Journey Mapping

Create user and customer journey maps to understand experiences, identify pain points, and discover improvement opportunities. A human-centered complement to process-focused value stream mapping.

What is a Journey Map?

A journey map visualizes a user's experience over time as they accomplish a goal. Unlike process maps (which show what happens), journey maps show how it feels from the user's perspective.

Element	Definition	Purpose
Persona	Who is taking the journey	Focus on specific user type
Phases	Major stages of the journey	Organize the experience
Touchpoints	Interactions with your system	Identify contact points
Actions	What the user does	Understand behavior
Thoughts	What the user thinks	Understand mindset
Emotions	How the user feels	Identify emotional peaks/valleys
Pain Points	Friction and frustrations	Target improvements
Opportunities	Ways to improve	Prioritize enhancements

Journey Types

Type	Scope	When to Use
Current State	How things are today	Identify problems
Future State	Desired experience	Design solutions
Day-in-the-Life	Full day across contexts	Understand broader context
Service Blueprint	Journey + backstage operations	Design service delivery

Workflow

Phase 1: Preparation

Step 1: Define the Journey Scope

## Journey Definition

**Journey Name:** New Customer Onboarding
**Persona:** Sarah - First-time SaaS Buyer
**Goal:** Successfully adopt the product and get first value
**Trigger:** Signs up for trial
**End State:** Completes first project successfully
**Time Frame:** First 30 days

Step 2: Select or Create Persona

## Persona: Sarah - First-time SaaS Buyer

**Demographics:**
- Age: 32
- Role: Marketing Manager
- Company: Mid-size B2B
- Tech Savviness: Moderate

**Goals:**
- Streamline team workflows
- Prove ROI to leadership
- Look good to her team

**Frustrations:**
- Limited time to learn new tools
- Past bad experiences with complex software
- Pressure to show quick results

**Quote:** "I need something that works out of the box."

Phase 2: Map the Journey

Step 1: Identify Phases

Typical journey phases:

Domain	Common Phases
Purchase	Awareness → Consideration → Decision → Purchase
Onboarding	Sign-up → Setup → First Use → Habit Formation
Support	Issue → Search → Contact → Resolution → Follow-up
Renewal	Review → Evaluate → Negotiate → Renew/Churn

Step 2: Map Touchpoints and Actions

For each phase:

## Phase: Setup

### Touchpoints
- Welcome email
- Product UI (setup wizard)
- Help documentation
- Onboarding video

### Actions
1. Opens welcome email
2. Clicks "Get Started"
3. Enters company info
4. Invites team members
5. Configures first workspace

Step 3: Capture Thoughts and Emotions

## Phase: Setup - Experience

| Step | Thought | Emotion | Intensity |
|------|---------|---------|-----------|
| Opens email | "Let's see if this is worth it" | Curious, skeptical | Neutral |
| Clicks Get Started | "Okay, here we go" | Hopeful | Slightly positive |
| Company info form | "Why so many fields?" | Frustrated | Negative |
| Invites team | "Easy enough" | Relieved | Positive |
| First workspace | "This is actually nice!" | Pleased | Very positive |

Step 4: Identify Pain Points

## Pain Points - Setup Phase

| Pain Point | Severity | Evidence | Root Cause |
|------------|----------|----------|------------|
| Too many required fields | High | Drop-off data, complaints | Legacy form design |
| Unclear field labels | Medium | Support tickets | Jargon-heavy copy |
| No save-and-continue | High | Abandoned setups | Technical limitation |
| Team invite confusion | Medium | Support volume | Poor UX |

Step 5: Identify Opportunities

## Opportunities - Setup Phase

| Opportunity | Impact | Effort | Priority |
|-------------|--------|--------|----------|
| Progressive disclosure (fewer upfront fields) | High | Low | 1 |
| Save progress functionality | High | Medium | 2 |
| Contextual help tooltips | Medium | Low | 3 |
| Interactive setup tutorial | Medium | High | 4 |

Phase 3: Visualize the Journey

Standard Journey Map Format

PHASE:      | Awareness    | Sign-up      | Setup        | First Use    | Habit
------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------
TOUCHPOINTS | Ads, blog    | Landing page | Email, UI    | Product      | Product
            |              | pricing page | docs         |              | email
------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------
ACTIONS     | Researches   | Compares     | Creates      | Explores     | Daily
            | solutions    | plans        | account      | features     | usage
------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------
THOUGHTS    | "Is there    | "Which plan  | "This is     | "How do I    | "This
            | a better     | is right?"   | taking       | do X?"       | saves
            | way?"        |              | too long"    |              | time"
------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------
EMOTIONS    |     😐       |      🤔      |      😣      |      😕      |     😊
            |  Neutral     |   Uncertain  |  Frustrated  |   Confused   |  Happy
------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------
PAIN POINTS | Too many     | Pricing      | Long form    | Feature      | None
            | options      | confusion    | No save      | discoverability
------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------
OPPORTUN-   | Clear        | Simpler      | Reduce       | Better       | Celebrate
ITIES       | comparisons  | pricing      | friction     | onboarding   | wins

Phase 4: Emotion Curve

Visualize emotional highs and lows:

EMOTION
  😊 +2  |                                              ___/
  😌 +1  |         ___/\                              /
  😐  0  |____/\__/      \            ___           /
  😕 -1  |                \          /   \__      _/
  😣 -2  |                 \________/          \_/

         |--Awareness--|--Sign-up--|--Setup--|--First Use--|--Habit--|
                                      ↑
                               Pain Point: Long form

Phase 5: Identify Moments of Truth

Moments of Truth are critical interactions that disproportionately impact the overall experience:

Moment Type	Definition	Example
Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT)	Pre-purchase research	Reading reviews
First Moment of Truth (FMOT)	Initial encounter	Landing page
Second Moment of Truth (SMOT)	Using the product	First workflow
Ultimate Moment of Truth (UMOT)	Sharing experience	Referral/review

## Moments of Truth

| Moment | Phase | Current Experience | Desired Experience |
|--------|-------|-------------------|-------------------|
| FMOT | Landing | Overwhelming options | Clear value prop |
| SMOT | First Use | Confusion, need help | Guided success |
| UMOT | Habit | No celebration | Achievement sharing |

Output Formats

Narrative Summary

## Journey Map Summary

**Journey:** [Name]
**Persona:** [Name]
**Date:** [ISO date]
**Analyst:** journey-facilitator

### Journey Overview
[2-3 sentence summary of the end-to-end experience]

### Emotional Journey
- **Highest Point:** [Phase] - [Why]
- **Lowest Point:** [Phase] - [Why]
- **Overall Arc:** [Description]

### Critical Pain Points
1. **[Pain Point]** (Phase: [X]) - [Impact and evidence]
2. **[Pain Point]** (Phase: [X]) - [Impact and evidence]

### Top Opportunities
1. **[Opportunity]** - Impact: High, Effort: Low
2. **[Opportunity]** - Impact: High, Effort: Medium

### Moments of Truth
- **Make or Break Moment:** [Description]
- **Current State:** [Assessment]
- **Recommendation:** [Action]

Structured Data (YAML)

journey_map:
  name: "New Customer Onboarding"
  version: "1.0"
  date: "{ISO-8601-date}"
  analyst: "journey-facilitator"
  type: current_state

  persona:
    name: "Sarah"
    archetype: "First-time SaaS Buyer"
    goals:
      - "Get value quickly"
      - "Look good to leadership"
    frustrations:
      - "Limited time"
      - "Complex tools"

  journey:
    goal: "Successfully adopt and get first value"
    trigger: "Signs up for trial"
    end_state: "Completes first project"
    time_frame: "30 days"

  phases:
    - name: "Awareness"
      order: 1
      touchpoints:
        - channel: "Web"
          type: "Blog post"
        - channel: "Email"
          type: "Marketing email"
      actions:
        - "Researches solutions"
        - "Reads comparison articles"
      thoughts:
        - "Is there a better way?"
      emotions:
        overall: neutral
        intensity: 0
      pain_points: []
      opportunities:
        - name: "Clear comparison content"
          impact: medium
          effort: low

    - name: "Setup"
      order: 3
      touchpoints:
        - channel: "Email"
          type: "Welcome email"
        - channel: "Product"
          type: "Setup wizard"
      actions:
        - "Opens welcome email"
        - "Starts setup wizard"
        - "Enters company info"
      thoughts:
        - "This is taking too long"
        - "Why so many fields?"
      emotions:
        overall: frustrated
        intensity: -2
      pain_points:
        - description: "Long form with many required fields"
          severity: high
          evidence: "40% drop-off rate"
        - description: "No save-and-continue"
          severity: high
          evidence: "Support tickets"
      opportunities:
        - name: "Progressive disclosure"
          impact: high
          effort: low
        - name: "Save progress"
          impact: high
          effort: medium

  moments_of_truth:
    - type: "First Moment (FMOT)"
      phase: "Sign-up"
      current_state: "Overwhelming options"
      desired_state: "Clear value proposition"
      priority: high

