January 11, 2018

Teams get caught up in process. It happens. We all have work to do, and we are all fine-tuning how we do it. Without a process for examining the experiences we create, we move further away from understanding how users actually engage with our products, and where the experience falls short.

Diagrams and visual artifacts collect data in one place to illuminate problems we might not otherwise see. These maps align teams around real issues the customer is experiencing.

How do teams get started using experience maps? There is no right or wrong way to map an experience, so don’t let it hold you back before you get started. We use maps to visualize the customer journey as it happens. The map that solves the problem we are trying to identify is the one that works, explains Jim Kalbach, and it might take the shape of sticky notes, sketches, or more formal journey maps.

“The concept of mapping helps us understand complex systems of interaction, particularly when we’re dealing with abstract concepts like experience. But mapping experiences is not a singular activity limited to one type of diagram over another. There are many possible perspectives and approaches,” says Jim in his book, Mapping Experiences.

Join Jim at the 2018 UXI Conference as he explains how teams can Utilize Mapping to Gain Stakeholder Alignment, and learn the many ways you can approach experience mapping to communicate the customer experience.