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User Journey Map Guide with Examples & FREE Templates

18 April, 2024

Senior UX Researcher

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

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

You can get the templates here:

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

What is user journey mapping?

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

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

Remember to bring their coupons

Park there 

Find everything

Save the new coupons for the next shopping trip

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3 ways to understand customer journey maps

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

1. Workflow maps for usability optimization 

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

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

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

2. Holistic user journey maps for strategic insights

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

the advertising efforts

logistics required to keep all shelves stocked

protocols the staffers follow when communicating with customers

3. Journey mapping workshops as an alignment method

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

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

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

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

1. Switching perspectives

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

2. Aligned understanding

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

3. Seeing the big picture

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

4. Uncovering blind spots and opportunities

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

When is customer journey mapping just a waste of time?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

User journey mapping: examples, templates & tools

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

User journey map template and checklist

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

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

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

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

Consideration

Delivery & use

Loyalty & advocacy

2. Jobs to be done

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

Install app on phone

Tip delivery driver

Buy new shoes

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

3. Needs and pains

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

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

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

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

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

4. Emotional curve

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

5. Brand and product touchpoints

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

6. Opportunities for improvement

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

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

7. Other tools and touchpoints

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

User journey map example 1: health industry

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

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

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

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

User journey map example 2: delivery services

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

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

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

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

Free UX journey mapping tools with templates

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

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

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

How do I collect data for my app user journey?

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

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

1. In-house expertise

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

customer service

business intelligence

customer insights

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

2. Desk research

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

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

NPS scores & user satisfaction surveys

App store feedback

Customer support tickets

Product reviews written by journalists

Competitor user journeys in publicly available UX case studies

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

3. Qualitative user research

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

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

4. Quantitative research

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

5. Customer satisfaction (CSAT) survey

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

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

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

5. User analytics

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Where can I learn more?

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

Creating user journey maps & service blueprints:

Mapping Experiences by Jim Kalbach

Journey Mapping 101

How to create customer journey maps

Customer Journey Stages for Product Managers

The Perfect Customer Journey Map

Planning and running user journey mapping workshops:

Journey mapping workshop

Jobs to be done:

The Theory of Jobs To Be Done

Moments of truth in customer journeys:

Journey mapping MoTs

What is a user journey map?

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

What is a user journey?

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

How do I use a user journey map in UX?

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

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How to create a simple Customer Journey Map in FIgma

In this short guide we'll walk you through step-by-step, how to create a basic customer journey map using Figma, one of the most popular tools used by product designers and UX researchers.

Step 1: Define Your Objectives ‍

Begin by setting clear goals for your customer journey map. Ask yourself, "What do I want to achieve?" For instance, you might want to pinpoint where customers are dropping off during the purchasing process to increase conversions.

Step 2: Gather Information

‍ Collect relevant data and insights about your customers' experiences. This could involve customer surveys, interviews, website analytics, or customer support feedback. For example, you might discover from your website analytics that users frequently abandon their shopping carts during the checkout process.

Step 3: Create Personas (Optional)

‍ If your customer base has distinct groups with different needs, create personas to represent them. An example persona could be "Savvy Shopper Sarah," who prefers online shopping and values user-friendly websites.

Step 4: Start a New Figma Project

‍ Open Figma and create a new project dedicated to your customer journey map.

Step 5: Create a Blank Canvas

‍ Within your Figma project, establish a blank canvas where you'll build your customer journey. You can choose the canvas size according to your project's requirements.

Step 6: Define Stages

‍ Identify the major stages of your customer journey. For example, if you run an e-commerce site, your stages could include "Awareness," "Product Search," "Checkout," and "Post-Purchase Experience."

Step 7: Add Touchpoints

‍ Within each stage, insert touchpoints or interactions your customers have with your brand. Examples of touchpoints are "Website Visit," "Email Confirmation," "Customer Support Call," and "Social Media Engagement."

Step 8: Plot Customer Actions

‍ Use arrows or lines to illustrate the flow of the customer journey from one touchpoint to another. Include labels or notes to describe what happens at each step. For instance, you could show how a user moves from browsing products on your website to adding items to their cart during the "Product Search" stage.

Step 9: Highlight Pain Points and Opportunities

‍ Identify pain points where customers might face challenges or frustrations, and opportunities for improvements. Imagine a scenario where customers abandon their shopping carts during the "Checkout" stage due to a complicated payment process—this would be a pain point.

Step 10: Include Customer Thoughts and Emotions

‍ Incorporate customer thoughts and emotions at various touchpoints. You can use text or visuals to represent these feelings. For instance, during the "Post-Purchase Experience," you might note that customers feel excited and satisfied upon receiving their order.

