Customer Journey Map — comprehensive guide with examples

Let's put all theory we've learned into practice by creating a customer journey map step-by-step. In the end, you'll be a CJM expert! Followus: Insights Updates Guides CaseStudies GuestPosts Freebies 5(13) Upuntilthismoment,we’vetalkedCJMthrough:whatitis,whyandwhentouseit,hownottomessitup,andsoonandsoforth.There’sonethingwesavedforlaterthough.Andthatisadetailedstep-by-stepguideonhowtocreateacustomerjourneymap.Let’sfixthishereandnow,shallwe? Source:truettspizzacafe Althoughthereisnogoldstandardforcreatingacustomerjourneymap,we’lltrytocreateasomewhatgeneralizedmap.Sothatyoucanuseitasareferencewhenmakingmapsofyourown. We’llbeusingourCustomerJourneyMapOnlinetoolalongthewayfortworeasons.Becauseit’seasytouseanditletsyoucreateaCJMfairlyquicklywithoutwastingtimeonsettinguptheenvironment.Oh,andthere'saPersonasbuildingtoolthatcomeswithit😉 Let’stakeapizzarestaurantasanexampleofbusinessforwhichwe’llbecreatingacustomerjourney. Contents1Step1:Defineyourpersona2Step2:Setcustomerjourneystages3Step3:Definemapsections4Step4:Setcustomergoals5Step5:Definetouchpoints6Step6:Processesandchannels7Step7:Problemsandideas8Step8:Emotionalgraph9Step?:BeCreative! Step1:Defineyourpersona Definingpersonasisacrucialpartofcustomerexperienceserviceandjourneymappinginparticular.Wewon’tgointodetails—youcanfindtheminthispostaboutcreatingpersonas. Let’sjustsaythatourpersona’snamewillbeEvaMoline—29,worksasajournalistandlovespizza.Evaisnotreallytech-savvyandshetriestomaintainahealthylifestyle. Openafull-sizeimageinanewtab. Step2:Setcustomerjourneystages Stagesarethestepscustomerstakewheninteractingwithabusiness.Theeasiestwaytoidentifythemistothinkofalltheactionsthepersonhastotakethroughouttheirjourney,organizethemintologicalgroups,andnamethesegroups.Thesewillbeyourmapstages.  Thenumberofstagesvariesfrombusinesstobusiness,butwe’lltake8forthisexample: AwareResearchArrivalOrderEatLeaveFeedbackReturn 💡Experttips:  Ifyou’renotsureabouttheorderornamesofthestages,don’tworryaboutthat.Youcanchangebothatanytimewhenworkingonthemap. Ifyourstagesarecomplex,youcanbreakthemintosmallerones.Readthisblogpostaboutdefiningstagestolearnmore. Step3:Definemapsections Sectionsarehorizontalrowswithdatathattogetherwiththestagesyoudefinedmakeupacustomerjourneymap. Whenitcomestopickingsectionsforamap,yourchoicewilldependonyourjourney’stypeandpurpose.  AsforUXPressia’sJourneyMaptool,itoffersasetofmoreorlessuniversalsectionsforallkindsofmaps.  We’llusesomeofthesectionsinthecurrentexample. Step4:Setcustomergoals Settingcustomergoalsateachstageisgreatformultiplereasons: IthelpsyouunderstandhowyourbusinessgoalsalignwiththegoalsofyourcustomersYoucanmeetyourcustomers’needsbettergainingtheirloyaltybyhelpingthemachievetheirgoalsateachstage Openafull-sizeimageinanewtab. Above,youcanseesomeofthegoalswesetforEva.Theyareself-explanatory,sothere’snoneedforextradetails. Step5:Definetouchpoints Touchpointsareencountersthathappenbetweenyourbusinessandcustomers.Inthepizzarestaurantexample,touchpointshappen: