User Journey Mapping: Walk in Their Shoes

Companies can become so excited about designing the features on new products or the roll-out of a new brand that they lose sight of the user experience. Customers’ lives are busy and complex. They become more critical because they have more choice. Have you considered the realities of their context and what is important to them – their values, their challenges?

With users in mind, role play the journey they will take in relation to your product or service. Where, when and why will they respond or engage with your offer over a period of time? How might they first come across it, especially if it is new to them? Where will you need to be to get their attention? What will be influencing their decisions, and what might go wrong…?

How you deal with frustrations or negativity is an all-important source of design improvements. Don’t just walk a design idea through every user journey as if it will magically run the way you want it to.

Map out the basic stages for different types of users in terms of where they will be, how they might be feeling and what you expect them to think or do. It will share a wider picture across a development team and help align the sales pipeline or a marketing campaign from the beginning. And don’t lose sight of the user experience beyond the purchase. After-sales presents a space to really build a relationship and a community. Will they return for more or have reason to recommend? Be consistent and design for added-value at every stage – from the user perspective.