Step 11: Collaborate and Iterate

‍ Leverage Figma's collaboration features to work with team members. Share the customer journey map with colleagues and gather their feedback. Make adjustments and improvements based on their input.

Step 12: Finalize the Customer Journey Map

‍ Once you've refined your map, ensure it's visually appealing and effectively conveys the customer's experience. It should be a polished representation of your findings.

Step 13: Share and Present

‍ Share the finalized customer journey map with your team to inform decisions on enhancing the customer experience. Use it as a visual reference during meetings and discussions.

Step 14: Update as Needed

‍ Remember that customer journeys evolve, so revisit and update your map as circumstances change. This ensures that it remains a valuable tool for improving the customer experience over time.

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Customer Journey Maps [Free Templates]

It’s often the case that we spend a lot of time looking for ways to boost user activity metrics. We dive deep, we explore Google Analytics, Hotjar, Mixpanel, you name it — but we never seem to find obvious bottlenecks or drop-offs. Pretty much every product team will face this issue at some point. 

One of the ways to combat this uncertainty is customer journey mapping.

This article will explore the importance and value that customer journey maps provide. Plus, we’ll take a deep dive into valuable tools, recommendations, and, more importantly, provide you with a few templates.

Let’s dive right in. 

What is customer journey mapping?

Basically speaking, a journey map is a visual representation of the path a user takes throughout a product in order to achieve a specific goal. 

Mapping customer journeys is a valuable tool in a designer’s arsenal. It allows UX specialists to outline customer needs, actions, and emotions and translate them onto their experience with the product itself.

This mapping type is key due to the sheer diversity between customer groups and how they learn about and interact with products. As a result, this allows businesses to improve  customer experience  and thus increase their products’ favorability. 

Furthermore, journey maps allow designers to have a more holistic view of the product rather than just focusing on isolated touchpoints.

An example of a customer journey map

When should you create a journey map?

Maps can be created before or after the launch of your product. Pre-launch maps are partly based on speculation and assumptions. Despite that, they provide designers with a framework that allows them to take potential frustrations or issues into account. 

While post-launch maps are predominantly based on empirical data and are most valuable when executed correctly. Typically, these maps are developed shortly after the product launch. They will help you identify potential issues and ensure a seamless experience throughout every product touchpoint. 

However, it’s safe to say that customer journey maps can be used as a diagnostic tool as well. Whenever you feel that you have a poor understanding of how and  why customers behave the way they do  — journey maps will help you learn more about it. 

What is the value of journey maps? 

In the earlier phases of product development, they allow businesses to: 

Communicate product-related ideas to designers and developers;

Carefully plan and develop the customer experience; 

Establish which touchpoints are of most importance. As a result, this provides businesses with a better understanding of the most important metrics to measure and optimize;

After launching the product, customer journey maps help us:

Improve metrics in underperforming areas; 

Understand how customers actually interact with your business;

Locate touchpoints where customers face friction and difficulties;

Optimize the path customers take to achieve their goals by making it more efficient; 

How not to do customer journey mapping

When it comes to creating a customer journey, there is a wide array of things you should refrain from. 

One example would be to base your journey map on assumptions only. Of course, during pre-launch, we have no real data on customer experiences with the product. However, our assumptions need to be based on some evidence that comes from market and user research. 

Another example would be basing your customer journeys on a generic buyer persona. The entire point of developing personas is to gather a better understanding of the people that your product caters to. Products that have a generalist approach are simply not fit for the modern market. As mentioned above, while we can’t avoid a certain degree of speculation within personas, we have to back it up with some solid evidence. 

Not involving stakeholders in the development of your journey maps can also be problematic. They are the people that have laid the foundations or vision of the product, plus they have a literal “stake” in it. Stakeholders can  provide us with a wealth of important insight  that will allow us to craft a more informed journey map. 

Last but not least, it’s essential not to base your maps on what you want your customer to do. Abstain from building them around internal processes. This could box your customer experience into a flow of events that they might find unnatural. 

An example of what users do vs what you want them to do. Source .

How do I create a customer journey map? 

Fundamentally, the best practices for your journey maps will vary based on the nature of your business, product, or service. However, the steps below will guide you through this process, regardless of your industry and product type. 

1. Have an ideal customer persona (ICP)

A persona is a fictional representation of your customers that aggregate similar traits among them. Typically products have a few of them to accommodate for differences between user types. It is essential that every ICP has its own journey to avoid having a generalist approach. 

Mapping the customer journey to a particular persona will allow us to create experiences that aren’t exclusively aligned with our assumptions.

