User journey mapping is the step by step journey that a user takes to reach their goal. In a website, for example, this journey will often consist of a number of website pages and decision points that carry the user from one step to another. The user journey is created to map out the current journey a typical user might take to reach their specific goal, and is then redesigned to form an ‘ideal’ journey. The output is traditionally a flow diagram demonstrating each page and decision point throughout the entire process.
User journey mapping can also be known as ‘customer journey mapping’ or ‘user flows’ and are created as part of the User Centred Design process. The user journey is a useful tool to assist in the development of a wireframe prototype. The ideal journey for each typical scenario is used to prioritise features and content on each page to assist the user in reaching their goal as quickly as possible, and these priorities are translated into the wireframes.
A typical website user journey will start at the home page and end when the user leaves the site. However, to get a complete understanding of the user journey, it is important to review the steps and decision making the user takes prior to landing on the website, and again when they leave the site. This builds a picture of the complete journey and highlights where the website lives in the full journey, and therefore what role it needs to play. This information can then be used to support the journey and help the user to reach their goal. Although a website example is used here, the process is the same for any touchpoint.
Advantages
The map of the existing user journey provides a clear view on how easy or difficult it is for a typical user to reach their goal. This map will speed up the planning of a new development because it immediately highlights the current issues. If this map is then followed by an ideal user journey map, the project team get a quick feel for how the site should work, what content and functionality is required to meet the user needs, and what pages are required to support the journey.
Developing the design around the user journeys also provides confidence that the final solution will cater to the typical users’ needs.
Disadvantages
The ideal journey can often prove to be difficult to implement, with business objectives and technical/design limitations impacting the ability to produce a quick journey, therefore, it is important to create the ideal journeys with a multidisciplinary team to ensure all angles are covered. Balancing user goals and business goals is very important at this stage to ensure both are taken care of without impacting each other.
Conclusion
User journeys are very useful to speed up the planning of a new project by highlighting the current issues and produce an ideal picture from a typical user’s perspective early in the process. As long as the project team includes a usability/customer experience expert to help balance the business goals with the user goals, the user journeys are invaluable in creating a successful project design.
