Best Practices for Journey Mapping

Name: Best Practices for Journey Mapping
Rating: 4.6 (18 reviews)

Principles and best practices to maximize the impact of your journey maps

Highest Rated

Created byJulie Francis

Last updated 1/2024

English

What you'll learn

You'll learn why collaboration is key for journey mapping (it's more about the mapping than the map), + ideas on how to make journey mapping more collaborative
You'll learn the 6 facets to cover in a "mapping brief": Why, For Whom, What, Who, When, & With Whom
You'll learn how to use a simple emotional trendline to capture user journeys in qualitative interviews, plus other insights into rooting maps in data
You'll learn how maps are customized based on the objectives, audience, fidelity of the data, and company/team culture.
You'll learn how to maximize the chance your map is used and has maximum impact

Course content

5 sections • 5 lectures • 1h 39m total length

Introduction: What is a journey map? Elements & Examples21:52
This lecture covers:
The source of these principles for journey mapping with impact & best practices: interviews with over 60 Journey Mappers & stakeholders!
A little background on me: ex-Meta UX Researcher & teacher of popular Journey Mapping course at Meta. Founder of BellaVia Research, a boutique UX Research consultancy.
The biggest pain point associated with journey mapping: investing lots of time & energy, only to have the map fall short of its potential.
Definitions: what is a journey map? Different types of journey maps (current state, future state, service design blueprints). Micro vs. Macro journeys. Moments of truth.
Components of journey maps: Phases, swimlanes, etc.
Map examples, ranging from low design polish (easy to create without design skills!) and higher polish maps
The benefits of journey mapping
The Meta Map of Mapping: the 4 states of journey mapping & principles for impact associated with each phase

Principle 1: Focused (& the importance of a collaborative approach)16:39
This lecture addresses 2 learning outcomes for this course:
1) how to collaborate effectively through the entire mapping process
2) the components of a mapping brief to help focus your mapping
This lecture covers:
Why you should focus more on the verb (mapping) and less on the noun (the map itself)
What cake wrecks have to do with journey mapping
The components of a mapping brief to help you, and your client/collaborators, get really clear on what you are mapping & why.

Principle 2: Data Based19:09
This lecture addresses 1 learning module for this course: how to conduct qualitative research to uncover a user’s journey
This lecture covers:
Types of data to use for your map: journey-focused qualitative research, existing research, quant survey data, and behavioral data
How to use a simple emotional timeline in an interview to understand a person's journey
The Peak-End rule from behavioral economics
How a strawman can help you structure your interviews
What to do if you have gaps in your research understanding of the journey
Why it's important to bring a collaborative spirit to your research, and how to include collaborators throughout the process
How to calculate an opportunity score from importance and satisfaction measures in a quant survey

Principle #3: Customized22:56
This lecture addresses 1 learning module for this course: how maps vary based on objective, audience, data fidelity, etc.
This lecture covers:
how and why to create your journey map collaboratively
How to choose swimlanes based on your map objective, referring back to your journey mapping brief. And, how the audience and other factors influence your map customization.
Map examples, ranging from low design polish (easy to create without design skills!) and higher polish maps

Principle #4: Integrated19:23
This lecture addresses 1 learning module for this course: how to activate a map, to help ensure the map is accepted and used
This lecture covers:
how a collaborative approach through the entire process helps you launch your map successfully and what else you can do during the launch phase to boost your chances of the map being accepted and used
Why it might be helpful to progressively reveal the map to people (because journey maps can be really overwhelming!)
How video highlights can help you successfully introduce a map
How & why to use dot voting in workshops if your map includes a lot of pain points
How to setup a workshop to use a journey map to brainstorm & develop solutions
Why it's so important to assign ownership of ideas/concepts that are generated in a workshop
The role of research immediately following a journey mapping ideation workshop
How to boost engagement with the map: posting it in public places, providing instructions, providing workshop templates

Requirements

UX/Market/CX Researchers with any level of journey mapping experience
Beginners are welcome, as are advanced practitioners looking to up their game!

Description

There's a lot of buzz these days about User Journey Maps, Customer Journey Maps, Buyer Journeys, and Employee Journeys. But there's very little about how to make a *great* journey map, meaning a map that results in tangible impacts to the the business or the product.

This course is based on interviews with over 60 journey mappers. Whether you are brand new to journey mapping or frustrated with the lackluster impact of your previous maps, this course has insights to set you up for success..

You'll learn 4 principles for maps with impact, plus best practices for each:

Principle #1: Journey Maps need to be Focused: A high impact journey map has a clear reason for existing: clear objectives, audience, etc. When people don't take the time to get focused, it shows. You need to be clear and aligned on what you are mapping, why you are mapping it, how it will be used, etc.

Principle #2: Maps need to be based in Data: A map with impact is based on solid understanding of people's process, needs, pain points, etc. Use insights from existing & journey-focused qualitative interviews, quant surveys, & data analytics to inform your map.

Principle #3: Maps need to be Customized: Map illustrations need to be tailored based on their objective, their audience, etc. A micro-interaction or map for a design sprint will be very different than a map intended to inform roadmapping or strategic decision

Principle #4: Maps need to be well Integrated: So often maps land with a thud and fall short of their full impact because they are delivered ("thrown over the fence") and then abandoned. It's very important to help your team/client learn how to use the map and how to integrate it into their existing processes.

And one more underlying principle that underlies all of the others: Maps need to be collaboratively created: What's a main differentiator for maps with impact? Collaboration. The involvement of diverse team members throughout the entire process - from planning, through research, early mapping, and launch.

Who this course is for:

Primarily intended for UX/Market/CX Researchers
Designers, PMs, Content Strategists & others may also benefit

Best Practices for Journey Mapping

What you'll learn

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Course content

Introduction1 lecture • 22min

Journey Maps with Impact: Principle #1: Maps need to be focused1 lecture • 17min

Journey Maps with Impact: Principle #2: Maps need to be based in data1 lecture • 19min

Journey Maps with Impact: Principle #3: Map illustrations need to be customized1 lecture • 23min

Journey Maps with Impact: Principle #4: Maps need to be integrated1 lecture • 19min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: