with empathy

Treating customers with respect earns you loyalty. Dig into marketing personas that reflect real people to gain the most valuable insight.

How to implement and optimize effective customer-centric design

Implementing customer-centric design invites customers to collaborate with your brand and help shape truly unique products.

Keeping up with customer expectations in 2024

Tips for delighting your audience on the web in the new year

Get started for free

Try Webflow for as long as you like with our free Starter plan. Purchase a paid Site plan to publish, host, and unlock additional features.

Transforming the design process at

• Interactions
• Localization
• Figma to Webflow Labs
• DevLink Labs
• Feature index
• Accessibility
• Webflow vs WordPress
• Webflow vs Squarespace
• Webflow vs Shopify
• Webflow vs Contentful
• Webflow vs Sitecore
• Careers We're Hiring
• Webflow Shop
• Accessibility statement
• Terms of Service
• Privacy policy
• Cookie policy
• Cookie preferences
• Freelancers
• Global alliances
• Marketplace
• Libraries Beta
• Hire an Expert
• Made in Webflow
• Become an Expert
• Become a Template Designer
• Become an Affiliate

• Get started Get started for free

Figma design

Design and prototype in one place

Collaborate with a digital whiteboard

Translate designs into code

Get the desktop, mobile, and font installer apps

See the latest features and releases

• Prototyping
• Design systems
• Wireframing
• Online whiteboard
• Team meetings
• Strategic planning
• Brainstorming
• Diagramming
• Product development
• Web development
• Design handoff
• Product managers

Organizations

Config 2024

Register to attend in person or online — June 26–27

Creator fund

Build and sell what you love

User groups

Join a local Friends of Figma group

Learn best practices at virtual events

Customer stories

Read about leading product teams

Stories about bringing new ideas to life

Get started

• Developer docs
• Best practices
• Reports & insights
• Resource library
• Help center

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?

4.7 STARS ON G2

Analyze your mobile app for free. No credit card required. 100k sessions.

18 MIN READ

SHARE THIS POST

Product best practices

Product management.

• UX research

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

Dive Deeper: Mobile Product Management Certification

If you want to learn more about how to optimize your user journeys, we recommend enrolling in our course "Mastering Mobile App Product Management" for free.

Unlock the secrets of user-centric design with our course

Gain practical skills in identifying user needs and crafting engaging, intuitive UX designs

Get 15+ templates and frameworks

Our modules, including "How to Map Out Your Discovery" and "User Research for Mobile Apps," ensure you create visually stunning and highly functional user experiences.

Enroll for free here.

Mobile App Product Management Certification

• Upskill for free
• Career growth
• Expert Instructors
• Practical Insights

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.

Related Articles

Best behavioral analytics tools to optimize mobile app UX

20+ powerful UX statistics to impress stakeholders

Mobile UX design: The complete expert guide

5 Best User Journey Mapping Tools

App user journey: Mapping from download to daily use

Your guide to the mobile app customer journey

Customer journey optimization: 6 Practical steps

Alice Ruddigkeit

Get the latest from uxcam.

Stay up-to-date with UXCam's latest features, insights, and industry news for an exceptional user experience.

Related articles

What is product engagement (and how to improve it).

Learn the essence of product engagement and explore strategies to enhance user interaction, fostering loyalty and driving...

Growth Manager

5 Examples of Product Strategy and How to Create One

Learn how to create a winning plan for your own product with these five inspiring examples of product...

12 Best Product Analytics Tools and Software 2024

Discover the top product analytics tools and learn how to extract valuable insights, optimize performance, and drive growth with these powerful...

Jonas Kurzweg

Growth Lead

How user journey mapping can elevate the user experience

User journey maps illustrate the flow of a user’s interaction with a site. Discover what they are and how to create them.

Illustration by Anita Goldstein.

Lillian Xiao

Part of designing a great user experience is understanding how people interact with a company, its products, and its services. A user journey map tells the story of these relationships. It allows you to explore these interactions in a structured way, and in the process, uncover new opportunities for improving the overall experience for site visitors.

In this comprehensive guide, you’ll discover what user journey mapping is in web design , how to create your own and what such maps usually include. In addition, we’ll also review some of the variations closely related to user journey maps.

What is a user journey map?

A user journey map illustrates the interactions visitors have with a product or service over time. It outlines the various touchpoints and channels where people come in contact with a company. It also maps out the actions that they take, plus the thoughts and emotions they have along the way, visualizing all of these elements in an understandable and actionable manner.

User journey mapping can be used in a variety of ways. You can use it to visualize an entire end-to-end experience, or to better understand a specific, smaller interaction within a larger experience. You can create user journey maps for an existing product, or to explore future concepts and designs.

As a tool of discovery, user journey mapping allows you to analyze your users’ experience in a systematic and structured way. At each step of the journey, you can identify any gaps in the experience and brainstorm opportunities for improvement.

As a tool of collaboration, user journey mapping can help facilitate conversation and co-creation across teams. At the core of these collaborative efforts, a user journey map can serve as a shared vision, or even a plan of action, to help guide companies in making user-centered decisions.

How to create a user journey map

Before we jump in, there are a few things to keep in mind about user journey maps:

Design: There is no single way to create a user journey map. You can sketch it on paper, use sticky notes on a whiteboard, organize it in a spreadsheet, or create it using your favorite design tool. Choose the format that makes the most sense for you or your team.

Research-backed tools: User journey maps are based on existing research and data from your users. You can start by gathering any design artifacts that your team or organization has already created, such as user intent, storyboards, or user research reports. For areas where you don’t have any data yet, you can start with an informed estimate and validate later with additional research.

Collaboration: One of the most valuable aspects of user journey mapping is the conversation and collaboration that happens during the process. Make sure to invite important stakeholders to take part, whose expertise and buy-in are required for helping turn the newfound insights into concrete projects.

Now let’s look at the steps for creating a user journey map:

1. Determine user intent

User intent tells you what the user is looking to do. Is their intent informational, ie., looking for information like event details? Is their intent transactional, as in, they plan to make a purchase? Having a clear understanding of user intent helps provide a strong, clear narrative for your user journey map and will ultimately improve user experience by helping them easily reach their end goal.

Take a delivery app, for instance. If you’re designing a food delivery app, you could create a user journey map for delivery customers, and a separate one for delivery couriers.

2. Determine a scenario

Once you’ve landed on the user intent, select the scenario you want to map out. User scenarios describe a specific goal that a user wants to accomplish, the motivation behind that goal, and the steps they would take to achieve that goal.

An example scenario might be: Jody wants to schedule a cake delivery for her friend’s birthday. She expects that she’ll be able to choose a cake design, add a custom message, select the delivery time, and receive real-time updates about the preparation and delivery status.

3. Define the stages of your scenario

Based on the scenario that you’ve chosen, define the high-level stages of your user journey. The stages can be as broad or as specific as you like. Their purpose is to help you organize the rest of the information on your map.

The stages of your food delivery app might be: awareness, browse, order, wait, receive, consume and share.

4. Map user actions, thoughts, and emotions

For each stage of your user journey, list the actions that your user takes, and the thoughts and emotions that they have along the way. The thoughts can be any questions that they’re asking, or any hopes and fears they might have. The emotions are anything that they might be feeling, and can be labeled with words, smiley faces or a line that signals the emotional ups and downs of the experience. You can also supplement these descriptions with quotes and statistics from your research.

For users of your food delivery app who are in the Browse stage, their actions might include scanning menus, looking at pictures and checking out restaurant reviews. They might be thinking of trying out a new restaurant, which leads them to wonder what a certain restaurant’s popular dishes are. They might be feeling excited as they browse the photos, or concerned that the menu doesn’t have a lot of options for their dietary preferences.

5. Specify touchpoints and channels

Next, list out which of your users’ actions brings them in contact with the company, its products, or its services? These are the touchpoints, or the physical and digital interaction that your user has with your company. You can also include the channels through which these interactions occur.

With our food delivery app example, a touchpoint might be the customer receiving updates about the status of a food delivery. These updates could be delivered through a number of channels, like text message, phone call, or through a home voice assistant.

6. Identify the opportunities for improvement

Now that you’ve mapped out your user journey, are there any areas where the experience can be improved? Maybe you’ve noticed empty states , 404 pages , or design elements that are surprising, inconsistent, or redundant. These can be great jumping off points for brainstorming a better experience for your users.

At this stage, you might also want to identify any next steps, such as scheduling a separate brainstorming session, or assigning a person or team to look further into a specific part of the journey.

Finally, even though a user journey map should be created based on user research, it’s still important to verify that the information on it is truly accurate. One way to do this is to show the map to a few customers and ask them if anything is missing or seems out of sequence [Related: Learn how to make the most of styled horizontal menus .]

What to include in a user journey map

Most user journey maps are made up of a few main components. Remember, user journey maps come in all shapes and sizes, so feel free to adapt these elements to fit your needs, and in a way that makes sense to you and your team.

The lens: The top section of the user journey map details the user’s point of view, which might include reference to a persona or user intent, the scenario, and any goals and expectations that the user has for this scenario.

The experience: The heart of the user journey map is the experience, which includes the stages of their journey. Listed under each stage are the user’s actions, thoughts and emotions, and the touchpoints and channels that facilitate their interactions with your company.

The insights: The bottom section of the user journey map lists insights, recommendations and opportunities for improvement. It can also mention the people, teams, or departments who will be responsible for carrying these efforts forward.

[Related: How to adapt to a cookie-free future ]

4 variations of user journey maps

There are several frameworks that are closely related to user journey mapping. These can be used in combination with your user journey map or on their own, depending on your needs.

Empathy map

An empathy map helps us organize and visualize a user’s mindset, as a way to build empathy for our end users. They’re often used to help categorize user research notes during the discovery phase.

An empathy map has different sections (e.g., Think, Feel, See, Say, Do, or Hear) where you can organize research findings.

Unlike a user journey map, an empathy map is not laid out in sequential order. However, it does focus on a single user’s perspective. Empathy maps are great for organizing insights prior to, or as a supplement to, user journey mapping.

Experience map

An experience map visualizes a general human experience over time (like buying a home, or the stages of sleep). Experience maps serve as a baseline for understanding such experiences, and they help designers identify areas which can be improved with a product or service.

An experience map is visualized in stages, much like a user journey map. It can also include information like actions, thoughts and emotions. The main difference is that the experience map is not tied to any particular user, product, or company, since its purpose is to outline a broader human experience.

User story map

A user story map consists of user stories and tasks to visualize an entire system. A user story map helps with planning and implementation of such systems, and allows designers and development teams to create a shared understanding of what they’re building.

A user story map includes high-level descriptions of a feature, which can be described as user story (for example, as a real estate agent, I might want to create beautiful marketing assets quickly, so that I can spend more time interacting with clients).

Listed vertically under each feature are more detailed tasks and functionality that must be built into each feature (such as: choose template, import listing information, import photos, export file, and so on). The most important features are prioritized toward the top, while lower-priority features are labeled for future releases.

Similar to a user journey map, a user story map outlines sequential steps. However, a user story map takes the perspective of the product and the functionality it requires. One way to create a user story map is to take the steps from your journey map and add to them the concrete features and functionality that would be required to help users carry out these actions successfully.

Service blueprint

A service blueprint maps the steps that an organization needs to take internally to support a customer journey. This is different than a wireframe . Rather than focusing on the end user, a service blueprint is focused on the employees, resources, and processes that are required to deliver a service. It helps companies gain a fuller understanding of the services they need to deliver at each stage of a user journey.

A service blueprint typically outlines the touchpoints and actions that are visible to the customer, those that happen behind the scenes (which the customer doesn’t see), and the resources and processes needed to support these interactions. A service blueprint can also point out any codependencies, time, regulations, emotions, or metrics that are relevant to the service.

Similar to user journey maps, a service blueprint outlines steps in a sequential order. However, service blueprints take the perspective of a business, describing what’s needed to provide a certain level of service. One way to create a service blueprint is to take the steps from your journey map, and add the details for how a business would function in order to make each step a success for the user.

Some parting words

User journey mapping is a great exercise for developing a deep understanding of your customer’s experience with a company, its products and its services. Through its visual and storytelling format, you can get a keen sense for your user’s experience, while diving into the minute details of each step and each interaction. When done well, user journey maps are valuable tools for uncovering unique opportunities for improving the experience of your product or service for users.