    - type: "Second Moment (SMOT)"
      phase: "First Use"
      current_state: "Confusion, needs help"
      desired_state: "Guided success path"
      priority: high

  summary:
    emotion_arc: "Curious → Frustrated → Confused → Satisfied"
    highest_point:
      phase: "Habit"
      reason: "Realizes time savings"
    lowest_point:
      phase: "Setup"
      reason: "Long form, no progress saving"
    top_recommendation: "Reduce setup friction through progressive disclosure"

Mermaid Diagrams

Journey Flow:

journey
    title New Customer Onboarding Journey
    section Awareness
        Reads blog post: 5: Customer
        Watches demo video: 4: Customer
    section Sign-up
        Views pricing: 3: Customer
        Selects plan: 4: Customer
    section Setup
        Fills long form: 2: Customer
        Invites team: 4: Customer
    section First Use
        Explores features: 3: Customer
        Completes first task: 5: Customer
    section Habit
        Daily usage: 5: Customer

Emotion Curve (Mermaid XYChart):

xychart-beta
    title "Emotional Journey"
    x-axis ["Awareness", "Sign-up", "Setup", "First Use", "Habit"]
    y-axis "Emotion" -3 --> 3
    line [0, -1, -2, 1, 2]

Multi-Persona Workshop

For comprehensive journey analysis, run parallel persona agents:

Persona Agent	Perspective	Focus
`first-time-user-persona`	New to product	Onboarding friction
`power-user-persona`	Experienced	Advanced needs
`admin-persona`	Management	Configuration, oversight
`support-seeker-persona`	Needs help	Support experience

When to Use

Scenario	Use Journey Mapping?
UX redesign	Yes - understand current experience
Service design	Yes - design end-to-end experience
Customer complaints	Yes - find pain points
Onboarding optimization	Yes - improve adoption
Process improvement	Partial - combine with VSM
Technical architecture	No - wrong level of abstraction

Integration

Upstream

stakeholder-analysis - Understand user stakeholders
process-modeling - Process context
Persona research - User research inputs

Downstream

Requirements - Experience requirements
UX design - Design improvements
value-stream-mapping - Operational improvements

Related Skills

value-stream-mapping - Process efficiency perspective
stakeholder-analysis - Stakeholder needs
capability-mapping - Capability touchpoints
root-cause-analysis - Investigate pain point causes
prioritization - Prioritize opportunities
decision-analysis - Evaluate improvement options

User-Facing Interface

When invoked directly by the user, this skill operates as follows.

Arguments

<journey-description>: Description of the journey to map (e.g., "customer purchasing a subscription")
--mode: Mapping mode (default: guided)
- full: Comprehensive journey with detailed touchpoint analysis (~10K tokens)
- quick: Rapid journey mapping (~4K tokens)
- guided: Interactive journey discovery (variable)
--persona: Optional persona name to use (creates new if not provided)
--dir: Output directory (default: docs/analysis/)

Execution Workflow

Parse Arguments - Extract journey description, mode, and persona. If no description provided, ask the user who is taking the journey, what they are trying to accomplish, and where the journey starts and ends.
Define or Select Persona - Use provided persona, create default from context (Quick/Full), or interactively define (Guided).
Execute Based on Mode:
- Full: Spawn the journey-facilitator agent for thorough mapping with 4-6 phases, emotion curves, Moments of Truth (ZMOT/FMOT/SMOT/UMOT), and prioritized opportunities.
- Quick: Rapid mapping with 4-5 phases, key touchpoints, obvious pain points, and top 3 opportunities.
- Guided: Interactive discovery using AskUserQuestion for research approach and empathy depth, then walk through persona, scope, phases, phase deep-dives, moments of truth, and opportunities.
Generate Output - Produce journey map markdown, Mermaid journey diagram, emotion curve (xychart-beta), pain point inventory, and opportunity backlog.
Save Results - Save to docs/analysis/journey-map-[persona-name].md (or custom --dir).
Suggest Follow-Ups - Recommend stakeholder-analysis for journey owners, value-stream-mapping for operations behind pain points, and capability-mapping for touchpoint-capability links.

Version History

v1.0.0 (2025-12-26): Initial release

journey-mapping