An example of a customer persona

2. Have a clear goal

Determine the goal of your journey. Without a goal, you’ll likely end up with a generic map that has little value. As a result, you’ll invest time in an asset with little practical application, which we want to avoid. Make sure that your journeys have clarity in terms of goals and direction. 

3. Gather data

In case you haven’t had the chance to develop your personas, it’s vital to start aggregating data as soon as possible. There are plenty of tools that will help you better understand how your customers behave. 

In case you don’t have tools like Google Analytics, Hotjar, or Mixpanel set up, it’s always a good idea to run  user interviews . Such interviews provide a wealth of insight into your customers’ decisions and their journey.

A screenshot from Google Analytics

4. Outline your touchpoints

Your customer journey map should consist of touchpoints — they are steps in your customer’s journey that take them to a particular goal. Touchpoints can go as far as the customer’s first interaction with your brand, whether it’s marketing material or your website. 

Once you’ve identified your touchpoints, you can proceed to map, rethink, and improve them. 

More importantly, you can always take a more granular approach and identify specific targets for every step of the journey. For instance, you can explore what goals, thoughts, and frustrations users might be prone to when interacting with specific touchpoints. 

This information can then be used to populate and, subsequently, inform your customer journey map and design strategy. 

Handy tools

There is a wide array of tools that can help you create a detailed customer journey map. As the title of the article suggests, we’ve only listed tools that are free to use or have a free version that we’ve previously used and can vouch for. 

Google Sheets . 

This is one of the most straightforward ways of visualizing the entire customer journey. If you’re looking to create a quickly digestible representation that will help you understand the journey map — this is the way to go. 

However, it’s also safe to say that Google Sheets is a fairly versatile tool, to begin with. So in case, you’d be interested in spicing things up visually, you’ll definitely be able to do that. 

Here's the link to this spreadsheet.

Miro is a free mind-mapping tool — it has a fairly simple learning curve. It’s also versatile in how you present information. A cherry on top is that Miro allows real-time collaboration, making it an excellent environment for simultaneous work.

You can find a pre-built template here .

While Google Sheets is quite a versatile tool, Figma is on a whole other level in this regard. What distinguishes Figma from other tools is that it’s extremely flexible. Figma is free, by the way. The key downside is that the learning curve is pretty steep, especially if you have never dealt with Figma, Sketch, or a similar tool before.

Unlike the tools we’ve already mentioned, UX Pressia is specifically designed for creating customer journey maps. Therefore, compared to Figma, its learning curve is significantly more manageable. The only downside is that the free version enables you to create just one map. To create more than one map, you need to upgrade to a premium version. Pricing starts at $20/mo for a one-month subscription.

There’s no need for templates in this case, as the tool itself is pretty much a template for a customer journey map.

There’s no single right way to create a customer journey map. It all depends on your company, product, and service, as well as the customers you cater to. Despite that, there’s a variety of immutable principles that need to be taken into account when planning your customer experience. 

The steps we’ve provided in this article should help you craft a meaningful customer journey map that will  understand their needs . 

Make sure you have an ideal customer persona to address your users’ pain points and preferences;

Have a clear goal when developing your journey map;

Leverage data to inform your decisions during journey mapping;

Outline your touchpoints to better understand your customer;

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User journey map

Walk a mile in your user’s shoes and plot out what problems and goals they have. Use this template to identify opportunities to improve things for your users!

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User Journey Map

This official Figjam User Journey Map should prove especially useful in your UX activities as it does everything it needs to perfectly and doesn't include any unnecessary extra features or sections.

Included in this fully editable User Journey Map are swimlanes for actions, goals, feelings, pain points and opportunities. These are the exact focus areas used in professional UX research so you can be assured this template is very professionally constructed.

If you're looking to add more depth or insight to this user journey map you could add extra swim lanes that focus on technical considerations or just general notes. Also if you're wondering when best to utilize a map such as this, it's probably best used just after the generation of personas, or you can use it when defining a future state, but then the activities or process is aspirational as opposed to the current reality.

Clean, easy to use and valuable, this free Figjam template is a 10/10.

To access this free Figjam user journey map template: click the 'Get Figma File' button below and then click the 'Open in FigJam' button on the subsequent page.

Author: FigJam

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User Journey Map Template

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Work with content templates content-templates

CREATED FOR:

For an accelerated and improved design process, you can create standalone templates to easily reuse custom content across Journey Optimizer campaigns and journeys.

This functionality enables content-oriented users to work on templates outside campaigns or journeys. Marketing users can then reuse and adapt these standalone content templates inside their own journeys or campaigns.

