--- name: rampstackco/journey-mapping source: https://app.decimal.ai/s/rampstackco-journey-mapping@2/SKILL.md source_sha256: 8617707f3824 --- # Journey Mapping Build journey maps and service blueprints that surface friction, align teams, and identify opportunities. Stack-agnostic. Tool-agnostic. This skill is for mapping the experience. For testing specific touchpoints, use `usability-testing`. For broader generative research, use `ux-research`. For analyzing conversion, use `cro-optimization`. --- ## When to use - Departments have different mental models of the customer experience - Customer experience feels disjointed across touchpoints - Specific friction or drop-off points need diagnosis - Strategic planning needs a shared view of the user - Service design (front-stage and back-stage) needs alignment - New product or feature needs to be designed in context of broader experience ## When NOT to use - Testing a single touchpoint or page (use `usability-testing`) - Generative research before journey mapping (use `ux-research`) - Operational process mapping that doesn't involve users - Funnel optimization (use `cro-optimization`) --- ## Required inputs - Identified user persona or segment to map (one map per segment) - Existing research and data about that segment - Cross-functional access (you cannot map back-stage without ops/support/engineering input) - Time and stakeholder commitment (a real journey map is a project, not an afternoon) --- ## The framework: 3 deliverables ### 1. Customer journey map The user-facing view of the experience. **Structure (rows / lanes):** - **Phase.** The major stages in the journey (e.g., Awareness, Consideration, Onboarding, Activation, Retention, Advocacy). Phases vary by product type. - **Steps.** Specific things the user does within each phase. - **Touchpoints.** Where the user interacts with the product, brand, or service (web, app, email, support, social, in-person). - **Goals.** What the user is trying to accomplish at this step. - **Thoughts.** What's going through their mind. - **Emotions.** The emotional state (often visualized on a curve). - **Pain points.** Where things go wrong, friction, frustration. - **Opportunities.** Where the experience could improve. **Format:** Typically a horizontal timeline with vertical lanes for each row. Phases across the top, touchpoints, thoughts, emotions, etc. underneath. ### 2. Service blueprint The back-stage view that supports the customer-facing experience. **Adds these layers below the journey map:** - **Front-stage actions.** What employees do that the user sees (sales calls, support chats, in-store interactions). - **Back-stage actions.** What happens behind the scenes (order fulfillment, data processing, internal handoffs). - **Supporting processes.** Systems, vendors, infrastructure (CRM, payment processors, fulfillment partners). - **Lines of visibility.** The line between front-stage (visible to user) and back-stage (invisible). The service blueprint shows where customer-facing problems originate in back-stage failures (e.g., the user's "shipping is slow" experience traces to a vendor handoff issue). ### 3. Synthesized opportunity map Output of the mapping work. **Captures:** - **Top friction points.** Where the experience consistently fails users. - **Untapped opportunities.** Moments where the experience could surprise and delight. - **Disconnects.** Where front-stage and back-stage are misaligned. - **Strategic gaps.** Where competitors have something the brand lacks (or vice versa). - **Quick wins.** Low-effort, high-impact improvements. - **Strategic bets.** Higher-effort transformations. This is the deliverable that produces decisions. The journey map and service blueprint are inputs; the opportunity map is the output that drives action. --- ## Common phases by product type ### Most products ``` Awareness → Consideration → Decision → Onboarding → Active use → Renewal/Repurchase → Advocacy ``` ### SaaS ``` Trigger → Discovery → Evaluation → Trial → Onboarding → Activation → Habit → Expansion → Renewal → Advocacy ``` ### Ecommerce ``` Need recognition → Discovery → Research → Decision → Purchase → Wait/Anticipation → Receive → Use → Reorder/Recommend ``` ### Service ``` Awareness → Inquiry → Quote → Decision → Service delivery → Resolution → Follow-up → Repeat business ``` ### Healthcare / high-stakes purchases ``` Trigger → Research → Provider selection → Appointment → Treatment → Recovery → Follow-up → Long-term outcome ``` Phases are not mandatory. Start with the user's actual experience and let the phases emerge from the steps. --- ## How to gather the inputs A good journey map combines multiple sources of truth. ### From users - **In-depth interviews.