RELATED ARTICLES

How much to charge for a website: a pricing guide for web designers

REBECCA STREHLOW

What are wireframes? Plus, why they're key to successful product design

NICK BABICH

How to make a responsive website

Find new ways FWD

Thanks for submitting!

By subscribing, you agree to receive the Wix Studio newsletter and other related content and acknowledge that Wix will treat your personal information in accordance with Wix's Privacy Policy .

Do brilliant work—together

Collaborate and share inspiration with other pros in the Wix Studio community.

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

CX Circle is coming to a city near you → Save your spot for the #1 DX event

• Beauty & Cosmetics
• Financial Services
• Miscellaneous

User journey website: understanding the importance of user journeys with design and functionality

Marie Jehanne

October 19, 2023 | 4 min read

Last Updated: Oct 18, 2023

Table of Contents

What is a user journey website?

Why is user journey essential in website design, user journey website: differentiating user journey and user flows, defining user flow.

The user journey is a key aspect in enhancing user experience and boosting the conversion rate on any online platform. It represents the sequence of interactions a user has with a website or app, beginning from the landing page and progressing through various stages to the final goal conversion, often represented visually. Grasping this journey is critical for website designers and developers to generate a more user-friendly interface that aligns with the needs and expectations of their audience. The user journey is a dynamic concept; it evolves as users interact with your website or app and their needs and expectations shift.

Hence, continuous monitoring and analysis of user behavior are essential to identify trends and patterns. This ongoing analysis, through website analytics, can help optimize the user journey, enhancing customer satisfaction and increasing conversions.

Understanding the user journey can also help pinpoint potential barriers that may prevent users from achieving their goals. These could be technical issues, such as slow loading times or broken links, or they could be design-related, such as unclear website navigation or confusing layout. By identifying and addressing these issues, you can improve the user experience, reduce the bounce rate, and increase the likelihood of goal conversion.

A user journey is a visual representation of the process a user undergoes when interacting with a website or app. It maps out various stages of the user’s interaction, from the initial landing page through to the final goal conversion.

The user journey is typically depicted as a series of steps or stages, each representing a specific interaction or decision point. Each step in the user journey represents a decision point or interaction that the user has with your site or app.

These steps can include actions such as clicking on a link, filling out a form, or responding to a call to action. The user journey also encapsulates the user’s emotional responses and perceptions at each stage, providing valuable insight into their overall user experience. The user journey website is not a linear process; it can involve multiple paths and decision points, depending on the user’s needs and goals. This complexity is why it’s essential to map out the user journey, as it allows you to understand the various paths that users may take and the decisions they may make along the way.

The user journey is a critical component of effective website design. It provides valuable insight into how users interact with your site, their needs and expectations, and where potential obstacles or barriers may exist.

This information can inform your design process, helping you to create a more intuitive and user-friendly user interface. A well-designed user journey can enhance user satisfaction and increase the conversion rate. By understanding the user’s needs and expectations at each stage of the journey, you can design your site to meet these needs and facilitate the user’s progress towards their goals. This can result in a more positive user experience, leading to higher customer satisfaction and increased likelihood of goal conversion. The user journey also provides a framework for ongoing analysis and optimization.

By continually monitoring and analyzing user behavior through website analytics , you can identify trends and patterns that can inform your design process. This ongoing analysis can help you to optimize the user journey, addressing any issues or obstacles, improving the click-through rate, and enhancing the overall user experience.

Know what drives engagement and abandonment on your sites and mobile apps .

In the realm of User Experience (UX), a critical aspect of website navigation, the User Journey and User Flows are two distinct yet interconnected concepts. The User Journey is a comprehensive term encapsulating the series of steps a user undertakes when interacting with a digital product or service. This journey starts from the initial point of contact, traverses through various touchpoints, and culminates in a specific outcome.

It provides a holistic view of the user’s experience, which is instrumental in optimizing the conversion rate. User Flows, on the other hand, delve into the specifics. They focus on the path a user takes to complete a particular task within the product or service.

These are typically represented as flowcharts or diagrams and are used to map out the potential routes a user might take to achieve their goal. User Flows, in essence, are a subset of the User Journey website, detailing the step-by-step process involved in task completion. They play a significant role in reducing the bounce rate by ensuring a seamless user interface. Understanding the difference between User Journey and User Flows is crucial for effective UX design. It enables a more targeted approach to product development, focusing on enhancing the click-through rate and ensuring a user-friendly interface.

User Flow refers to the path a user follows to achieve a specific goal within a digital product or service. It’s a key component of UX design and website navigation, facilitating designers in visualizing the steps a user must undertake to complete a task. This process aids in streamlining the user interface and making it as intuitive as possible, thereby enhancing the conversion rate.

The creation of a User Flow commences with a clear understanding of the user’s goal. This goal could range from purchasing a product, signing up for a newsletter, to accessing a specific piece of information on a landing page. Once the goal is defined, the designer maps out the most logical and efficient path to its achievement, taking into account the user’s needs and potential obstacles. This process is crucial in reducing the bounce rate and improving customer satisfaction. User Flows are typically represented as flowcharts or diagrams, with each step in the process represented by a different node.

These nodes are connected by lines that represent the user’s movement from one step to the next. This visual representation, coupled with website analytics, allows designers to easily identify and rectify any potential issues or bottlenecks in the process, thereby improving the click-through rate and ensuring effective call to action.

In conclusion, User Flow is an indispensable tool in UX design. By mapping out the user’s path to goal achievement, designers can ensure a smooth and efficient user experience, thereby increasing customer satisfaction and ultimately, the success of the product.

Stay updated

and never miss an insight!

Passionate about digital for several years, I am the Inbound Content Manager SEO at Contentsquare. My goal? To teach you how to improve the digital CX of your website and activate the right acquisition levers to generate more traffic on your site and therefore…more sales!

Keep Reading...

A 5-step customer segmentation strategy to delight your users and grow your business

Contentsquare

Eurostar Group Leverages Digital to Reach 30 Million Passengers by 2030, Supported by Contentsquare

A step-by-step guide to customer segmentation analysis (+ key metrics)

How the User Journey Impacts Your Success

User journeys play a large role in business success. Learn what a customer journey map should include, read examples, and discover how to improve your customers' experience.

A user or customer journey, sometimes visualized as a journey map, is the path a person follows as they discover a product, service, or brand, learn about it, consider spending money on it, and then make a decision to purchase—or not. Not every user journey ends in a conversion, but it is typically the goal.

Creating a customer journey map can help drive sales, because when you better understand your user's journey, you can provide the information or encouragement they need to commit and become a customer.

Let's look at a couple of examples of user journeys.

User Journey Example: Under-caffeinated Chuck

Chuck is downtown and he wants a cup of coffee. His journey might look something like this:

• Chuck feels drowsy on the way to work and realizes that he wants coffee. He is in a downtown area and has several choices.
• He looks around and sees a local cafe with organic fairtrade coffee, a cheap coffee chain that also offers donuts, and another internationally franchised cafe known for their sustainably grown coffee.
• He considers distance from his current location, expected prep time, his budget, and his values—he appreciates both sustainable agriculture and supporting local businesses.
• He knows that 2 or the 3 options offer coffee that match his ethics about food, and although the franchised cafe with sustainable coffee is slightly closer, he prefers going to the local cafe where he can also do more to boost his city’s economy. The local cafe is also typically faster because it’s less crowded.
• He chooses the local cafe with sustainably sourced coffee.

This is a straightforward example of a user journey. A more in-depth example might include asking an employee for information or, if the journey is entirely online, searching for information, looking up reviews, comparing the competition, and considering the cost.

How to create an accurate user journey

To map an accurate customer journey, you need to know your customers and how they discover your brand. To create customer profiles, begin by learning about the demographics of customers who already shop with your brand. This profile is an outline of your target customer’s interests, pain points, income level, age range, location, and more. The entry point is where they become aware of your brand. In the 2 examples above, both had street-level entry points, but other entry points include online searches, word-of-mouth recommendations, as well as social media, television, and print ads.

Consider all the entry points that might lead customers to your brand. Then generate user journeys from those points using your customer profiles to target similar audiences. After that, you'll need to refine your journey maps to turn shoppers into buyers.

Your goal is to guide your potential customers along their journey as much as possible. This will also help you reduce or eliminate barriers to conversion like by answering questions, making the right offers, and providing clarity when it’s needed.

The stages of the user journey

Each user journey is unique. But no matter what customer profile you're dealing with, or what their point of entry is, the structure of all customer journeys has stages in common:

Consideration

Your goal at each of the first 3 phases of the journey is to improve the chances of purchase and retention. Every point on the journey has a connection to every other point, especially when the goal is to motivate and maintain customer loyalty and drive customers through retention and back through the whole process again.

In the awareness phase, the user learns about or is reminded of your product or service, usually as a response to something they need or desire. The awareness phase can follow a previous purchase, which means that the retention phase was a success, leading them around to begin the cycle again.

Here, the user looks at the virtues and the flaws of your brand and any other brands also up for consideration. This is when pricing, value, customer service, branding, communication, and other factors come into play.

At this point, the user has looked at the relevant differences among the available options. If there's any information about your product or service that the customer hasn't been able to find at this point, it could mean losing the sale.

Here, the user either makes a purchase or doesn't. But this isn't the end of the journey—keep in mind that they may be buying from you because another brand is not available to serve their needs at the moment. This is your chance to curry favor with such customers: Your e-commerce platform should be easy to navigate, your customer service should be on point, and any discounts you may have on offer should be extended.

Now that a customer has purchased from you, you want to retain their loyalty. It's a good idea to check in with them after their purchase: Ask for feedback, tell them about complementary products or updates to your services, and try to discover ways to increase their satisfaction in the future. When they reenter the awareness phase, you want positive interactions and friendly and complete customer service to follow them into the next round of consideration.

How to improve a user’s journey

The key to getting the most out of the user's journey is to know your customer as well as possible. This is why a customer profile and all the possible entry points into the journey are important to understand as you define your customer journey . You want an extensive, complete, and accurate profile of the various kinds of people who shop for the products or services you offer.

You need to consider possible entry points into the user's journey. Here’s an example: A woman named Carla is in search of new headphones. She knows that she could travel to her local mall to search for just the right pair, and then she wouldn’t have to wait for them to be delivered. But she also knows that by shopping online, she can more easily compare more options. In this example, a business that sells headphones would need to consider all of the paths that Carla may take to find their products. She could visit a store where they are sold, she might search online, or she might find the right pair through an ad on social media or an email promotion.

The customer profile, the entry point into their journey, and what you have on your shelves (whether brick-and-mortar or online) should all flow together to make a coherent experience for each potential customer.

Build user journey maps

A user journey can be mapped with flow charts or diagrams that take the needs, wants, and habits from a given customer profile and trace a journey from entry point and awareness to retention and back through again. Ideally, you want a journey map for each user starting at each possible point of entry. You're going to need several versions of each user journey map, with different paths based on entry point, previous purchases, email engagement, and so on.

Your goal is to be able to anticipate and answer questions a customer might have before they move on to make a purchase. After they've made a purchase, you want to make sure that the retention phase directs them back to the beginning of the journey. It's all about communication—you need to keep in touch to let them know how you can meet their needs, promote new products or services you have on offer, and get them hooked via rewards and discounts.

That's where Mailchimp's Customer Journey Builder comes in. Mailchimp is an all-in-one marketing and e-commerce platform, allowing you to send marketing emails, newsletters, product and service updates, and everything else you need to keep your customers engaged and satisfied. With Mailchimp, you can also create your business website, employing best practices that will help you turn potential customers into brand-loyal repeat customers. Remember, the customer journey doesn't have to end with the purchase, and Mailchimp is here to make sure it doesn't.

Keep customers coming back for more with Mailchimp’s free Customer Retention Kit

Whether you’re looking to improve existing strategies or seeking fresh insights into who your customers are, this kit is a comprehensive collection of resources designed to cultivate lasting relationships with valued customers.

Fill out the form below to receive your free Customer Retention Kit

By signing up, you are agreeing that we can use your email address to market to you. You can unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time by using the link in our emails. For more information, please review our privacy statement .

Related Topics

• Email Automations
• CRM Automations
• Transactional Email
• Map Customer Journeys

• Case studies
• Expert advice

Website visitor journey map + free template

When it comes to customer experience, the first interaction matters a lot. And it can happen way before the client even touches the product or service your offer. For example, when they see an online ad promoting your product.

That’s something to keep in mind when running any business, no matter whether it is online or offline. Website owners (especially those offering a SaaS product) might be tempted to think only about the technical side of their product. But they should also focus on the user experience they deliver at different stages of your user journey.

