User journey mapping
User journey mapping lays out what a person does and runs into across the stages of using a product. A team uses it to find what to change. It pays for itself when a choice crosses stages that no single team sees end to end, such as onboarding, support and renewal.
How user journey mapping works in a product team
Without a named choice to inform, a map becomes wall art.
A useful map follows a promised onboarding outcome through sales, setup, first value and support. At each stage it records what was observed and names the choice that observation could change. Invented stages, feelings and pain points are workshop theatre.
Workflow design looks closer at the records, roles and rules a product must carry. UX Research can supply what a map needs. The article on UX, CX and design thinking helps pick the right scope before choosing a mapping method.
Journey mapping helps when a product choice depends on what happens before, during and after the visible interface. The map connects a person's goal, actions, channels, delays and handoffs. The team sees where the product helps and where another system or person takes over. It also sees where information is still missing.
Tcules uses journey mapping as one research and design tool, chosen when the question calls for it.
A user journey mapping template: what to record at each stage
Each column of the map is a stage. Each row below is something to record for it, with a question that keeps the row honest.
| Row | What to record | Question to ask |
|---|---|---|
Stage | A named step in the person's progress, such as setup or first value | Where does this stage start and end? |
Goal | What the person is trying to get done at that stage | What would count as done for them? |
Actions and channels | What they do, and where: in the product, by email, on a call | Which of these happen outside the software? |
Waits and handoffs | Where work stops or passes to another person or system | Who picks it up, and how do they know? |
Observed | What research showed, with its source | Did we see this, or assume it? |
Choice it informs | The product question this stage could change | What will we do differently if this is true? |
User journey map vs customer journey map
A customer journey map usually follows someone's whole relationship with a company: hearing of it, buying, onboarding, getting support and renewing. A user journey map follows a person working towards a goal with the product. It crosses into sales or support only where that goal does.
Marketing and customer success teams tend to own customer journey maps. Product teams use user journey maps to choose what to build or fix next.
User journey mapping vs workflow design
| User journey mapping | Workflow design |
|---|---|
Follows a person's goal and experience across touchpoints | Defines how work moves through roles, records, states and exceptions |
Can include activity outside the software | Focuses on the sequence of work the product must carry |
Helps reveal moments that deserve investigation | Produces product rules and interaction structure for carrying the work |
User journey mapping questions
What is an example of a user journey map?
A SaaS onboarding map is a common one. It follows a new customer from the signed contract through setup and first value to the first support call. At each stage it records what the person did, where they waited and what research showed, then names the product change each finding could justify.
When should a product team map user journeys?
Map a journey when a problem crosses stages that no single team sees whole, such as onboarding that starts in sales and ends in support. It also helps before a redesign that changes how people move between parts of the product. A question inside one screen needs a lighter method.
Is user journey mapping part of UX research?
It sits between research and design. Research supplies what the map records, from interviews, observation and product data. The map turns those findings into one picture a team can act on, which is why it works best with real research behind it.
Start a user journey map from the choice it should inform
A map earns its cost when it changes what the team does next. Start from that question, then choose the method. Journeys are changing shape as AI assistants carry out steps for people, so a current map shows which steps a person takes, which an AI takes for them and where the person needs to see what happened. Information architecture takes over when the question is where things live inside the product.