AttheAwarenessstage,whenEvaisactivelylookingforapizzaplacenearby.Sheisaskingaround,searchinglocationsonGoogleMaps,etc.AttheResearchstage,whensheistryingtofindoutwhatpeoplesayabouttheplacebyaskingherfriendsandreadingonlinereviews.AttheArrivalstage,whenEvaissearchingforaparkingspotandenterstherestauranttogetseatedafterparkingthecar.AttheOrderstage,whenshemakesanorderandwaitsforit.Timetoeat!Atthisstage,touchpointsoccurwhenEvaisbeingservedandwhensheiseatinghermeal.AttheLeavestage,whenEvainteractswiththewaiter,paysforthemeal,etc.AttheFeedbackstage,whenshegoestothepizzeria’swebsiteanddropsafewlinesonInstagram.Atthelaststage,whenEvagetsapromoemailfromtherestaurantwithdiscountsorotherspecialoffers. Findingallthetouchpointsiscriticalbecauseeachtouchpointleavessomeimpressionandyourmaingoalistokeepituptothemark. Youcanalsohaveaseparatesectiontodescribetheactionsyourpersonatakes: Openafull-sizeimageinanewtab. Step6:Processesandchannels Nowyoumaywanttoaddsomeprocessesandchannelstothemap.Justtoseewhatchannelsyourpersonausesandwhattypesofprocessesareinherjourney.Luckily,ourtoolletsyoudoitinthemostawesomeway.Processescanbelinear,non-lineartime-based,cyclic,orbi-directional.Youcanspecifyupto10channelsperprocess. Step7:Problemsandideas TimetoexploreproblemsEvamighthavewhenusingourservice.Itcouldbealackofinfoaboutourpizzahouse.Fewreviews,adsdonotshowhowourpizzaisdifferentfromothers. Uponarriving,Evamaystrugglewithlocatingtheplaceduetobadsignboardsorjustduetoahard-to-findlocation. Whenmakingherorder,Evamaylookfordetailedinfoondishingredientstolearnwhetheritcontainspeanutsshe’sallergicto.Descriptionsmaybenotasdetailedasshe’dwantthemtobe. Whilewaitingforthepizza,Evamaywanttocheckouttheplace.Findingarestroomcanturnintoanightmareifyoudon’thaveclearsignsshowingwhat’swhereintherestaurant. Onceyou’redonewithproblems,it’stimetofindsolutionstotheseproblems.Brainstormforsomeideasonhowthisorthatproblemcanbesolved.Here’swhatwebrainstormedforEva’scase: Openafull-sizeimageinanewtab. Step8:Emotionalgraph Neverunderestimatethepowerofvisualization.AndUXPressia’sCustomerJourneytoolisallaboutit.Weaddedanemotionalgraphtoseewhereourserviceexampleshinesandwhereitstinks.Plus,wefilledtextboxeswithEva’sthoughts: There’salsoaspecialsection(“Think&feel”)whereyoucanputpersonas’thoughts. Step?:BeCreative! Thisisagoodstart,butthemapisfarfrombeingcomplete.SokeepexploringEva’sjourneytofindmoreinsightsandthenaddallofthemtothemap. Ifyouuseourtool(whichwehighlyrecommendyoutodo),checkoutotherCJMsections: Imagesectionforscreenshots,photos,oranyotherrelevantimagery.Youcaneventurnitintoastoryboard,describingthejourneyfrombeginningtoendwithyourimagesorthosefromourlibrary. Chartssectionforcommunicatingdatainavisualandmeaningfulway,justlikewediditinthepersona: Videoanddocumentsectionsforjourney-relatedvideosanddocumentation(e.g.,anannualmarketingreport).Personassectionforvisualizingdifferentpersonas’interactionswithinthesamejourney.Etc. 