When it comes to customer experience, the first interaction matters a lot. And it can happen way before the client even touches the product or service you offer. For example, when they see an online ad promoting your product.

To understand what your company website visitors are stressed about and know what problems may exist before a visitor even faces them and come up with ideas on how to improve their experience, as well as your website and product, you can start with creating a user journey map for your website, detailing the steps your user takes and even mapping out their emotional journey.

A quality journey map can help plan out user-friendly navigation from initial research to post-purchase needs, convert a lead to a customer, and increase customer loyalty by getting a +1 brand advocate. 

To provide you with some guidance on building a customer map for a website, we’ll follow in the footsteps of Mike Wojcik, a product marketing manager looking for an IT solution for his company and his website journey. This customer journey map outlines the stages Mike goes through, focusing on Mike’s actions and emotions during the interaction with the website of a SaaS company — DemoFilm.

So, what does Mike’s journey look like? Read on to find it out, or scroll down to watch the video about it.

• 1 Before actually creating a journey map for a website
• 3.1 Phase 0: Get aware & Search
• 3.2 Phase 1: Website navigation before purchase 
• 3.3 Phase 2. Website navigation for post-purchase needs
• 4 Website visitor journey map
• 5 The video

Before actually creating a journey map for a website

Create your persona(s) first. The protagonist of this journey map is Mike Wojcik, a product marketing manager at ChartAnalysta. The company develops solutions to visualize statistical data in charts and figures.

The product marketing team is launching new features in the platform. Mike is searching for an easy-to-use solution to create product demo videos of the ChartAnalysta platform and deliver the product value to their leads and customers more efficiently.

Mike’s personal and professional goal is to grow his time-management skills. He prefers to work independently and is a perfectionist and a science geek. He isn’t quite familiar with classical video editing tools. Being a SaaS worker himself, Mike believes that a good SaaS service is worth using. Thus, he is looking for software that could do all the monkey jobs for him and one he could manage easily.

After outlining your buyer persona (learn more about how to create a buyer persona in our Step-By-Step Guide ), decide on the sections to add to the journey map. 

In the map we built for this article, we used 7 sections of UXPressia’s CJM Tool:

• Goals – to understand Mike’s goals and think of how to help him achieve those goals;
• Action points – to get a full picture of what the user does at each stage and plan out any possible user interactions with your website;
• Problems – to find out existing experience flaws;
• Ideas – to spot opportunities for future improvements;
• Process and channels – to visualize Mike’s path through different channels;
• Experience – to illustrate the user’s emotional journey;
• Image — to explain things visually:

After defining the sections, think of the stages of the map. In our example, we divided Mike’s journey into 12 stages. This website user journey map template can work to spot ideas for improving your current web pages and foresee the pitfalls in the prospective website UX. Note that UXPressia’s templates are 100% flexible. You can remove, move around, or add custom sections depending on your specific business needs.

Website visitor journey stages

Let’s look at the possible stages of a website visitor journey. Ready to learn Mike’s story?

Phase 0: Get aware & Search

Every customer journey starts with understanding a problem and an intent to find a solution. Mike comes up with the idea to use a software solution instead of hiring a video editor or urgently learning to edit videos himself after discussing the problem with his teammates at a work meeting. This is where the initial search starts. Your future website visitor can be searching through multiple channels at a time, so it’s a point to plan out your digital presence and improve the brand’s share of voice.

At the stage of the search, just like any average user, Mike visits and compares various websites, learns the basics about the solution itself, and decides on choosing a software OR gets back to his initial plan (hire a person to do video editing or do it all by himself).

Phase 1: Website navigation before purchase 

1.1 main page.

In most cases, the main website page will be the first touchpoint for your future customers. They likely have already reviewed a couple of websites and don't want to spend another 20 minutes examining each and every detail of your software. Remember that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. When visiting the website, Mike wants to get a quick answer to the question, “Can this software solve my problem?”. Optimize your main page or landing page to make it transparent and provide the value clearly and briefly.

1.2 Product tour + Subscription plan

It’s time to show what’s under the bonnet of your software and how it overcomes the competitors, but remember not to delve much into technical details. It would be great to merge this page with the pricing plan page so that users have a clear understanding of how much they pay for an actual set of features and don't need to get back and forth between two pages.

1.3 Demo request

Mike is impressed with the DemoFilm software and sees the platform with his own eyes. However, he can’t just quickly get access. Instead, he has to leave a demo request and wait for the sales manager to contact him to schedule a demo call demonstration. While a guided demo and a call with a sales representative definitely have their perks, this step can be a huge obstacle for a visitor. Think of providing an option to try your platform and schedule a meeting afterward. Integrate a live chat with a sales manager to remove this limitation. 

1. 4 Free trial

After a demo call with sales and a little help choosing the plan, Mike is ready for his free trial. He is full of enthusiasm but also a little bit nervous as he has never created a demo video before. The free period is a double-sided coin. We all love freebies, but the frustration comes when the grace period is over. Mike feels really great about using the software, but he is anxious to miss the end of the period and get withdrawn automatically. Make sure you provide clear instructions for this flow on your website. Think of adding automatic notifications or a countdown. And, of course, state it all out clearly about payment options. 

Phase 2. Website navigation for post-purchase needs

The user’s journey doesn’t end with a purchase. A SaaS user usually keeps interacting with a website, using it as an entry point to the software. If your business only provides downloadable desktop software, you can still think of your website optimization for users’ post-purchase needs, like support, education, troubleshooting, learning for the new updates, etc.

2.1 Additional service

You can think of introducing some add-ons at this stage. Tell more about the additional services or enterprise offers before visitors proceed to payment. Mike got interested in corporate onboarding and added this service to his final billing. Just like at the previous stage, make sure you deliver this information clearly.

2.2 Billing form

Your crucial milestone is almost reached, so it’s important it goes without a hitch. Design a 1-2 click payment solution, shareable payment links, and auto-billing within the same webpage. And no PDFs or additional emails to share with an accountant, please!

2.3 Platform login + Support & Intercom

After paying for the service, Mike can’t wait to proceed to his job task and create his first demo video. However, he still experiences issues with creating accounts for his teammates and has to waste his time interacting with customer success and technical support in emails, intercom messages, and on the phone. Mike also faces some trouble figuring out how to use one of the platform features. He contacts support but only receives the links to long-read articles that require a lot of time to find the answer.

A good tip here: plan out one means of communication on your website. Adding an intercom (or similar) service can improve the customer experience, even if they face some trouble with your service. Plan out some basic answers, but never underestimate the power of personal communication.

2.4 Feedback

A satisfied customer or website visitor is the best business strategy of all. Design a questionnaire to collect customer feedback and, once in a while, send push-up notifications asking the customers to share their experiences. Don’t be too pushy or include too many open questions. A happy customer will tell more in his own words if he really wants to. Respect privacy, as not everyone likes their messages to be shared in public. Design a customer review section on your website’s main page to showcase the best customer experience and grow your business liability.

Website visitor journey map

Combining all the stages, you will end up with a detailed journey map ready for further ideation process, precise website visitor tracking, and improvement of your visitors' experience. Mike's journey looks like this:

Ready to build your own website customer journey map and improve your website traffic? Take the first step using the template and a detailed customer journey experience with the help of the UXPressia template.

Prefer watching to reading? Check out our YouTube video with Mike's story.

Related posts

Rate this post

Customer Journey Maps: How to Create Really Good Ones [Examples + Template]

Updated: April 17, 2024

Published: May 04, 2023

Did you know 70% of online shoppers abandoned their carts in 2022? Why would someone spend time adding products to their cart just to fall off the customer journey map at the last second?

The thing is — understanding your customer base can be very challenging. Even when you think you’ve got a good read on them, the journey from awareness to purchase for each customer will always be unpredictable, at least to some level.

Download Now

While it isn’t possible to predict every experience with 100% accuracy, customer journey mapping is a convenient tool for keeping track of critical milestones that every customer hits. In this post, I’ll explain everything you need to know about customer journey mapping — what it is, how to create one, and best practices.

Table of Contents

What is the customer journey?

What is a customer journey map, benefits of customer journey mapping, customer journey stages.

• What’s included in a customer journey map?

The Customer Journey Mapping Process

Steps for creating a customer journey map.

• Types of Customer Journey Maps

Customer Journey Mapping Best Practices

• Customer Journey Design
• Customer Journey Map Examples

Free Customer Journey Map Templates

Free Customer Journey Template

Outline your company's customer journey and experience with these 7 free templates.

• Buyer's Journey Template
• Future State Template
• Day-in-the-Life Template

Download Free

All fields are required.

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

The customer journey is the series of interactions a customer has with a brand, product, or business as they become aware of a pain point and make a purchase decision. While the buyer’s journey refers to the general process of arriving at a purchase, the customer journey refers to a buyer's purchasing experience with a specific company or service.

Customer Journey vs. Buyer Journey

Many businesses that I’ve worked with were confused about the differences between the customer’s journey and the buyer’s journey. The buyer’s journey is the entire buying experience from pre-purchase to post-purchase. It covers the path from customer awareness to becoming a product or service user.

In other words, buyers don’t wake up and decide to buy on a whim. They go through a process of considering, evaluating, and purchasing a new product or service.

The customer journey refers to your brand’s place within the buyer’s journey. These are the customer touchpoints where you will meet your customers as they go through the stages of the buyer’s journey. When you create a customer journey map, you’re taking control of every touchpoint at every stage of the journey instead of leaving it up to chance.

For example, at HubSpot, our customer’s journey is divided into three stages — pre-purchase/sales, onboarding/migration, and normal use/renewal.

1. Use customer journey map templates.

Why make a customer journey map from scratch when you can use a template? Save yourself some time by downloading HubSpot’s free customer journey map templates .

This has templates that map out a buyer’s journey, a day in your customer’s life, lead nurturing, and more.

These templates can help sales, marketing, and customer support teams learn more about your company’s buyer persona. This will improve your product and customer experience.

2. Set clear objectives for the map.

Before you dive into your customer journey map, you need to ask yourself why you’re creating one in the first place.

What goals are you directing this map towards? Who is it for? What experience is it based upon?

If you don’t have one, I recommend creating a buyer persona . This persona is a fictitious customer with all the demographics and psychographics of your average customer. This persona reminds you to direct every aspect of your customer journey map toward the right audience.

3. Profile your personas and define their goals.

Next, you should conduct research. This is where it helps to have customer journey analytics ready.

Don’t have them? No worries. You can check out HubSpot’s Customer Journey Analytics tool to get started.

Questionnaires and user testing are great ways to obtain valuable customer feedback. The important thing is to only contact actual customers or prospects.

You want feedback from people interested in purchasing your products and services who have either interacted with your company or plan to do so.

Some examples of good questions to ask are:

• How did you hear about our company?
• What first attracted you to our website?
• What are the goals you want to achieve with our company? In other words, what problems are you trying to solve?
• How long have you/do you typically spend on our website?
• Have you ever made a purchase with us? If so, what was your deciding factor?
• Have you ever interacted with our website to make a purchase but decided not to? If so, what led you to this decision?
• On a scale of 1 to 10, how easily can you navigate our website?
• Did you ever require customer support? If so, how helpful was it, on a scale of 1 to 10?
• Can we further support you to make your process easier?

You can use this buyer persona tool to fill in the details you procure from customer feedback.

4. Highlight your target customer personas.

Once you’ve learned about the customer personas that interact with your business, I recommend narrowing your focus to one or two.

Remember, a customer journey map tracks the experience of a customer taking a particular path with your company. If you group too many personas into one journey, your map won’t accurately reflect that experience.

When creating your first map, it’s best to pick your most common customer persona and consider the route they would typically take when engaging with your business for the first time.

You can use a marketing dashboard to compare each and determine the best fit for your journey map. Don’t worry about the ones you leave out, as you can always go back and create a new map specific to those customer types.

5. List out all touchpoints.

Begin by listing the touchpoints on your website.

What is a touchpoint in a customer journey map?

A touchpoint in a customer journey map is an instance where your customer can form an opinion of your business. You can find touchpoints in places where your business comes in direct contact with a potential or existing customer.

For example, if I were to view a display ad, interact with an employee, reach a 404 error, or leave a Google review, all of those interactions would be considered a customer touchpoint.

Your brand exists beyond your website and marketing materials, so you must consider the different types of touchpoints in your customer journey map. These touchpoints can help uncover opportunities for improvement in the buying journey.

