User Journey Mapping Explained
A user journey map is a visual representation of the steps a user takes to accomplish a goal with your product — from first awareness through to completion and beyond. It helps teams understand the full experience, not just individual screens.
What a Journey Map Shows
- Stages: The high-level phases of the user's journey (e.g. Discover → Evaluate → Purchase → Onboard → Use → Renew)
- Actions: What the user does at each stage
- Thoughts: What the user is thinking — questions, assumptions, expectations
- Emotions: How the user feels at each stage — plotted as a curve showing highs and lows
- Pain points: Where the experience breaks down or frustrates
- Opportunities: Where improvements would have the most impact
Current State vs. Future State Maps
We typically create two journey maps: a current state map (how things work today, warts and all) and a future state map (how the experience will work after your project). The gap between them defines the design problem to solve.
Who Should Be Involved
Journey mapping works best as a collaborative exercise involving your team alongside ours. People from customer service, sales, and operations often have insights that no amount of user research replicates. A facilitated journey mapping workshop at project start can align the team and surface assumptions before a line of design or code is produced.