Journey mapping that actually drives change

TL;DR

• Journey mapping is a structured storytelling method that visualizes the full customer or service experience to reveal problems and opportunities
• A map only delivers value when tied to a specific goal, such as reducing churn, improving onboarding, or supporting a defined business metric
• Strong maps are built through collaboration with multiple departments so that all perspectives and data sources inform the story
• Reliable inputs include qualitative research, quantitative analytics, customer quotes, and operational data to replace assumptions with evidence
• Each map should focus on a clear primary audience or persona and call out differences only when they are critical to the story
• Assumptions must be labeled and validated over time to prevent inaccurate information from becoming accepted as fact
• Findings should be distilled into actionable insights that guide design decisions and measurable improvements
• Key moments, such as peak experiences or the final interaction, carry disproportionate weight in memory and loyalty, and should be highlighted
• Maps should be maintained as living documents connected to real-time data so they remain current and useful for ongoing decision making
• The format and level of detail should match the organization’s context, allowing for macro overviews and deeper micro maps where needed

I started my career back in 1999, right at the beginning of the internet era. It was all very new back then. I was fascinated with how the internet worked. A friend of mine taught me the basics of HTML and CSS, and that kicked it all off for me. I started designing websites and exploring the space. There was a creative streak in my family, so it felt like a natural direction at first.

As I progressed, I realized I wasn’t especially strong on the visual side of design. My real strengths were in strategy and research. I leaned into that. I started thinking less about how something looked and more about how it worked and how to solve real problems. That shift led me to user experience and eventually into service design. I began thinking beyond screens and websites. I wanted to understand what happens across the full journey.

I worked for Goldman Sachs in Australia, then ran my own digital agency for about ten years. Running a business meant I had to wear every hat: SEO, development, writing, design. I did most of it badly, but doing it all gave me a clear sense of what mattered. Strategy and research kept pulling me in. That became the thread connecting everything I did.

Eventually, I moved into experience design at larger agencies. I worked across all touchpoints: in-store, contact centers, apps, and websites. Now I lead a team at VML in the Middle East. We’re focused on experience design at scale. And all through that journey, mapping has been a consistent tool. It helps us make sense of complexity and communicate clearly across teams.

Mapping as storytelling

When people talk about customer journey mapping, they often get caught up in the differences between a customer journey map, a service blueprint, or another kind of map. But at the heart of it, they all do the same thing. They tell a story. That’s the most important part. It’s not about which type of map you use. It’s about the story you’re trying to tell and how clearly you can tell it.

That idea started to form for me back when I was running my agency. We would thinuxk about how users moved through digital experiences and where they got stuck. It wasn’t formal mapping at that stage, but the thinking was there. We were trying to understand pain points and figure out where we could improve things.

Later, when I joined global agencies and started using dedicated mapping tools, it all clicked. The tools made things more dynamic. They helped us move faster and go deeper. But the core principle was still the same. We were using maps to highlight what was working, what wasn’t, and where to act next.

Mapping is not just about problems either. Sometimes you uncover positive experiences worth amplifying. These can be just as important. You can use them to build advocacy, show success, and reinforce what the team is doing well. A great map tells the full story. It gives you the range: the wins and the gaps.

Why objectives matter

A lot of teams jump into journey mapping, thinking about mapping just the customer journey. But what does that really mean? What exactly are you mapping, and why are you doing it? If you can't answer that clearly, then it's just an expensive exercise, whether in time, resources, or actual money. The process needs to be tied to a defined objective, something you can measure.

Now, I know that not every single map will tie directly to a KPI. Sometimes, the outcome is harder to quantify. But in most cases, you should be able to relate it back to something measurable. If you're working in a SaaS business, for example, reducing churn is a very clear, tangible objective. That becomes your focus, and everything you do during the mapping process should relate back to that.

Even if you don't have an official objective for your role, someone you report to will. There's always a commercial angle, even if you're not directly responsible for it. Your map should support those bigger goals. Maybe you're mapping to simply understand the current journey better. That's still valid. But don’t stop there. Use that understanding to identify where you can improve the experience, and ultimately where you can help the business grow.