Based on your research, you should have a list of all the touchpoints your customers are currently using and the ones you believe they should be using if there’s no overlap.

This is essential in creating a customer journey map because it provides insight into your customers’ actions.

For instance, if they use fewer touchpoints than expected, does this mean they’re quickly getting turned away and leaving your site early? If they are using more than expected, does this mean your website is complicated and requires several steps to reach an end goal?

Whatever the case, understanding touchpoints help you understand the ease or difficulties of the customer journey.

Aside from your website, you must also look at how your customers might find you online. These channels might include:

• Social channels.
• Email marketing.
• Third-party review sites or mentions.

Run a quick Google search of your brand to see all the pages that mention you. Verify these by checking your Google Analytics to see where your traffic is coming from. Whittle your list down to those touchpoints that are the most common and will be most likely to see an action associated with it.

At HubSpot, we hosted workshops where employees from all over the company highlighted instances where our product, service, or brand impacted a customer. Those moments were recorded and logged as touchpoints. This showed us multiple areas of our customer journey where our communication was inconsistent.

The proof is in the pudding — you can see us literally mapping these touch points out with sticky notes in the image below.

How often should you update your customer journey map?

Your map should be a constant work in progress.

Reviewing it monthly or quarterly will help you identify gaps and opportunities to streamline your customer journey further. Use your data analytics and customer feedback to check for roadblocks.

To keep all stakeholders involved in this process, consider visualizing your maps in a collaborative tool such as Google Sheets.

Additionally, I recommend conducting regular meetings to analyze how new products or offerings have changed the customer journey.

Featured Resource: Customer Journey Map Template

Don't forget to share this post!

Related articles.

How AI Image Misuse Made a World of Miscommunication [Willy's Chocolate Experience]

7 Ways to Delight Your Customers This Holiday Season

14 Customer Experience Fails that Companies Can Learn From

How Customer Experience Has Evolved Over the Last Decade [+ 2024 Trends]

Memorable Examples of AR in Customer Experience [+Tips for Implementing the Technology]

Digital Customer Experience: The Ultimate Guide for 2024

How to Implement a Hybrid Customer Service Strategy That Works [Expert Tips]

User Flows: 8 Tips For Creating A Super Smooth User Experience

11 Best Practices for B2B Customer Experience

Customer Experience vs. User Experience: What’s the Difference? [+ Examples]

Outline your company's customer journey and experience with these 7 free customer journey map templates.

Service Hub provides everything you need to delight and retain customers while supporting the success of your whole front office

Product Design Bundle and save

User Research New

Content Design

UX Design Fundamentals

Software and Coding Fundamentals for UX

• UX training for teams
• Hire our alumni
• Student Stories
• State of UX Hiring Report 2024
• Our mission
• Advisory Council

Education for every phase of your UX career

Professional Diploma

Learn the full user experience (UX) process from research to interaction design to prototyping.

Combine the UX Diploma with the UI Certificate to pursue a career as a product designer.

Professional Certificates

Learn how to plan, execute, analyse and communicate user research effectively.

Master content design and UX writing principles, from tone and style to writing for interfaces.

Understand the fundamentals of UI elements and design systems, as well as the role of UI in UX.

Short Courses

Gain a solid foundation in the philosophy, principles and methods of user experience design.

Learn the essentials of software development so you can work more effectively with developers.

Give your team the skills, knowledge and mindset to create great digital products.

Join our hiring programme and access our list of certified professionals.

Learn about our mission to set the global standard in UX education.

Meet our leadership team with UX and education expertise.

Members of the council connect us to the wider UX industry.

Our team are available to answer any of your questions.

Fresh insights from experts, alumni and the wider design community.

Success stories from our course alumni building thriving careers.

Discover a wealth of UX expertise on our YouTube channel.

Latest industry insights. A practical guide to landing a job in UX.

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.

Free course: Introduction to UX Design

What is UX? Why has it become so important? Could it be a career for you? Learn the answers, and more, with a free 7-lesson video course.

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.

[GET CERTIFIED IN UI DESIGN]

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

Subscribe to our newsletter

Get the best UX insights and career advice direct to your inbox each month.

Thanks for subscribing to our newsletter

You'll now get the best career advice, industry insights and UX community content, direct to your inbox every month.

Upcoming courses

Professional diploma in ux design.

Learn the full UX process, from research to design to prototyping.

Professional Certificate in UI Design

Master key concepts and techniques of UI design.

Certificate in Software and Coding Fundamentals for UX

Collaborate effectively with software developers.

Certificate in UX Design Fundamentals

Get a comprehensive introduction to UX design.

Professional Certificate in Content Design

Learn the skills you need to start a career in content design.

Professional Certificate in User Research

Master the research skills that make UX professionals so valuable.

Upcoming course

Build your UX career with a globally-recognised, industry-approved certification. Get the mindset, the skills and the confidence of UX designers.

You may also like

The ultimate guide to card design for UI (with examples)

The ultimate guide to mobile app design: Follow these UI principles & best practices

The best online survey tools to use in 2024

Build your UX career with a globally recognised, industry-approved qualification. Get the mindset, the confidence and the skills that make UX designers so valuable.

2 July 2024

• How it Works
• Case Studies
• The GDD Slack
• State of GDD Report
• Workshops and Events
• Methodology

Journey Mapping

• How It Works
• UX Research
• Buyer Personas
• Jobs to be Done
• Customer Journey Mapping
• Design Sprints
• Go for Launch
• Agile Web Design vs Waterfall

Once you’ve created a detailed buyer persona to help guide your website’s content, messaging, and design, what is the next step?

Think about your   buyer persona’s   relationship to your website, and how they engage with it before, during, and after they become a customer.

How do they prefer to discover, inquire, and learn about your offering?

A customer journey map outlines what your personas, leads, and customers will experience once they hit your site. How they interact with your brand from the first point of contact until the sale, and even after. Whether you sell product, software, service, or other offering, a customer journey map is an effective tool to understand how your leads interpret and interact with your website.

When creating a customer journey map, you can approach the process in two ways:

• Focus on the entire journey and experience
• Focus on a specific stage of the journey and experience 

With both, it’s important to identify the key interactions at each stage, and pinpoint what the user is feeling, what questions they may have, and what motivates them.

Many customer journey maps depict this information via an infographic or diagram for easy visualization.

There is no one way to   create a customer journey map . Choose the format that works best for your brand. Later in this post, we’ll look at more ways to create a journey map. First, let’s dive into why your company should consider using a customer journey map.

The Importance of Using a Customer Journey Map

Mapping out your customer’s journey   allows your organization to understand exactly how a person is feeling at each point of interaction with your brand; what key questions they may have (that perhaps you aren’t currently answering), and their specific needs at each stage of their journey.

Using a customer journey map, your entire organization gains a better understanding of not only your   customer,   but how your website affects their   decision making   process.

For more on the benefits of a customer journey map,   watch this video .

The Marketing Team

learns more about the customer than a buyer persona alone can tell them. Insights into the type of questions the customer   seeks   to answer, and the opportunities to improve and optimize their experience in finding those   answers,   helps align copy, CTA’s, and resources in a more effective way.

The Design Team

Gains access to the before and after: How did the customer arrive, and where are they going next? This insight helps build a stronger, more optimized design approach and helps aid the natural flow and browsing behavior of the customer.

Gains an understanding of how each customer moves through the website and sales funnel, allowing them to better understand where and how they can optimize for greater results.

Overall, your team will be able to pinpoint the exact places where your user experience falls short. Identifying:

• Channel Changes:   What exactly is happening when your lead is arriving from or going to a different channel associated with your website. How can you make this transition smoother?
• Device Changes:   How does your customer’s experience change when using different devices to browse your website.

The Stages of a Customer Journey Map

Your business’s journey map should be centered around the buyer journey stages : Awareness, consideration, decision, and after purchase.

From there, dig into each stage. Explore the following to ensure a seamless transition from one stage to the next:

What are the visitor’s motivations?

What questions are they asking, what actions are they taking, where are they blocked.

At each stage, what has motivated the lead to be there? What motivates them to keep moving forward? What are the emotional aspects attached to their motivations?

Just as their journey unfolds, so too will their questions. What questions do they need to answer before they can move to the next stage? Is industry lingo, or a technically difficult concept, holding them up?

What types of activity are you seeing from leads and customers at each stage? What actions are they taking to help move toward the next stage. What actions are they not taking?

Are there any reasons that your visitor can’t move to the next stage? What are they? Is your price structure, onboarding, service, or overall process confusing them or giving them pause?

Through customer research centered around site browsing/purchase behavior, customer interviews, and tools like website heat maps, you can gain a solid understanding of what customers may be experiencing at each stage.

While documenting a customer journey is one thing, the actual way people choose to purchase, or make buying decisions, can be very different. Some prospects will skip everything between awareness and purchase, while others will stay in the consideration phase for months. It’s important to understand that not everyone’s journey is the same. Yet, with more information, analytics, and research, you will be set up to provide a streamlined experience for most leads; anticipating their concerns and questions to move them toward a purchase decision.

HOW TO PERFORM CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAP RESEARCH

If you’ve already performed your   buyer persona research ,   you should have a solid foundation to start on your customer journey map. Next, you must develop an understanding of the interactions your personas will have with your website, and learn more about their specific actions. Of course, these actions are based on what their personality dictates.

When approaching a deeper analysis, you will need to look at both analytical data and anecdotal.

BUILDING YOUR CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAP

Here comes the fun part! Putting together all of your new insights, personas, hypotheses, and data and   making your customer journey map.   Design it in a way that best suites your organization. Some people choose infographic styling, while others choose a timeline view. However, your company chooses to represent your customer journey, make sure the design does not overshadow the main purpose: The website visitor’s journey and their story.

Here Are The Elements You Should Definitely Include In Your Customer Journey Map:

Phases : Make sure you clearly depict the buyer journey phases ( awareness, consideration, decision, and after purchase).

Personas : Whose journey are you mapping? Refer to your buyer personas and include them, or break them out into individual maps.

Channels : Where are these personas coming from? How did they find your site? Once they arrive what happens?

Touchpoints: What actions are your visitors taking? Where are your key opportunities for interactions? What are their clicks, downloads, signups, etc.?

Emotional Response: What emotions are they feeling at each stage? What are their questions/concerns/feelings? What moves them to the next phase, and holds them back from another?

There are many different ways to create a customer journey map, and there are many channels, personas, and scenarios you could create. Start small - you don’t need every single option. The goal is to tell a story about a customer’s needs, what they are searching for, and how and if they find it on your site.

SHARE, REFINE, AND PUT TO USE

Building a customer journey map is exciting and useful for the entire organization. Once you’ve created your first prototype - share it with your team.

Remember, every time a lead or customer has a negative interaction with your brand or website, it lowers your brand’s trustworthiness and chance to delight a customer. By outlining your customer’s interactions, emotional state, and questions/concerns in a visual way, your organization has a better chance of discovering new ways to win customer loyalty and enhance the customer relationship with the brand.

GET THE FULL

Website strategy kit, start your growth-driven design journey, continuous improvement.

• State of GDD 2017 Report

Usability & Web Accessibility

User journey maps, quick definition.

Journey Maps are a UX visualization document that showcases the steps that a user takes in a process to accomplish a goal.  Personas are created with information gathered from user and stakeholder interviews.As a result of these activities, you can identify the most important functionality an audience needs.

NNG Journey Map Example  

Why Use a Journey Map? 

At a high level, journey maps are a combination of storytelling, visual design, and empathy. When completed, your project team will have a complete idea of how your users interact with your website or application and have clear definitions of your pain points.  The process of creating a journey map allows your team to have an internal conversation and avoid any possibility of assumption misalignments.

Additionally, a visual design deliverable like a journey map is an effective way of creating something memorable and easily digestible so that everyone from managers, stakeholders and staff members can easily relate to it. 

What Makes up a Journey Map?

• The Person – This is usually represented as a Persona or an Archetype. This provides a point of view for your users/people. 
• Environment or scenario – This describes the journey that the user will be going on. An example of this could be “John Smith is looking to buy a new car”. This lays the expectations of the user and based on which persona/archetype they are, we can make assumptions on user behavior. 
• Journey Phases – This describes the high-level stages of the user’s journey. In the previous example we can use stages like Research -> Test Driving -> Purchasing -> Initial Experience. 
• Actions, Mindset, Emotions – These are behaviors that the user will encounter throughout their journey and can be mapped while they go through the different stages. John can have felt overwhelmed during the research stage and have a student-like mindset, but when he gets to the test-driving stage, he could experience doubt and a second-guessing mindset. 
• Opportunities – These are insights that come as a result of the mapping. The opportunities allow the team to identify and answer questions like “How can we improve the test-driving experience?” and “Where are the biggest opportunities to improve the car buying experience?”. 

