5 Classic Journey Mapping Mistakes

Journey maps are great, there is no doubt, but there are certain pitfalls that should be avoided.


1. Maps are outputs, not processes:

Imagine you and your friend go to a destination wedding. You use Apple maps. Your friend is brand loyal to Google. You both get to the wedding. You are early enough to sign the guestbook and enjoy a pre-ceremony cocktail. Your friend misses most of the wedding but gets to see the vows, which are written by the bride and groom. Your maps will be different, most likely, given the difference in time. Your feelings about your paths will also be different. But, the journey maps will not show the process that got you to your experiences. Journey maps show space and emotions but don’t necessarily show how you got into this situation. Why? Journey maps are about events in time, but not the ecosystem outside of that concentrated moment in time. In other words, there are attitudinal issues that will fall out of the scope of journey maps.


2. You know what they say about Assumptions?:

They make useless maps. The reason that firms hire outside providers to map workflows and customer experience is that assumptions and bias are hard to avoid. Think of your drive to work. Do you ever space and then still get to work? People often put on blinders in situations that are de rigeur. It is hard to see these situations from unbiased, or new eyes.


3. Making your map more than it is:

There are oh so many types of maps that designers use. Empathy maps are a way to focus on feelings so that you can design empathetically. A touchpoint map focuses on all the ways that customers interact with an organization. This type of map is a snapshot of their connections to you but does not show specific pathways. Journey maps have the element of direction over time.


4. Missteps and missing steps:

The path is never straight. And, the turns and whirls are what make the path challenging. Most people are good at getting the beginning and end, but its all of the steps in-between that is the problem. Go slowly with journey mapping, because you might miss the little missteps. Those tiny hiccups are the ones that could easily be pain points. Missing those steps could be catastrophic.


5. Burying your map:

Customers don’t care which department does what. Their path across to the services likely overlap many functional areas from parking to curatorial. They want the whole experience to feel cohesive and positive. They don’t care who does what, and they don’t care where your departmental boundaries leave holes. Therefore, your map needs to be communicated by the whole chain of action. No single department is responsible for the experience and no single department can fix any problems. Share the map and share the chance to solve any problems.

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