Journey Mapping

What it is

A journey map charts every step, touchpoint and emotion across an end-to-end experience — from the moment someone realises they have a need to the moment it is met, and often the aftermath. It is drawn from research, spans channels, and shows not only what happened but how it felt.

Why it matters

Teams optimise the screen they own, which is why the worst part of most experiences is the seam between two screens. A journey map makes the seams visible by forcing the whole sequence onto one page: the search, the phone call, the wait, the email, the return visit. It also reframes “the user” as a person with a timeline, which changes what teams argue about — from which feature is best to which moment matters most.

In this track

1. Laying out the journey (03-design-ux/22-journey-mapping/01-laying-out-the-journey) — collecting the steps, touchpoints and emotions onto one page.
2. Finding the moments that matter (03-design-ux/22-journey-mapping/02-finding-the-moments-that-matter) — reading the map for pain, drop-off and opportunity.

Prerequisites

• User Research (03-design-ux/05-user-research)

Go deeper

• Service Design (03-design-ux/38-service-design) — the map’s backstage half, once the frontstage journey is drawn.
• Persona (User Experience) (03-design-ux/23-persona-user-experience) — the groups whose journeys you will draw.
• From findings to decisions (03-design-ux/05-user-research/04-from-findings-to-decisions) — turning map findings into owned changes.
• Storyboarding (03-design-ux/16-storyboarding) — zooming from the whole journey into one moment.