• Journey Mapping 101 – NNG 
• A Beginners Guide to Journey Mapping – UX Planet 
• Archetypes and Personas  – Yale Usability 

Guides » User Journey Map » User Journey Map Examples

Register Now to Beegin Your Journey!

Register Now For Free to Beegin Your Journey!

User Journey Map Examples

In this part of the guide we are going to present you some user journey map examples, describing their types, components and differences..

Last update 13.07.2023

User journey maps come in all shapes and sizes, depending on the type of product, persona and the goals you’ve defined for the research project. We understand it can be confusing to come up with your own structure suitable for your specific use case. That’s why we gathered 5 different user journey map examples to make sure you have something to look up to when working on your own map. 

It’s always easier to create something based on the examples of professionals who’ve already done it! 

In examples below we go through user journey maps of :

• Indian Railways

Improve your product’s UX with UXtweak

The only UX research tool you need to visualize your customers’ frustration and better understand their issues

Example 1: NN/group

We chose NN/group ’s user journey map as the first example for one reason. It’s very simple and easy to recreate and can serve as the most basic template with all the crucial components inside. In this particular case, we’re looking at the user journey map of the Jumping Jamie, who is looking to switch her mobile plans in order to save money. 

The map perfectly outlines the 4 user stages she goes through: define, compare, negotiate, select .

We can see that at each stage Jamie completes different steps on the way to her final goal. We can also see the feelings she has along the way and the line which represents her emotions, going from the low to high points, depending on her satisfaction with the experience. The bottom of the map serves as the conclusion, defining the opportunities for improving the customer journey and internal ownership. 

Source: NN/group

Example 2: Spotify

Spotify’s map for improving their music sharing experience is a great example of a B2C customer journey map . It was created as a part of a design project with the goal to add a music sharing feature that would allow listeners to send each other playlists and songs either within the platform or using other platforms. The project included customer journey mapping together with developing a persona as a part of the research stage. Check out the full Spotify case study to learn more.

As we can see on this map, there are a lot more stages a typical Spotify user goes through. Their thoughts and actions are described a lot more detailed and there are also additional sections such as touchpoints and actors. This map helped the design team understand at which point and why users get motivated to share music with each other. One of the key insights was that users are much more likely to share a song when the sharing feature is visible to them.

Meghana Bowen , a UX designer who worked on the project talks about pain points they uncovered: “ The biggest pain points discovered during the research stage was that the participants were worried about being judged for their music habits, as well as, most users were not aware of a share functionality existing.” 

Example 3: Hubspot

In 2018 Hubspot created their own customer journey map and wrote a whole article about it providing you tips to create your own. 

They chose a classical linear structure and used color-coding to make it more readable. A great idea was to add testimonials of their actual customers dealing with the product during the user research stage. This helped to empathize with them better, make existing problems feel more real and urgent and justify the data about their feelings.

It’s also a great thing to add for those who you’ll be presenting your user journey map to. These people will not be completely familiar with the research process behind it, but reading the testimonials could help them get more context on what’s going on at each stage of the journey.  

Example 4: UXPressia 

Another user journey map example, this time by UXPressia. It perfectly represents the B2B customer journey , outlining the stages a user goes through while making a purchase, from awareness to bonding or detachment. 

UXPressia’s user journey map also includes 2 handy sections: barriers and motivators, that they describe under each stage. We can see that while there are no detailed emotions described at this map (as in the previous ones, for example), it’s still informative due to the motivators and barriers sections.

That again proves that user journey maps can and should look differently, as long as they are informative and clearly represent your user’s POV. 

Example 5: Indian Railways

Our last example will be a user journey map created by Deepika Sinha from a research case study found on Behance. The study was conducted with a goal of improving the mobile UX of an Indian Railway app. You can check out the whole case study here .

This is a great example of how you can make an informative user journey map while still keeping it clean, visually appealing and not scary to read. The map shows the experience of booking tickets through the app, describes the pain points a user goes through and the opportunities for designers to improve the experience.

How to create a user journey map?

Creating a user journey map is an iterative process that not only includes building a map itself, but also a lot of user research and usability testing done throughout the whole process.

Creating a user journey map for your specific persona helps to look at the product from their point of view, uncover pain points and opportunities for fine-tuning the user flow in order to make it more intuitive. 

To create a user journey map we recommend following these 7 steps:

• Set the objectives
• Define user personas
• Get to know your audience
• Define the journey phases
• Map out each phase
• Validate the user journey
• Identify confusions and areas of improvement

Check out our user journey map page, where we explain each of the steps in detail and walk you through the process of creating your own map.

Get access to actionable templates and examples! Learn how to create the perfect customer journey map today with our free ebook guide. ⬇️

Customer Journey Ebook

How to create a customer journey for your business

User Journey Map Tools

User journey map template, topics: user journey map.

• 01. User Journey Map
• 02. User Journey Map Tools
• 03. User Journey Map Examples
• 04. User Journey Map Template

User Journey Map

• Card Sorting
• Tree Testing
• Preference Test
• Five Second Test
• Session Recording
• Freeform Interviews
• Study Interviews
• Mobile Testing
• First Click Test
• Prototype Testing
• Website Testing
• Onsite Recruiting
• Own Database
• Documentation
• Product features
• UX Glossary
• Comparisons

🤝Interested in working with us? Let’s talk about development for equity. 👨‍💻 [Get in Touch]

• AR & VR Solutions
• Internet of Things Solutions
• Omnichannel Solutions
• Analytics & Business Intelligence
• IT Security
• Business Process Automation
• Cloud Computing Solutions
• eLearning & Online Training
• Social Networking Solutions
• CRM Solutions
• Dashboard & Data Visualization
• Application Development
• Machine Learning Development
• Artificial Intelligence Development
• Chatbot Development
• Robotic Process Automation
• Data Science Consulting
• Natural Language Processing
• Video Analytics
• ChatGPT Application Development
• Software Development
• WordPress Development
• SEO Services
• AWS Consulting
• Google Cloud Consulting
• Database Development
• Devops Consulting Services
• Cloud Application Development
• UI/UX Design
• Ecommerce Development
• Marketplace Development
• Mobile App Development Services
• iPhone App Development
• Hybrid App Development
• Android App Development
• MVP Development
• Microservices Development
• Web Development
• Virtual CTO as a Service
• Development For Equity
• Vision Pro App Development
• Web Portal Development
• Software Product Development
• Software Testing
• Web Application Development
• Hire ASP.NET MVC Developers
• Hire PHP Developers
• Hire iOS & Android Developers
• API Development Services
• Progressive Web App Development
• AngularJS Development
• Reactjs Development
• Vuejs Development
• Nextjs Development
• Nestjs Development
• MongoDB Development
• .NET Development
• CakePHP Development
• Codeigniter Development
• Laravel Development
• Symfony Development
• React Native Development
• Flutter Development
• MERN Stack Development
• MEAN Stack Development
• Full Stack Development
• Java Development
• NodeJS Development Services
• Python Development
• WebRTC Development Services
• Cardano Development
• Polygon Development
• Solana Development
• Binance Smart Chain Development
• Ethereum Development
• Cosmos Development
• Tezos Development
• Tron Development
• Hyperledger Development
• Polkadot Development
• EOS Development
• Web3 Development
• Crypto Exchange
• Crypto Wallet Development
• Smart Contract Development
• dApp Development
• NFT Marketplace Development
• Metaverse Development
• Dedicated Development Resources
• Proof of Concept (PoC)
• System Audit
• Software Maintenance
• Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
• Product Discovery
• IT Consulting
• Food and Beverage
• Engineering
• Finance & Insurance
• Manufacturing
• Media & Publishing
• Hospitality & Travel
• Online Commerce
• Sports and Entertainment
• Professional Services
• ISVs and Product Development Solutions
• Offshore Outsourcing
• Offshore Development Center
• Engagement Models
• Case Studies
• Testimonials
• Infrastructure
• Software Development Company India
• Content Management Services
• SaaS Development Services
• Design Services
• Game Development
• Ecommerce Development Services
• Web Development Services
• Social Media App Development
• Hire Dedicated Remote Developers
• DevOps Consulting Services
• Cloud Application Development Services
• Frontend Development
• PHP Development

User Flow Vs User Journey : Differences and Similarities

How to create.

Last Updated: 3 Jun 2024

User flow vs user journey

Both user journey and user flows are significant UX tools . They help streamline the processes through which users follow to achieve their objectives when using specific products and services. In other words, they are both user-entered. Although they play the same role, they differ on some level, as described in this guide.

Overview of user flow: what is user flow?

Also known as flowcharts or UX flows are simply an in-depth representation of diagrams showing the complete path a user follows when executing an action as they use a specific product or service. It shows the path or movement of user actions from the start to the end.

That is why a user flow is projected in the form of charts with boxes and pointing arrows. Every box shows the action taken by the user, while the arrows show the actions taken by the user from one action to the next.

Types of user flow charts

The UX design is a wider field; thus the different types of user flows for different purposes. Below is a detailed description of the three user flows you should know:

They focus majorly on how the user navigates through an app while executing specific actions. They highlight a streamlined flow without focusing on sub-pathways.

This flowchart is effective when analyzing tasks completed in the same manner by all users. The assumption here is that all users will use the same path from the beginning to the end when performing the tasks.

This is a combination of flowcharts and wireframes, whereby they use a layout of a specific screen and components for the diagram.

The aim of wire flows is to put in place a streamlined process of carrying out tasks while promoting a good user experience. Wire flows are best for mobile screen design.

User flows focus mainly on how the audience relates to the product. The assumption on user flows is that not all users will use the same path to perform a task, thus using different paths with the same task.

Importance of user flows in UX design

So, why are user flows ideal in the UX design process ? Whether you are upgrading an existing website or app or building a new one, user flow is one crucial element you shouldn’t overlook. Below are the ways in which user flows are effective in UX design processes.

Creating an intuitive interface

An intuitive interface enhances user interaction with the product. As a result, users won’t leave without either signing up or making a purchase, which are the goals every client wants to achieve.

Again, an intuitive interface creates a smooth navigation through the app. It is easy for the user to move from one page to the other without struggling or finding the arrows or pointers for guidelines.

What’s more, user flows enable developers to weigh and determine the effectiveness of the interface design they are creating, and this ensures they create a viable solution that will meet user needs seamlessly.

Evaluate existing interfaces

It is easy to modify existing products to improve their performance and functionality with user flows.

UX designers can easily trace and identify areas where most users get stuck and establish viable solutions to this.

Make it easy to get feedback

Through user flows, it is easy to review and collect valuable feedback from users. The diagram shows how everyone interacts with the products.

This makes it easy to showcase the app’s navigation and viability to stakeholders, and this creates a smooth and productive working environment.

Optimize your user flow easier

With user flows, you can optimize the processes by experimenting with the changes before implementing them. For instance, you can change the navigation processes or add another section as you experiment before you apply the changes. This ensures you deliver a product that suits all user needs.

What’s more, optimizing user flow enables the team to stay focused on what is appropriate before moving to testing, which could otherwise be costly and time-consuming.

Step by step creating user flow

So, how can you create an effective user flow in UX? The process involves a series of steps, each step being significant to the next one. Below are the steps or processes to follow when creating user flows in UX design.

• Understand the user
• Highlight the user’s tasks & goals
• Select the ideal user flow

Create user flow

• Test & improve

Understand the user audience

Start by reviewing and interpreting user information collected from UX research . These details will enable you to determine how users interact with specific products or services.

In design, user requirements are the key metrics you should focus on. With a better understanding of the users, you can create and tailor user flows to align with what they (users) want.

With the insights collected at this stage, you can now comprehend the type of uses and respective actions the take when interacting with the product or services.

Highlight the user’s tasks and goals

After doing user research, highlight and determine what they want to achieve. List down their goals and objectives after identifying the existing problem.

Among the key highlights you shouldn’t miss at this stage are:

• The type of users
• Where they come from
• Their needs and objectives
• The tasks they need to perform

You can perform task-based usability tests and use session-replay approaches to dig deep into the target user preferences.

