Journey Map

What is a Journey Map?

Journey Map (User Journey Map) is a visual tool that describes the entire process that a user experiences with a product or service, from the moment they have a need until they achieve their ultimate goal. The goal of this map is to deeply understand the behaviors, emotions, and touchpoints of users at each step, thus helping the design team come up with more reasonable and meaningful solutions.

Why is a Journey Map necessary?

The user's journey is not just a series of actions – it is also a combination of emotions, needs, and barriers. By mapping out this journey, designers can:

• Identify pain points that users encounter.

• Recognize important moments that affect the user experience.

• Find opportunities for improvement to design more user-friendly and effective solutions.

• Communicate with stakeholders (PM, Dev, Business) in an easily understandable manner.

Common components in a Journey Map

• Persona: A specific user representative.

• Stages/Steps: The steps in the journey (such as: explore, learn, use, feedback…).

• Actions: What users do at each step.

• Thoughts & Emotions: What users think and feel.

• Pain points: Obstacles or difficulties.

• Opportunities: Suggestions for improvements or solutions.

Example

You are designing a food delivery app. A simple journey:

1. Explore: Users open the app because they are hungry → They feel excited but can be confused due to too many options.

2. Search: They filter the food items based on criteria → They get confused if the UI is complicated.

3. Order: They select a dish and make a payment → They encounter a payment error which causes discomfort.

4. Wait for delivery: They worry because they don’t know where the driver is.

5. Receive food: The food arrives quickly, and the user is satisfied.

Looking at the map, the team can easily see that the waiting stage is a pain point that needs improvement – for example: adding a feature to track the driver in real-time.