Without that clarity at the start, your mapping process will be scattered. It becomes harder to decide what to include, where to focus, and how to align people around the work. The same principle applies whether you're client-side or agency-side. You need something in writing that says what success looks like. That objective is your anchor.

Avoiding siloed mapping

One of the biggest mistakes I see is when a UX or product team tries to create a journey map in isolation. It seems easier to do it that way. You have your research, you have your ideas, so you get on with it. But what you end up with is a one-sided story. A map that reflects your own view, or maybe just the view of your team.

To really understand the customer journey, you need multiple perspectives. For example, departments of sales, support, and operations see something different. When you leave them out, you miss important context, and even worse, you end up with weak buy-in. People are less likely to adopt something they weren’t involved in creating. The fix is simple: invite them in from the start.

When people are part of the process, they feel ownership. It’s like the IKEA effect. If you’ve ever built a piece of IKEA furniture, you know that you value it more because you assembled it yourself. The same applies to journey maps. When someone helps build it, they’re more likely to support it and act on it later. That’s not just theory; it’s backed by behavioral psychology.

This is why I always say, focus on the process, not just the artifact. The journey map is a tool. The real value is in the conversations, the collaboration, and the decisions that happen while creating it. It’s not about finishing the map and walking away. It’s an ongoing program. You want people to stay engaged with it over time, not treat it like a one-off project.

Mapping with depth

A journey map is only as good as the inputs behind it. That’s something I stress over and over. If the only data you have is from your UX research or product analytics, you’re going to miss a lot. Let’s say you’re building a map and you want to understand a SaaS customer’s journey. The data could come from SEO, from web analytics, from customer satisfaction scores, or even from product usage metrics. Each of those tells a part of the story.

Those data points often sit with different teams. You’ll need to work with analysts, support leads, and product managers to gather the full picture. If you don’t bring those people in early, it can be difficult to get access to the information later. But more than that, you miss the chance to hear how they interpret those signals. Their perspective is just as valuable as the data itself.

Now, I understand not everyone works in a large company with all those roles. Maybe you don’t have a dedicated analyst or call center. That’s okay. There are still ways to gather inputs. Use the app store if you have one. Look at reviews. Check your analytics dashboards. Talk to anyone who interacts with customers. The point is, you don’t have to work in a massive team to do this right. You just need to be resourceful.

And when you ask someone to get involved, think about what’s in it for them. What are they going to get out of this process? That’s the angle you want to lead with. Not just what you need, but what will help them do their job better. When you come at it from that perspective, people are much more willing to give their time.

Focus your mapping on a clear audience

When you're telling a story, the first thing you need to know is who the story is about. A journey map works the same way. You don't need to include the full persona on the map, but you do need to set the scene. Just a simple note that hints at who this is for makes the story easier to understand. It helps people across the organization grasp the context of what they're looking at.

If you’re mapping for multiple audiences, you can still work with one map. You might have a journey that overlaps across two types of users, with some variations between them. That’s perfectly fine. You just need to call out those differences. I once worked on a map for a skincare brand, and we highlighted how Korean and American customers interacted with beauty creams differently. You don’t need to split it all out. A callout box or annotation does the job.

The key is to avoid making the map so generic that it loses its meaning. When you try to cover everyone, you end up with something so broad that no one can act on it. Or worse, people don’t know which parts apply to which audience. It becomes hard to read and hard to use. A story that tries to be about everyone becomes a story about no one. Stay focused on one character at a time.

And don’t be afraid to break the rules. There’s no single right way to do mapping. What works for your team, your company, or your product is what matters. Use the methods that make sense for you. Interpret the process in a way that gives you clarity and value. The framework is flexible for a reason.

Garbage in, garbage out

You can't build a good journey map without good inputs. I say this all the time. You can't tell a meaningful story if you don’t actually know the story. And yet I see it all the time, even in large companies, where maps are built entirely on assumptions. Someone gathers a few people in a room, guesses their way through a customer journey, and calls it done.