💡Experttip:Thesectionwithpersona’squestionsworkslikeacharmformarketingandcontentpurposes.Sobesuretoaddone😉 Onceyou’vecreatedyourcustomerjourneymap,youcanexport,print,orshareitwithacustomeroryourteammates.Andthere’salsoawholelotoffreetemplatesforallsortsofjourneys! Nowyouknowthebasicsofcreatingacustomerjourneymap.Wanttolearnevenmore?DownloadourCJMguide😉 Thepostwasoriginallywrittenin2017. RatethispostSubmitRating MorepostsbyArthurMcCay October5,2021November2,2021 HowtocreateaPersonain9steps–aguidewithexamples March6,2020August23,2021 HowOftenShouldYouUpdateaCustomerJourneyMap? July31,2019August30,2019 UXPressiaResearchGroupLaunch 2 Commentthreads 5 Threadreplies 8 Followers   Mostreactedcomment Hottestcommentthread 2 Commentauthors Recentcommentauthors  Subscribe  newest oldest mostvoted Notifyof newfollow-upcomments newrepliestomycomments Guestkarimfirstofall,excellentexampleandI’mveryhappytoIcouldunderstandhowtocreateuserjourneymap,duetoforalongtimeIcan’tunderstanditandhow,manythanksforyourefforts🙂 Ihavesomequestionaboutserjourneymap. Ihopetoopenyourchestforme, 1-notherearerulesforuserjourneymap? 2-Ineedanotherexample?(forexampleUber)?furtherunderstand 3-haveIcreateuserjourneymapwithoutcustomer? VoteUp0VoteDown Reply4yearsagoAuthorArthurMcCayHello,Karim!Iamverygladthatthisarticlehelpedyouunderstandcustomerjourneymapping🙂Inregardstoyourfirstquestion,Iwouldsaythatjourneymapsdifferfrombusinesstobusiness.However,theytendtohavethesamestructuregiveortake.SonomatterwhatindustryyoumakeaCJMfor,youwillenduphavingseveralstagesandabunchofsectionswementionedinthispost.Ifyou’relookingforCJMexamplesofUbercustomers,hereisone:https://www.mindomo.com/doc.htm?d=92be818b774d422bad7eab790957ebc0&m=7d286174ccf1450bbb77c921a609ff65Pluswehavealotmoreonourtemplatepage:https://uxpressia.com/templatesAsforyourlastquestion,… Readmore»VoteUp2VoteDown Reply4yearsagoGuestkarimmanythanksforyourreplytome andagainIhavesomequestions 1-whyyoudon’tuseinyourexample?userexperience,empathymapssuchasusegoaltouchpoint,andhowtocreateit 2-Asforthepreviousexample(Uber)veryconfuseformenotasyourexample VoteUp0VoteDown Reply4yearsagoAuthorArthurMcCayCouldyoupleaserephraseyourfirstquestion?AndasfortheUbermap,well,that’sallImanagedtofind.🙂Butagain,hereyoucanfindahundredofmapexamplesofallstripesandcolors:https://uxpressia.com/templates VoteUp1VoteDown Reply4yearsagoGuestkarimwelcomeagain,myquestionis?what’sdifferentbetweenAwareandResearch VoteUp0VoteDown Reply3yearsagoAuthorArthurMcCayHiKarim, Thedifferencescomefromthenames. Attheawarestageyourclientrealizesthatthere’saneedforaservice/product.Ortheyfindoutthatyourcompanyexistsandofferadesiredservice. Whileattheresearchstagetheyeitherdoresearchonyourbusiness(e.g.visityourwebsiteorasktheirfriendsiftheyusedyourservice)ortheyresearchwhatisoutthereonthemarketthatcanhelpthem. Makessense?🙂 VoteUp2VoteDown Reply3yearsagoGuestkarimthanks VoteUp0VoteDown Reply3yearsago Joinournewsletter: SignUp Thanksforsubscription! Pleasecheckyouremailandapprovesubscription. Tags: B2B  CustomerJourney  EmpathyMap  EmployeeExperience  Events  ImpactMap  Marketing  Personas  Research  Touch-points  Latestposts: November17,2021November17,2021 UXPressiaBlackFridaysale2021:30%off November2,2021November2,2021 Customerjourneymap—step-by-stepguidewithexamples October14,2021October26,2021 Designforbehaviorchange