Don’t forget to figure out the best strategies for achieving the processes of creating user flows in alignment with user needs.

Choose the right type of user flow

With the user information, you can now select a viable user flow that meets their goals and objectives. As described above, you can choose wire flow, user flow, or task flow.

At this point, you can define your users comprehensively, and you have the ideal user flow based on your user audience and their objectives.

You can now start preparing each path and what it represents in the user journey. The preparations are effective in identifying and fixing issues while still in the early stages.

Use the data collected about users, then include the steps you highlighted earlier as guidelines, and then structure the user flow effectively.

Test and improve

Once you finish creating a user flow, that is not all. All the parties involved, including colleagues and stakeholders, should review and give feedback on what they think.

Therefore, perform you’re a series of tests using users as you observe the functionality and usability of the product or service. Check and review if all the processes are accurate. Identify any faulty steps of sections and rectify them.

When to use user flow

A user flow is a strategic approach that improves the overall UX design, ensuring users are satisfied. Therefore, designers can implement user flows at any stage. Be it before, during, or after development, user flow can be implemented where necessary.

As a UX designer, you can easily understand user flow, identify specific areas that make users stagnate, and work on them early enough before they become costly.

Overview of user journey: What is the user journey?

A user journey is a roadmap through which a user uses to achieve goals and objectives when using a specific website. In UX design, user journeys are used to find varied ways to assist users in achieving their objectives in a seamless and quick manner.

Elements of a User Journey

While there are different approaches to use when creating use journeys, there are some common features that are inevitable. In most instances, most user journeys have the following elements in common:

• Persona – includes the exact segment of users you want to explore
• Scenario – The exact interaction or activity you want to work on.
• Stages of the journey – defines how far a scenario should go.
• User actions – highlights the main actions users perform in every stage of the user journey
• User emotions and thoughts – Defines how users feel when moving from one stage to the next.
• Opportunities – define areas you can improve and enhance customer satisfaction is a smooth manner.

Importance of user journey in UX design

Like user flow, the user journey also has a big impact on the UX design process. Below are the top purposes of user journeys in UX design:

• Tracking user behaviors as they navigate through the product or service.
• Collecting persona’s emotional insights as they use your product. Ideally, you can understand what the user is feeling, seeing, and thinking at each stage of interacting with the product through user journeys.
• Identifying areas that make it hard for users to navigate, hence the need for more work
• User journey helps UX design teams conduct research to create a personalized experience, which improves product acceptance.

In a nutshell, user journeys are effective in improvising solutions to improve user experience as they interact with a product or a service.

Types of User Journeys in UX

Like user flows, there are different types of user journeys meant for different functionalities. The main ones include the following:

A UX journey map

Their key objective is to enhance the overall user experience of a given website or application. A UX designer can use this user journey to review and analyze the overall user experience with a product. With the insights, they can determine if they have a positive or negative impact. In the end, a UX designer can use the details to create a product that is easy to use & navigate through, thus enhancing user experience.

A sales journey map

This form of user journey evaluates the steps through the buyer’s processes, which include product awareness, preferences, and decisions. This form of user journey helps the marketing teams evaluate user interaction with the product through communication channels. In the end, they can use the insights to plan and implement productive marketing strategies to increase sales.

A customer experience journey map

This form of user journey focuses on creating a good relationship with customers. By analyzing current-state customer interaction with the product, UX designers can gain valuable insights on how to improve customer experience.

How to create a user journey

Follow the simplified steps below to create user journeys seamlessly.

Define the scope

Start by highlighting the goals to want to achieve in the end. For instance, do you want to refine the buyer’s journey experience? Or are you targeting to attract new users? Or do you want to implement some changes to make the design more intuitive? Whatever it is, be clear before you move to the next phase.

Create user personas

Depending on the goals you want to achieve, you must have unique personas because not all user wants are the same.

Review who the users are and design a customer persona to represent each segment. This means you will do some user research through methods like surveys, focus groups, and interviews and use previous customer feedback to gain valuable insights. Use the details to create the correct personas.

Determine the expectations, goals, & pain points

Now that you have personas, think of what the users need to achieve through the user journey. Identify the existing problems that need solutions. With these insights, think of the value your product has to offer. Will your product idea solve or cause more frustration? If it can solve the existing issues, what measures should you take to solve the big existing problems?

Highlight touchpoints and channels

At this stage, you have everything aligned. You know your target users; you know their problems, and you know what to do to solve their problems. It is now time to create touchpoints. The customer touchpoints are simply the interaction processes between your product and the customers.

Here, you can employ different channels such as the use of social media, face to face communication, websites, and even through applications.

Based on the information you’ve gathered from stages one to three, create viable customer touchpoints that align with the business goals & customer needs.

Map the journey stages

You now have every useful detail at this point, and you can visualize or actualize the idea of creating a user journey.

Create a template as you innovate creative ideas. Depending on the dynamics of your user journey, the process can be complex or simple. Take the appropriate tech requirements to implement the process seamlessly.

Test and refine the user journey

With the user journey complete, test before releasing it. Perform usability testing, do in-depth analysis, and get feedback from real users.

With the insights collected, refine and improve areas that need more work by identifying existing issues.

When to use the user journey

User journeys are effective during the research period. Throughout the research, the UX design teams can have a clear overview of the customer’s journey, seeing how a user views and interacts with the product.

Again, user journeys play a big role in explaining to the stakeholders the viability of the design, especially if they don’t have adequate knowledge of design processes.

User flows vs. use journeys: similarities

Now that you have a clear overview of user flows and user journeys, below are notable similarities between the two.

• Both user flow and user journeys focus on improving user experience.
• They both focus on analyzing and understanding user interaction with the product or service.
• Both user journeys and user flows track and monitor user activities from time to time.
• They both play a big role in analyzing user problems and their expectations.
• Both user journeys and user flows can be used to describe the main concept to others.
• They both showcase what users need, hence prioritizing key features.

User flows vs. use journeys: differences

So, what distinguishes user flows from user journeys? Let’s check the differences below:

• Application – While the user journey helps inform customer experience and product or service strategy, user flow helps in designing and development processes.
• Main focus –User flow focuses more on tasks such as the overall functionality, usability, and tech requirements. User journey, on the other hand, focuses more on what users think emotionally and how they perceive a product or service.
• Purpose – User journey is a strategy used to analyze and comprehend user experience across channels, while user flow is a strategy used to analyze user interaction with a product at specific stages.
• Analysis level – User flow puts more emphasis on the micro-level, highlighting the exact processes to take to attain the set goal. User journey, on the other hand, gives a detailed overview of user interaction with the product from the beginning to the end.
• Structure – The structure of the user journey is more complex than that of the user flow, which shows a streamlined diagram flow.
• Representation – User journeys are projected in the form of journey mapping or storytelling, while user flows are projected through visual flowcharts or diagrams.

Are you thinking of what to choose between user flows and user journeys? Well, the answer is both.

Both user journeys and user flows are incredible UX design tools. They play big roles in enhancing user experience when creating an intuitive design.

While user journeys emphasize the emotional touch a user has towards a product or a service, user flows emphasize the steps a user should take to complete a task.

Therefore, using both user journeys and user flows is the real deal when creating an intuitive UX design that is user-centered.

Any queries? Get in touch with our web design company : Aalpha information systems!

Share This Article:

Written by:.

Stuti Dhruv

Stuti Dhruv is a Senior Consultant at Aalpha Information Systems, specializing in pre-sales and advising clients on the latest technology trends. With years of experience in the IT industry, she helps businesses harness the power of technology for growth and success.

Related Posts

Staff software engineer roles and responsibilities.

The tech career cycle is wide. An organization requires more than just software developers to execute processes professionally and achieve business goals. A staff software engineer is one of the top tech professionals who play extensive roles and take over significant responsibilities within an organization. If you are looking for a staff software engineer or want to extend your career and become a professional staff software engineer, keep reading this guide to understand who a staff software engineer is, their roles and responsibilities, and the requirements to become an expert staff software engineer. Who is a staff software engineer? A…

Stateful vs. Stateless Applications

An app can either be in stateful or stateless condition. An app's state is the condition it is in at a given time. An app, being in a stateless or stateful state, depends on the interaction period, if the information is being recorded, and how the information is stored. This guide explores the main differences between stateful and stateless apps. What is a stateless application? A stateless app does not save the client's information generated in one session to b used in the next session with the same client. Every session is treated like a new session, and the processes…

User-Centered Design in Mobile App Development

The success of mobile applications depends on what target users need. Based on the functionality and features included in an app, users can either embrace the app or stay reluctant to use the app. That is why developers strive to develop applications based on user preferences. The features, functionalities, and overall outlook of an app reflect the insights collected from target users, and that is what user-centered design is all about. Developing an app to be rejected by target users means a waste of time, resources, and effort. Keep reading this guide to understand everything about user-centered design and the…

Get Started with your Project or Take Existing one to Next Level

Proven Development Experience & Happy Clients in 41 Nations are our Pillars of Success

• Domain Expertise

Outsourcing

Email: [email protected].

• Blockchain Development
• E-Learning Online Training India
• IoT Development
• Medical Billing

United States

910 N Market St #45, Wilmington, DE 19801, USA

Sandsvegen 71 6823 Sandane, Norway

Bangalore, India

No. 197, 2nd Floor, 5th Main, 6th Cross Gandhinagar, Bangalore-560009, Karnataka, India

Hubli, India

Block #10, Daimond Corner Opp. Sawai Gandharava Hall, Deshpande Nagar, Hubli-580029, Karnataka India

Follow us on

The Complete Guide to Customer Journey Analytics

What is customer journey analytics all about, how does customer journey analytics affect customer journey mapping, what are the benefits of customer journey analytics, how to analyze customer journeys, key metrics in customer journey analytics, fullsession is the customer journey analytics solution you need, fullsession pricing plans, start analyzing your customer journey maps today, faqs about customer journey analytics.

If you want to give your audience the experience they want, you have to understand how they behave.

Customer journey analytics can show you how your customers behave at various touchpoints and why they behave that way. Ultimately, the goal is to get a better grasp of how each interaction affects your customers’ decisions.

Let’s take a deeper look into customer journey analytics, how it works, and how you can analyze data for yourself.

Customer journey analytics is the process of tracking and analyzing the interactions a customer has with your business across various touchpoints⎯from the moment they first hear about your brand to when they make a purchase and beyond.

Think of it as piecing together a giant puzzle. Each piece represents a different interaction or “touchpoint” a customer has with your brand. By gathering data from these touchpoints, you can build a complete picture of the customer’s experience and understand the story behind those interactions.

For example, you run an online clothing store and notice many customers abandon their carts at the shipping stage. By using customer journey analytics, you discover that the shipping options are confusing. And voila, simplifying this process reduces cart abandonment and increases sales.

However, we wish that it’s as simple as that. Let’s dive in deeper.

Customer journey mapping and customer journey analytics go hand in hand. But before we dive into how they work together, let’s review their key differences.

Customer journey mapping creates a visual representation of the customer’s experience with your brand. It outlines the steps a customer takes from the initial contact through to the final purchase and beyond, highlighting key touchpoints and emotions experienced along the way.

Meanwhile, customer journey analytics collects and analyzes data from various touchpoints to understand and improve the customer experience. It involves tracking customer interactions, behaviors, and preferences across multiple channels and using this data to gain actionable insights.

Customer journey analytics and journey mapping complement each other perfectly. Analytics provides the hard data that shows you exactly what’s happening at each touchpoint in the entire customer journey. This data is then used to create accurate, detailed journey maps.

These maps, in turn, offer a visual representation of the customer experience so it’s easier to see the overall flow and identify areas for improvement. By combining the two, you can pinpoint specific pain points, optimize interactions, personalize experiences, and measure the impact of any changes you make.

Customer journey analytics offers a treasure trove of benefits that can transform how you do business and satisfy your customers. Here’s how:

Improve Your Customer Experience

With customer journey analytics, you pinpoint exactly where your customers face hurdles. Whether it’s a confusing checkout process or a lack of information, you address these pain points head-on.

The result? A smoother, more enjoyable experience that keeps customers coming back for more.

Increase Your Customer Retention Rates

Happy customers are loyal customers. By continuously refining the customer journey based on analytics, you significantly increase satisfaction and, therefore, retention.

When customers feel valued and understood, they’re far more likely to stick around and become repeat buyers (and maybe even brand ambassadors via positive word-of-mouth).