Now, don't get me wrong, internal workshops can be helpful. They’re useful for identifying what you think the journey might look like. But that’s just the beginning. That’s not where the map ends. You still need to validate those ideas. Otherwise, you’re solving the wrong problems and wasting time and resources. You might be completely missing the real issues your customers face.

To move beyond assumptions, you need evidence. Use interviews, use surveys, use data from your call center if you have one. And one of the most powerful things you can do is include actual quotes on the map. I can't overstate how valuable that is. When a stakeholder sees a verbatim quote from a customer, it carries weight. It’s not just you saying, "Here’s what we think." It’s the customer saying, "Here’s what I experienced."

Even if your team is small or you're at a startup with limited access to data, you can still start with what you know. Map out your assumptions, and label them clearly. Say, this is what we believe, but we need to validate it. That alone becomes a research plan. It shows what you know and what you don't know. That gap becomes your guide for what to investigate next.

Be careful that assumption-based maps don't stick around too long without validation. They can become accepted as truth, and when they’re handed off to someone else, that person may not realize they were only guesses. Own the map. Keep it accurate. Make sure it reflects what’s known and what still needs to be confirmed.

Make it actionable

There’s no value in building a journey map unless it leads to action. If all it does is sit in a Figma file or on a Miro board, it’s not helping anyone. The findings from your map need to be clear enough for others to work with. Vague notes like "customers are confused" don’t help. What are they confused about? Is it the process? The interface? The communication?

Broad statements make it hard for designers or stakeholders to act. You need to dig deeper. Figure out the root cause. That’s where the value is. And yes, this is where I always get into the topic of insights, a word that gets used way too loosely. I’m passionate about this because when we call everything an insight, we lose sight of what real insight actually is.

Insights aren't just data points. They aren't what you heard in a meeting. An insight is the result of connecting multiple pieces of information together. It's creative. It takes effort. You have to stitch together different signals and see what they’re really telling you. When you do that, when you find a true insight, it can completely shift your understanding of the problem and lead to powerful solutions.

Let me give you an example. Say you run a hotel, and your research shows that business travelers want softer bedding. That’s not an insight. That’s a finding. But then you learn they don’t enjoy being on the road. They miss home. They travel often. You start to connect the dots and realize, they’re not asking for soft bedding, they’re asking for a feeling of comfort. They want a home away from home. That’s the insight. That’s the thing that unlocks better experiences.

Digging deeper: From surface answers to actionable truths

One of the simplest yet most effective tools I always recommend is the five whys. When someone gives you an answer like, “I bought this product for my family,” you don’t stop there. You ask, “Why does your family need it?” You keep going. By the fourth or fifth, you start getting to something real, something you can actually use.

Those first answers are always superficial. They’re throwaways. But if you push gently and keep asking why, you uncover the deeper motivation. That’s where the insight lives. It’s the juicy bit you can work into your map. Whether you’re a trained researcher or just dipping your toe into research, this is one of the first things I teach. It’s simple, but it’s powerful. And it works with anyone: customers, colleagues, even family.

There’s another technique I lean on heavily, and that’s the COM-B model. It’s a behavioral science framework I’ve used again and again in mapping. COM-B stands for capability, opportunity, and motivation. If a customer isn’t doing what you want them to do, it always comes down to one of those three things. Understanding that can shift the way you approach your journey map.

You can even build it directly into your maps. Add a swim lane for barriers, and categorize them. Is it a capability issue, like they don’t understand something? Is it an opportunity, maybe the option wasn’t available? Or is it motivation? They just didn’t want to? When you organize feedback this way, it becomes clearer and easier to act on. It’s not just a story anymore; it’s a story with structure.

Keep it simple, keep it sharp

I know some of this might sound contradictory, and that’s because not every principle applies to every project. But one thing is universal: your story must be easy to follow. If someone in finance or operations can’t understand your journey map without you walking them through it, it’s not doing its job.