** Walk users through their actual experience. Ask for specifics from a recent occurrence. - **Diary studies.** Users log their experience over the duration of the journey. - **Surveys.** Quantitative signal at scale; less depth. ### From the business - **Internal interviews.** Sales, support, success, ops. They see the experience from different angles than product or design. - **Operational data.** Funnel data, support ticket categories, NPS responses, churn reasons. - **System inventory.** What touchpoints exist, what tools support them, what data flows where. ### Cross-validate - The user's experience as they describe it - The data the business has about their behavior - The internal team's perception of the experience These three views often disagree. The disagreements are themselves findings. --- ## Workflow 1. **Define scope.** One persona, one journey, one timeframe. Trying to map all users in one map produces a mess. 2. **Gather inputs.** User interviews, internal interviews, operational data. Plan 2 to 4 weeks for inputs. 3. **Draft the journey.** Phases, steps, touchpoints. Get to a working draft fast; iterate. 4. **Add the layers.** Goals, thoughts, emotions, pain points. 5. **Build the service blueprint.** Front-stage, back-stage, supporting processes. 6. **Identify opportunities.** Use the friction points and disconnects. 7. **Validate with users.** Does this match their actual experience? Refine. 8. **Workshop with stakeholders.** Walk teams through the map. Ensure shared understanding. 9. **Translate to action.** Specific projects, owners, timelines. 10. **Maintain.** A journey map is a living document. Revisit annually or after major changes. --- ## Failure patterns - **Mapping without research.** A journey map built from internal assumptions reflects assumptions, not users. - **One map for all users.** The mid-market buyer and enterprise buyer have different journeys. Don't merge. - **No back-stage layer.** The map shows symptoms, not causes. - **Beautiful map, no action.** Investment in production value at the expense of decisions. - **Map as artifact, not tool.** Filed in Figma, never re-opened. - **Ignoring emotional layer.** The "what" without the "how it feels" misses the point of journey mapping. - **Vague pain points.** "Frustrating onboarding" - what specifically? When? Why? - **Quick wins identified, never executed.** Same as research findings that don't ship. - **Annual exercise without followup.** Year-old journey map describes year-old user. --- ## Output format Default outputs: 1. **Journey map** (visual, typically Figma / FigJam / Miro, plus a markdown narrative version) 2. **Service blueprint** (visual, typically same tool) 3. **Opportunity map** (markdown, prioritized list) Markdown narrative version of journey map: ```markdown # [Persona] journey map ## Phase 1: [Phase name] ### Step: [Step name] - **Touchpoint:** [Where this happens] - **Goal:** [What the user wants here] - **Thoughts:** [What they're thinking] - **Emotion:** [State on the emotional curve] - **Pain points:** [Friction] - **Opportunities:** [Improvement potential] ### Step: [Step name] [Same structure] ## Phase 2: [Phase name] [Repeat] ## Service blueprint additions ### Phase 1 - **Front-stage actions:** [What employees do user-visibly] - **Back-stage actions:** [What happens behind the scenes] - **Supporting processes:** [Systems involved] [Repeat per phase] ## Opportunity map ### Critical friction 1. [Specific issue, with evidence] 2. [Specific issue, with evidence] ### Quick wins 1. [Specific opportunity, with effort/impact] ### Strategic bets 1. [Specific opportunity, with effort/impact] ### Cross-team disconnects 1. [Specific disconnect, with implication] ``` --- ## If required data is unavailable This skill's output depends on data, measurements, or tool results it cannot generate on its own. When a required input, tool, or data source is unavailable or unverifiable, the sanctioned output is the deliverable with the gap stated: what was needed, what was actually obtained or verified, and which parts of the output are affected. Fabricating, estimating, or interpolating a required number to complete the deliverable is never sanctioned. A stated gap is a complete answer. --- ## Reference files - [`references/journey-map-template.md`](references/journey-map-template.md) - Fillable journey map and service blueprint template.