Improve Your ROI on Customer Experience Initiatives

Knowing which customer touchpoints drive conversions allows you to focus your marketing efforts where they count the most. Instead of spreading your budget thin across various channels, you invest in the ones that yield the best results for a higher return on investment.

Make Data-Driven Decisions

Say goodbye to guesswork. Customer journey analytics provides hard data to back up your decisions. Whether you’re launching a new feature, revamping your website, or tweaking your marketing strategy, having concrete insights helps make sure you’re making the right moves.

For example, a customer journey analytics platform can help you predict customer behavior and make business decisions based on what they expect from your brand.

Personalize Your Customer Interactions

Analytics allows you to segment your customers based on their behaviors and preferences. This means you tailor your communications and offers to meet individual needs, which helps create a personalized experience that resonates with each customer’s journey. 

Also, personalization leads to higher satisfaction and stronger loyalty.

Upgrade Your Product and Service Development

Understanding how customers interact with your products provides invaluable feedback. You can use customer journey analytics to reveal what features they love, what confuses them, and what they’re asking for.

This information guides your development efforts to help you create offerings that truly meet customer needs.

Reduce Customer Churn

Analytics helps you understand why customers leave and what you can do to retain them. By addressing the root causes of dissatisfaction, you take proactive steps to reduce churn. In turn, this can help you keep your customer base stable and growing.

Increase Your Efficiency

Identifying areas where the customer journey needs improvement can help you eliminate inefficiencies. This leads to faster service, reduced costs, and a more enjoyable experience for your customers.

Analyzing customer journeys might seem daunting, but breaking it down into manageable steps makes the process straightforward and effective. We’ve created a comprehensive guide to help you get started.

1. Collect Customer Data From All Touchpoints

The first step is to gather data from every customer interaction with your brand. This includes:

• Website analytics: Track page visits, click paths, time spent on pages, and bounce rates.
• Social media engagement: Track metrics such as likes, shares, comments, and click-through rates on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
• Customer support interactions: Record inquiries, complaint resolution times, and customer satisfaction scores from support channels.
• Transactional data: Analyze purchase history, cart abandonment rates, and average transaction values.
• Surveys and feedback: Collect direct feedback from customers through surveys and review platforms.

2. Create Customer Journey Maps

Next, create a visual representation of the customer journey by outlining each step a customer takes from awareness to post-purchase.

Include key touchpoints such as how customers first hear about your brand (awareness), how they research and evaluate your products (consideration), the process they go through to buy your product (purchase), and how you support and engage customers after their purchase (post-purchase). This is also known as your conversion funnel .

3. Identify Key Moments and Pain Points

Once you have your customer journey map, identify critical moments that impact customer decisions. Look for drop-off points where customers abandon their journey, friction points where they encounter difficulties or frustrations, and moments of delight where they have positive experiences that can be amplified.

4. Analyze Customer Behavior

Leveraging customer journey analytics tools helps you gain a deeper understanding of customer or user behavior at each touchpoint.

Start with segmentation to group customers based on their behaviors and characteristics. This helps you see different journey patterns. Next, use path analysis to look at the sequences of steps customers take and identify common paths and where they diverge.

Finally, apply conversion analysis to see how well different touchpoints turn customers into buyers. These methods give you a clear picture of customer behavior to help you make smart decisions to improve their journey.

5. Derive Insights and Take Action

The last step is to translate your findings into actionable insights. For example, you can optimize touchpoints where customers face friction or drop off and personalize experiences by using data to tailor interactions and offer to individual customer preferences.

Implement changes and monitor their impact so you can keep refining the customer journey based on how customers behave.

Tracking metrics in customer journey analytics offers clear insights into how your customers interact with your brand. More specifically, it can help you identify pain points and uncover opportunities for improvement.

Here are some of the most important metrics you should keep an eye on during the customer journey analytics process:

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)

Customer satisfaction gauges how happy customers are with their experiences at various touchpoints. Typically gathered through surveys where customers rate their satisfaction on a scale, high CSAT scores indicate that your customers are pleased with their interactions. Low scores highlight areas that need immediate attention.

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Net promoter score reveals how likely customers are to recommend your brand to others. By asking customers to rate, on a scale from 0 to 10, their likelihood of recommending your business, you can classify them as promoters, passives, or detractors.

A high NPS means you have enthusiastic promoters who drive positive word-of-mouth and improve your brand reputation.

Customer Effort Score (CES)

Customer effort score measures how easy it is for customers to complete a task, such as making a purchase or resolving an issue. This score is usually obtained by asking customers to agree or disagree with statements like “The company made it easy for me to handle my issue.”

Lower effort scores suggest a smoother, more user-friendly experience, which is critical for maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Conversion Rate

The conversion rate measures the percentage of customers who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or filling out a form.

Monitoring conversion rates at different touchpoints helps you see what’s working well and what needs improvement. In turn, this will allow you to optimize those touchpoints for better business outcomes.

The churn rate measures the rate at which customers stop doing business with you over a specific period. A high churn rate can indicate dissatisfaction with your product or service.

By analyzing churn rates, you can uncover patterns and address the issues causing customers to leave and ultimately help you retain more customers.

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

Customer lifetime value (CLV) calculates the total revenue a business anticipates earning from a single customer account over the duration of their relationship.

Understanding CLV helps you allocate resources more effectively and focus on retaining high-value customers who contribute significantly to your bottom line.

Average Transaction Value (ATV)

Average transaction value measures the average amount spent by customers per transaction. This metric provides insight into spending patterns and helps you pinpoint opportunities to increase revenue through strategies like upselling and cross-selling.

First Contact Resolution (FCR)

First contact resolution measures the percentage of customer issues resolved in a single interaction. A high FCR indicates efficient and effective customer service, which leads to higher satisfaction and reduced follow-up interactions.

Ever wish you could collect, analyze, and interpret customer journey data all in one place?

FullSession is the exact solution you’re looking for. As a high-powered web analytics tool, FullSession can help you capture customer behavior without all the grunt work. Here are some of the advanced analytics tools you can gain access to:

• Heatmaps : Visualize user interactions on your website, highlighting hot spots where users click, scroll, or hover the most.
• Session recordings: Capture real-time user interactions on your site, allowing you to watch how users navigate, click, and scroll.
• Market filtering tools : Segment and analyze customer data based on demographics, behavior, and preferences.
• Customer feedback tools : Gain insights into how to improve customer satisfaction and areas needing improvement to enhance overall experience.

Understanding customer experiences shouldn’t be a long-winded process. Sign up for FullSession today !

The FullSession platform offers a 14-day free trial. It provides two paid plans—Basic and Business. Here are more details on each plan.

• The Basic plan costs $39/month and allows you to monitor up to 5,000 monthly sessions.
• The Business plan costs $149/month and helps you to track and analyze up to 25,000 monthly sessions.
• The Enterprise plan starts from 100,000 monthly sessions and has custom pricing.

If you need more information, you can get a demo.

It takes less than 5 minutes to set up your customer journey analytics with FullSession , and it’s completely free!

How often should I analyze my customer journeys?

Aim for quarterly reviews to keep your insights fresh. But don’t be shy about diving in more often during major campaigns or when you spot significant changes in customer behavior. Quick checks can provide timely insights, letting you tweak things on the fly.

Can small businesses benefit from customer journey analytics?

Yes. Small businesses might even have the upper hand here. By understanding your customers’ journeys, you can tailor your services and communication to hit all the right notes. Even with limited resources, simple tools and basic analytics can offer game-changing insights.

How can I improve my customer journey based on analytics?

It’s all about turning insights into action. If you see customers dropping off at a certain point, dig into why that might be happening. Maybe your checkout process is too complicated, or your website’s navigation is confusing. Use the data to streamline these areas, make the experience smoother, and watch your customer satisfaction soar.

Are there any common pitfalls to avoid with customer journey analytics?

Absolutely. One major pitfall is drowning in data without a clear strategy. Focus on the metrics that matter most to your business goals. Another is not acting on the insights you gain. Data is only powerful if you use it to make improvements. Lastly, remember to respect customer privacy and use data ethically.

Enhance Your Insights With Richer User Behavior Data

Discover FullSession's Digital Experience Intelligence solution firsthand. Explore FullSession for free

• Cast & crew

Inside Out 2

Follow Riley, in her teenage years, encountering new emotions. Follow Riley, in her teenage years, encountering new emotions. Follow Riley, in her teenage years, encountering new emotions.

• Kelsey Mann
• Dave Holstein
• Meg LeFauve
• Amy Poehler
• Phyllis Smith
• Lewis Black

• Embarrassment

• Riley Andersen

• Mrs. Andersen

• Mr. Andersen

• Valentina 'Val' Ortiz

• Coach Roberts

• Subconscious Guard Frank

• Subconscious Guard Dave

• Forgetter Bobby

• Forgetter Paula
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

The Big List of Summer Movies

More like this

Did you know

• Trivia The first trailer received 157 million online views within the first 24 hours, more than any other Disney animated film, surpassing Frozen II (2019) , with 116 million views.

Riley Anderson : [from the trailer] I'M THE WORST!

Mom's Anger : Welp, there's a preview of the next ten years.

• Connections Featured in AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast: The D23 Expo 2022 Special (2022)
• When will Inside Out 2 be released? Powered by Alexa
• June 14, 2024 (United States)
• United States
• Instagram - Disney's Announcement
• Instagram - Pixar's Announcement
• Những Mảnh Ghép Cảm Xúc 2
• Walt Disney Feature Animation - 500 S. Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California, USA (Studio)
• Walt Disney Pictures
• Pixar Animation Studios
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 40 minutes
• Dolby Digital
• Dolby Atmos
• 12-Track Digital Sound
• D-Cinema 96kHz Dolby Surround 7.1
• D-Cinema 96kHz 7.1

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• See more gaps
• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Recently viewed.

Learning Library

Industry-leading certifications and training for continuous learning

Focused training to develop skills based on a specific area of interest

Rigorous training content and labs for the most critical and in-demand job roles

Focused training to develop critical cybersecurity skills

MITRE ATT&CK- and D3FEND-aligned learning paths

Cyber Ranges

Set up tournaments and test red and blue team skills in a live-fire cyber range

Train on the latest attack vectors to address vulnerabilities

Prepare for the next attack with simulated real-world training environments

Organizations

Continuous learning & hands-on skills development for cybersecurity teams

Unique training for government agencies and educational institutions

Meet critical cyber workforce needs with OffSec's learning platform

Individuals

Prove critical knowledge & skills with an industry-standard certification

Challenge yourself in real-world lab environments

Ready yourself for the next step in your cybersecurity career

Provide continuous Learning Library access to build cyber workforce resilience

Hands-on training in live-fire, simulation environments

Let OffSec conduct a comprehensive vulnerability assessment

Flexible options based on your learning goals

12-month access to a single course, related labs, and two exam attempts

90-day access to a single course, related labs, and one exam attempt

12-month access to introductory- and essential-level content

OffSec-curated private labs to practice and perfect your pentesting skills

Become a Partner

Add OffSec to your list of training providers

Connect with us

OffSec office hours every Friday on Twitch

• Case Studies
• White Papers
• Cyberversity
• Cybersecurity Job Roles
• Live Training & Events
• Work at OffSec
• Subscribe to our Newsletters
• Help Center

OffSec Wins Seven Global InfoSec Awards during RSA Conference 2024

EXP-301: Windows User Mode Exploit Development

OSED Certification

Windows User Mode Exploit Development (EXP-301) is a course that teaches learners the basics of modern exploit development. Despite being a fundamental course, it is at the 300 level because it relies on substantial knowledge of assembly and low level programming. It begins with basic buffer overflow attacks and builds into learning the skills needed to crack the critical security mitigations protecting enterprises. Learners who complete the course and pass the exam earn the OffSec Exploit Developer (OSED) certification. The OSED is one of three certifications making up the OSCE³ certification  along with the OSEP for advanced penetration testing and OSWE for web application security.

Course Info

Learners will:

• Learn the fundamentals of reverse engineering
• Create custom exploits
• Develop the skills to bypass security mitigations
• Write handmade Windows shellcode
• Adapt older techniques to more modern versions of Windows

About the exam

• The EXP-301 course and online lab prepares you for the OSED certification
• 48-hour exam
• Learn more about the exam

Who is this course for?