Don’t overcomplicate it. If you try to map the entire lifecycle, or layer in too many personas at once, it quickly becomes a mess. You end up with sprawling maps that no one uses. Instead, zoom in. Choose one objective, one part of the journey, and start there. Keep it small and purposeful. If your goal is to reduce churn, then look at the places where churn is happening. Focus on onboarding, early product use, or wherever the problem lives.

This is where journey management comes in, and that’s a whole topic on its own. In more mature organizations, journey management is not just a process; it can be a team. They manage both macro and micro maps across different stages, sources, and personas. I’ve worked with companies that maintain hundreds of maps this way.

The idea is that you have high-level maps showing key stages: awareness, trial, onboarding, retention. Then, for each one, you can build deeper maps. Maybe you map the trial experience for people coming through a partner channel separately from those coming in cold. That’s the macro and micro view. It helps you stay organized without losing focus.

Context is everything

Too often, people focus only on the slice of the journey they’re trying to fix. But what came before and after matters just as much. If people are churning in week one, you’ve got to look at what happened during onboarding. Maybe the damage was done before they even started using the product.

The context matters. Include the stage before and the stage after. Don’t just isolate the pain point, wrap it in its environment. That’s how you understand what’s really going on. I once worked with a baby product manufacturer, and we looked at the journey of moms through their trimesters. We weren’t trying to sell to them in the first trimester, but understanding that stage helped us better support them later on.

It’s not just about transactions. It’s about emotions, timing, and experience. That broader view gives you the full story. If you skip that, you miss key moments that could shape the outcome. Your solution becomes incomplete, and the map loses power.

Include only what matters for the story you're telling, but make sure that story has the right beginning and end. Your journey map should connect the dots, not cut them off.

Identify the moments that matter

In any journey, there are moments that matter more than others. These are the points that disproportionately affect whether a customer comes back. In e-commerce, for example, adding to the cart is one of those moments. If that doesn’t work smoothly, the rest doesn’t matter, because they’re gone.

You’ll usually find two, maybe three of these in a single journey. They’re not always obvious, and they’re definitely not always the ones you expect. But once you find them, those moments are where you should focus your energy. They give you the most leverage.

Sometimes we try to fix everything, but the truth is, not everything needs fixing. Prioritize the parts of the experience that create the biggest impact. That’s where change will make a real difference. And that’s where journey mapping proves its value.

Mapping isn’t just about visualizing. It’s about decision-making. It’s about making sure your team knows where to look, where to dig, and where to act. If your map can point to those moments that matter, and if it tells a clear story around them, then you’re in a position to do something meaningful.

The peak-end rule

We mentioned that add to cart is one of the moments that matter in e-commerce, but that’s not the only one. Checkout is another key point. Then there’s unboxing or delivery, especially if it's an online purchase. These are the areas where you need to place your focus.

If your customers are leaking out of the funnel, start here. On your journey map, these moments should stand out visually. Make them brighter, bolder, larger. They should draw attention. If they’re the cause of churn, they’re your most valuable territory to explore.

This ties directly to the peak-end rule, something I always bring up when talking about journey mapping. We, as humans, remember the most intense part of an experience and the final moment. That peak could be positive or negative, but it anchors the entire memory. It’s why people can recall an entire experience as bad even if most of it went well, just because of a poor ending.

The mobile phone industry is a good example. When you switch contracts, the company you're leaving often doesn't make an effort because they see you as a lost customer. But if that exit experience is handled well, you’re far more likely to return years later. It doesn't matter if the rest of the journey was average. A strong ending rewrites the memory. So think carefully about the way your product or service ends for the customer.

Static maps are dead

Journey maps shouldn’t be static. They shouldn’t sit in a folder, printed and filed away. If they’re not updated, they lose value quickly. The most powerful journey maps connect to real-time data.

Now, I know that’s not always easy. But if you’re using a mapping tool, and many platforms now support this, you can pull in data from Google Analytics, voice-of-customer platforms like Qualtrics, and others. That’s when your map becomes something more. It becomes a live dashboard, something your team can check daily.

