A user journey map tells the story of how someone gets something done with your product, stage by stage, and how each moment feels to them. It's one of the simplest ways to get a whole team looking at the experience from the customer's side.

What goes in a journey map

Most journey maps share the same parts:

  • A person and a goal, such as "A new customer buying for the first time".
  • Stages: the big phases, like Discover, Sign up, Checkout and Use.
  • Steps: what the person actually does in each stage.
  • Feelings: how each step feels, often as a score or a face, from frustrated to delighted.
  • Opportunities: notes on where you could make things better.

The feelings line is what makes a journey map different from a flowchart. It turns "what happens" into "where it hurts".

When to make one

  • before redesigning a flow, to agree on where the problems are
  • when onboarding new teammates, so they see the product as customers do
  • after research interviews, to bring the findings together in one picture
  • when different teams own different stages and need a shared view

How to make a user journey map

1. Pick one person and one goal

A map that tries to cover every customer at once says very little. Choose a specific situation, such as "A team lead inviting their first colleague".

2. Name the stages

Write four to six stages from the person's point of view. Use their words: "Find a plan", not "Pricing page funnel".

3. Add the steps

Under each stage, list what they do. Keep steps concrete: "Compares plans", "Enters card details", "Gets the receipt".

4. Score how each step feels

Use a simple scale, such as 1 for painful to 5 for great. Base scores on research where you can: support tickets, interviews, reviews, analytics.

5. Mark the opportunities

The low points are where to look first. Note what you'd try, and who could own it.

An example you can type

In a Nodeslate user journey, Enter adds the next stage or step, Tab adds steps to a stage, and ending a step with : 1 to : 5 sets how it feels:

Checkout
  Compare plans: 3
  Pay at checkout: 2
  Get receipt: 5

You can also pick a face on any step. Start from the New customer journey template if you'd rather not begin from blank.

Try it on the canvasNo account needed.

Common mistakes

  • Mapping your org chart instead of the customer. Stages should follow what the person does, not which team owns which screen.
  • Guessing the feelings. If the scores aren't based on something real, label the map as a hypothesis.
  • Making it once and forgetting it. A journey map is most useful when it's revisited after changes ship.

Questions

Is a journey map the same as a user flow?

No. A user flow shows the screens and decisions in one task, like a flowchart. A journey map zooms out to the whole experience and adds how it feels.

Who should make the journey map?

Whoever is closest to customers should lead, but the map works best when product, design, engineering and support build it together. In Nodeslate, everyone can edit the same map at once.

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