• Windows User Mode Exploit Development is an intermediate course designed for those who want to learn about exploit development skills
• Job roles like penetration testers, exploit developers, security researchers, Malware analysts, and software developers working on security products, could benefit from the course

Prerequisites

• Familiarity with debuggers (ImmunityDBG, OllyDBG)
• Familiarity with basic exploitation concepts on 32-bit
• Familiarity with writing Python 3 code
• Ability to read and understand C code at a basic level 
• Ability to read and understand 32-bit Assembly code at a basic level

How to enroll

Course & cert exam bundle.

One-time payment

Fast-track your learning journey and earn a certificate in just 90 days. Includes one exam attempt.

$2599 /year

Billed annually*

One year of lab access to one OffSec course plus two exam attempts .

Learn Unlimited

$5799 /year.

Billed annually

Unlimited OffSec Learning Library access plus unlimited exam attempts for one year.

Financing is now available through Climb Credit with as little as 0% APR and up to 36 monthly payments, excluding Learn Unlimited. State exclusions may apply. Learn more.

Once started, 90 day lab access cannot be paused

More details

This course covers the following topics, View the full syllabus .

• WinDbg tutorial
• Stack buffer overflows
• Exploiting SEH overflows
• Intro to IDA Pro
• Overcoming space restrictions: Egghunters
• Shellcode from scratch
• Reverse-engineering bugs
• Stack overflows and DEP/ASLR bypass
• Format string specifier attacks
• Custom ROP chains and ROP payload decoders

What competencies will you gain?

• Using WinDbg
• Writing your own shellcode
• Bypassing basic security mitigations, including DEP and ASLR
• Exploiting format string specifiers
• The necessary foundations for finding bugs in binary applications to create custom exploits

Supporting your online journey

• 15+ hours of video
• 600+ page course guide
• Active learner forums
• Access to virtual lab environment
• Closed Captioning is available for this course

Exam retakes & lab extensions

If a learner needs more lab access time or needs to retake an exam, Exam Retakes & Lab Extensions can be purchased additionally through the OffSec Training Library .

• OSED Certification Exam Retake Fee: $249
• EXP-301 lab access extension of 30 days: $359

Choose your journey and earn the OSED Certification today

The state of AI in early 2024: Gen AI adoption spikes and starts to generate value

If 2023 was the year the world discovered generative AI (gen AI) , 2024 is the year organizations truly began using—and deriving business value from—this new technology. In the latest McKinsey Global Survey  on AI, 65 percent of respondents report that their organizations are regularly using gen AI, nearly double the percentage from our previous survey just ten months ago. Respondents’ expectations for gen AI’s impact remain as high as they were last year , with three-quarters predicting that gen AI will lead to significant or disruptive change in their industries in the years ahead.

About the authors

This article is a collaborative effort by Alex Singla , Alexander Sukharevsky , Lareina Yee , and Michael Chui , with Bryce Hall , representing views from QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, and McKinsey Digital.

Organizations are already seeing material benefits from gen AI use, reporting both cost decreases and revenue jumps in the business units deploying the technology. The survey also provides insights into the kinds of risks presented by gen AI—most notably, inaccuracy—as well as the emerging practices of top performers to mitigate those challenges and capture value.

AI adoption surges

Interest in generative AI has also brightened the spotlight on a broader set of AI capabilities. For the past six years, AI adoption by respondents’ organizations has hovered at about 50 percent. This year, the survey finds that adoption has jumped to 72 percent (Exhibit 1). And the interest is truly global in scope. Our 2023 survey found that AI adoption did not reach 66 percent in any region; however, this year more than two-thirds of respondents in nearly every region say their organizations are using AI. 1 Organizations based in Central and South America are the exception, with 58 percent of respondents working for organizations based in Central and South America reporting AI adoption. Looking by industry, the biggest increase in adoption can be found in professional services. 2 Includes respondents working for organizations focused on human resources, legal services, management consulting, market research, R&D, tax preparation, and training.

Also, responses suggest that companies are now using AI in more parts of the business. Half of respondents say their organizations have adopted AI in two or more business functions, up from less than a third of respondents in 2023 (Exhibit 2).

Gen AI adoption is most common in the functions where it can create the most value

Most respondents now report that their organizations—and they as individuals—are using gen AI. Sixty-five percent of respondents say their organizations are regularly using gen AI in at least one business function, up from one-third last year. The average organization using gen AI is doing so in two functions, most often in marketing and sales and in product and service development—two functions in which previous research  determined that gen AI adoption could generate the most value 3 “ The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier ,” McKinsey, June 14, 2023. —as well as in IT (Exhibit 3). The biggest increase from 2023 is found in marketing and sales, where reported adoption has more than doubled. Yet across functions, only two use cases, both within marketing and sales, are reported by 15 percent or more of respondents.

Gen AI also is weaving its way into respondents’ personal lives. Compared with 2023, respondents are much more likely to be using gen AI at work and even more likely to be using gen AI both at work and in their personal lives (Exhibit 4). The survey finds upticks in gen AI use across all regions, with the largest increases in Asia–Pacific and Greater China. Respondents at the highest seniority levels, meanwhile, show larger jumps in the use of gen Al tools for work and outside of work compared with their midlevel-management peers. Looking at specific industries, respondents working in energy and materials and in professional services report the largest increase in gen AI use.

Investments in gen AI and analytical AI are beginning to create value

The latest survey also shows how different industries are budgeting for gen AI. Responses suggest that, in many industries, organizations are about equally as likely to be investing more than 5 percent of their digital budgets in gen AI as they are in nongenerative, analytical-AI solutions (Exhibit 5). Yet in most industries, larger shares of respondents report that their organizations spend more than 20 percent on analytical AI than on gen AI. Looking ahead, most respondents—67 percent—expect their organizations to invest more in AI over the next three years.

Where are those investments paying off? For the first time, our latest survey explored the value created by gen AI use by business function. The function in which the largest share of respondents report seeing cost decreases is human resources. Respondents most commonly report meaningful revenue increases (of more than 5 percent) in supply chain and inventory management (Exhibit 6). For analytical AI, respondents most often report seeing cost benefits in service operations—in line with what we found last year —as well as meaningful revenue increases from AI use in marketing and sales.

Inaccuracy: The most recognized and experienced risk of gen AI use

As businesses begin to see the benefits of gen AI, they’re also recognizing the diverse risks associated with the technology. These can range from data management risks such as data privacy, bias, or intellectual property (IP) infringement to model management risks, which tend to focus on inaccurate output or lack of explainability. A third big risk category is security and incorrect use.

Respondents to the latest survey are more likely than they were last year to say their organizations consider inaccuracy and IP infringement to be relevant to their use of gen AI, and about half continue to view cybersecurity as a risk (Exhibit 7).

Conversely, respondents are less likely than they were last year to say their organizations consider workforce and labor displacement to be relevant risks and are not increasing efforts to mitigate them.

In fact, inaccuracy— which can affect use cases across the gen AI value chain , ranging from customer journeys and summarization to coding and creative content—is the only risk that respondents are significantly more likely than last year to say their organizations are actively working to mitigate.

Some organizations have already experienced negative consequences from the use of gen AI, with 44 percent of respondents saying their organizations have experienced at least one consequence (Exhibit 8). Respondents most often report inaccuracy as a risk that has affected their organizations, followed by cybersecurity and explainability.

Our previous research has found that there are several elements of governance that can help in scaling gen AI use responsibly, yet few respondents report having these risk-related practices in place. 4 “ Implementing generative AI with speed and safety ,” McKinsey Quarterly , March 13, 2024. For example, just 18 percent say their organizations have an enterprise-wide council or board with the authority to make decisions involving responsible AI governance, and only one-third say gen AI risk awareness and risk mitigation controls are required skill sets for technical talent.

Bringing gen AI capabilities to bear

The latest survey also sought to understand how, and how quickly, organizations are deploying these new gen AI tools. We have found three archetypes for implementing gen AI solutions : takers use off-the-shelf, publicly available solutions; shapers customize those tools with proprietary data and systems; and makers develop their own foundation models from scratch. 5 “ Technology’s generational moment with generative AI: A CIO and CTO guide ,” McKinsey, July 11, 2023. Across most industries, the survey results suggest that organizations are finding off-the-shelf offerings applicable to their business needs—though many are pursuing opportunities to customize models or even develop their own (Exhibit 9). About half of reported gen AI uses within respondents’ business functions are utilizing off-the-shelf, publicly available models or tools, with little or no customization. Respondents in energy and materials, technology, and media and telecommunications are more likely to report significant customization or tuning of publicly available models or developing their own proprietary models to address specific business needs.

Respondents most often report that their organizations required one to four months from the start of a project to put gen AI into production, though the time it takes varies by business function (Exhibit 10). It also depends upon the approach for acquiring those capabilities. Not surprisingly, reported uses of highly customized or proprietary models are 1.5 times more likely than off-the-shelf, publicly available models to take five months or more to implement.

Gen AI high performers are excelling despite facing challenges

Gen AI is a new technology, and organizations are still early in the journey of pursuing its opportunities and scaling it across functions. So it’s little surprise that only a small subset of respondents (46 out of 876) report that a meaningful share of their organizations’ EBIT can be attributed to their deployment of gen AI. Still, these gen AI leaders are worth examining closely. These, after all, are the early movers, who already attribute more than 10 percent of their organizations’ EBIT to their use of gen AI. Forty-two percent of these high performers say more than 20 percent of their EBIT is attributable to their use of nongenerative, analytical AI, and they span industries and regions—though most are at organizations with less than $1 billion in annual revenue. The AI-related practices at these organizations can offer guidance to those looking to create value from gen AI adoption at their own organizations.

To start, gen AI high performers are using gen AI in more business functions—an average of three functions, while others average two. They, like other organizations, are most likely to use gen AI in marketing and sales and product or service development, but they’re much more likely than others to use gen AI solutions in risk, legal, and compliance; in strategy and corporate finance; and in supply chain and inventory management. They’re more than three times as likely as others to be using gen AI in activities ranging from processing of accounting documents and risk assessment to R&D testing and pricing and promotions. While, overall, about half of reported gen AI applications within business functions are utilizing publicly available models or tools, gen AI high performers are less likely to use those off-the-shelf options than to either implement significantly customized versions of those tools or to develop their own proprietary foundation models.

What else are these high performers doing differently? For one thing, they are paying more attention to gen-AI-related risks. Perhaps because they are further along on their journeys, they are more likely than others to say their organizations have experienced every negative consequence from gen AI we asked about, from cybersecurity and personal privacy to explainability and IP infringement. Given that, they are more likely than others to report that their organizations consider those risks, as well as regulatory compliance, environmental impacts, and political stability, to be relevant to their gen AI use, and they say they take steps to mitigate more risks than others do.

Gen AI high performers are also much more likely to say their organizations follow a set of risk-related best practices (Exhibit 11). For example, they are nearly twice as likely as others to involve the legal function and embed risk reviews early on in the development of gen AI solutions—that is, to “ shift left .” They’re also much more likely than others to employ a wide range of other best practices, from strategy-related practices to those related to scaling.

In addition to experiencing the risks of gen AI adoption, high performers have encountered other challenges that can serve as warnings to others (Exhibit 12). Seventy percent say they have experienced difficulties with data, including defining processes for data governance, developing the ability to quickly integrate data into AI models, and an insufficient amount of training data, highlighting the essential role that data play in capturing value. High performers are also more likely than others to report experiencing challenges with their operating models, such as implementing agile ways of working and effective sprint performance management.

About the research

The online survey was in the field from February 22 to March 5, 2024, and garnered responses from 1,363 participants representing the full range of regions, industries, company sizes, functional specialties, and tenures. Of those respondents, 981 said their organizations had adopted AI in at least one business function, and 878 said their organizations were regularly using gen AI in at least one function. To adjust for differences in response rates, the data are weighted by the contribution of each respondent’s nation to global GDP.

Alex Singla and Alexander Sukharevsky  are global coleaders of QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, and senior partners in McKinsey’s Chicago and London offices, respectively; Lareina Yee  is a senior partner in the Bay Area office, where Michael Chui , a McKinsey Global Institute partner, is a partner; and Bryce Hall  is an associate partner in the Washington, DC, office.

They wish to thank Kaitlin Noe, Larry Kanter, Mallika Jhamb, and Shinjini Srivastava for their contributions to this work.

This article was edited by Heather Hanselman, a senior editor in McKinsey’s Atlanta office.

Explore a career with us

Related articles.

Moving past gen AI’s honeymoon phase: Seven hard truths for CIOs to get from pilot to scale

A generative AI reset: Rewiring to turn potential into value in 2024

Implementing generative AI with speed and safety