It’s not just a picture anymore. It shows what customers are saying right now. Quotes, actions, and pain points are all linked with real data. That’s the kind of thing stakeholders pay attention to. They’re more likely to buy in if the map feels fresh and grounded in what's happening today.

Even for those who aren’t deep into analytics, a live journey map is easier to digest than a traditional dashboard. It brings together story and insight in one place. That’s how you keep a map alive. That’s how you make sure it doesn’t get forgotten.

Journey mapping in sensitive industries

What if your users don’t want to answer sensitive questions? There’s always going to be challenges like this, but there’s usually a way. Let’s take the health industry, for example. You should think about speaking with nurses or frontline staff. They’re often full of valuable insights because they engage directly with patients.

Even if you can’t reach the patients themselves, receptionists, support staff, and reviews can give you the data you need. Just be aware of bias in online reviews, because the negative ones tend to stand out more. But if you combine multiple sources, you’ll get a fuller picture.

Whether it’s healthcare or another regulated industry, your objective will guide your approach. The key is to find the people who see and hear what’s happening day-to-day. They may not be your end user, but they can still tell you the story.

Users don’t know what they want

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Never ask users what they want. They don’t know. That’s not a criticism; they just don’t have the context, the tech knowledge, or the full view. Instead, ask what problem they’re trying to solve. Ask how they’re struggling to solve it today.

That shift in approach makes all the difference. You’re not looking for feature requests. You’re diagnosing a problem. Once you understand that, your job is to design a solution, not theirs.

Even in usability testing or surveys, don’t phrase your questions around wants. Focus on pain. What’s hard? What’s frustrating? Where are they getting stuck? That’s where real insight lives.

Start high-level, then go deep

When clients insist on mapping everything, don’t fight them. Start high-level. Cover the full journey if they ask for it. But then go deep where it matters. Focus your attention and effort on the section that ties to their objective.

If they’re trying to improve conversion, zoom in on that stage. If it’s retention, dig into later use. You can still provide the full map for context, but layer the detail where it’s needed. That way, you're not just giving them what they asked for, you're giving them what they need.

This lets you offer a recommendation too. You can say, here’s your whole map, and here’s where we think you should zoom in further. Suggest building a separate, more detailed map for that key area. Clients appreciate that level of guidance, and it helps manage the project scope more effectively.

The right tools for the job

When it comes to tools, I’ve built maps in everything from pen and paper to PowerPoint, Excel, Miro, and Figma. But those take a lot of effort to keep up to date. If you want real-time data, you need a proper mapping platform.

Tools like TheyDo or Milkymap are great options. Some of them have free trials, so you can test them before you commit. These platforms allow for integrations, so you can pull in analytics, voice-of-customer feedback, and more.

If you’re working in-house, don’t worry too much about aesthetics. But if you’re on the agency side, sometimes things need to look sharp for client presentations. In those cases, I’ve used Illustrator or Figma to mock up maps that impress in pitches. Just remember, those won’t scale or update easily. Use them where it makes sense.

Wrapping up

Journey mapping is one of the most useful tools I’ve worked with throughout my career. But it only works if you treat it as more than a diagram. It needs to be a living, breathing reflection of your customer’s experience. It’s not about how pretty it looks or how many touchpoints you include. It’s about whether it tells a story that your team can use.

If there's one takeaway from everything I’ve said, it’s that you need to map with purpose. Don’t try to map everything. Don’t drown the process in data. Start with a clear objective, zoom in on what matters, and build out from there. Treat the map as something flexible. Add layers of insight, track moments that matter, and connect them to real inputs.

Tools will come and go. Frameworks will change. But what won’t change is the value of clarity. A strong map shows people what’s broken, what’s working, and where to go next. That’s why it’s so important to build maps others can read on their own. It’s a communication tool before anything else.

If you want to go deeper, take the course. Everything I’ve talked about here is just a starting point. The course breaks it all down, gives you the structure, and helps you build maps that actually drive change. That’s what we need more of in this industry: not just diagrams, but outcomes. And, the first lesson is free for everyone!