For example, a user within your company is in charge of content only, and therefore has no access to campaigns or journeys. However, this user can create an email template that your organization’s marketers will be able to select for use in all emails as a starting point.

You can also create and manage content templates using APIs. For more on this, refer to the Journey Optimizer APIs documentation .

➡️ Learn how to create and use templates in this video

Access and manage templates access-manage-templates

To access the content template list, select Content Management > Content Templates from the left menu.

All the templates that were created on the current sandbox - either from a journey or a campaign using the Save as template option, either from the Content Templates menu - are displayed. Learn how to create templates

You can sort content templates by:

• Creation or modification date
• Tags - Learn more on tags

You can also choose to display only the items that yourself created or modified.

To edit a template content, click the desired item from the list and select Edit content .

To delete a template, select the More actions button next to the desired template and select Delete .

Display templates as thumbnails template-thumbnails

Select the Grid view mode to display each template as a thumbnail.

When you update a content, you may have to wait a few seconds before the changes are reflected in the thumbnail.

Create content templates create-content-templates

There are two ways you can create content templates:

Create a content template from scratch, using the left rail Content Templates menu. Learn how

When designing your content within a campaign or a journey, save it as a template. Learn how

Once saved, your content template is available for use in a campaign or a journey. Whether created from scratch or from a previous content, you can now use this template when building any content within Journey Optimizer. Learn how

Changes made to content templates are not propagated to campaigns or journeys, whether they are live or draft.

Similarly, when templates are used in a campaign or a journey, any edits you make to your campaign and journey content do not impact the previously used content template.

Create template from scratch create-template-from-scratch

To create a content template from scratch, follow the steps below.

Access the content template list through the Content Management > Content Templates left menu.

Select Create template .

Fill in the template details and select the desired channel.

Choose a Type for the selected channel.

For Email , if you select Content , you can define the Subject line as part of your template. If you select HTML , you can only define the content of the email body.

For SMS , Push , In-App and Direct Mail , only the default type is available for the current channel. You still need to select it.

Select or create Adobe Experience Platform tags from the Tags field to categorize your template for improved search. Learn more

To assign custom or core data usage labels to the template, you can select Manage access . Learn more on Object Level Access Control (OLAC) .

Click Create and design your content as needed, the same way you would do for any content inside a journey or a campaign - according to the channel you selected.

Learn how to create content for the different channels in the following sections:

• Define email content
• Define push content
• Define SMS content
• Define direct mail content
• Define In-app content

If you are creating an Email template with the HTML type, you can test your content. Learn how

Once your template is ready, click Save .

Click the arrow next to the template name to go back to the Details screen.

This template is now ready to be used when building any content within Journey Optimizer. Learn how

Save as template save-as-template

When designing any content in a campaign or a journey, you can save it for future reuse. To do this, follow the steps below.

From the message Edit content screen, click the Content template button.

Select Save as content template from the drop-down menu.

If you are in the Email Designer , you can also select this option from the More drop-down list on top right of the screen.

Add a name and description for this template.

Select or create an Adobe Experience Platform tag from the Tags field to categorize your template. Learn more

To assign custom or core data usage labels to the template, you can select Manage access . Learn more .

Click Save .

The template is saved into the Content Templates list, accessible from the Journey Optimizer dedicated menu. It becomes a standalone content template that can be accessed, edited and deleted as any other item on that list. Learn more

You can now use this template when building any content within Journey Optimizer. Learn how

Test email content templates test-template

You can test the rendering of some of your email templates, whether created from scratch or from an existing content. To do so, follow the steps below.

Access the content template list through the Content Management > Content Templates menu and select any email template.

Click Edit content from the Template properties .

Click Simulate Content and select a test profile to check your rendering. Learn more

You can send a proof to test your content and have it approved by some internal users before using it in a journey or a campaign.

To do so, click the Send proof button and follow the steps described in this section .

Before sending the proof, you must select the email surface that will be used to test your content.

Use content templates use-content-templates

When creating content for any channel (except Web) in Journey Optimizer, you can use a custom template that you either:

Created from scratch using the Content templates menu. Learn more

Saved from an existing content in a journey or a campaign using the Save as content template option. Learn more

To start building your content with one of these templates, follow the steps below.

Whether in a campaign or journey, after selecting Edit content , click the Content template button.

Select Apply content template .

Select the template of your choice from the list. Only templates compatible with the selected channel and/or type are displayed.

Click Confirm . The template is applied to your content.

Continue editing your content as desired.

How-to video video-templates

Learn how to create, edit, and use content templates in Journey Optimizer.

https://video.tv.adobe.com/v/3413743/?quality=12