Mapping Experiences: A Complete Guide to Customer Alignment Through Journeys, Blueprints, and Diagrams [2 ed.] 1492076635, 9781492076636

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Mapping Experiences A Complete Guide to Customer Alignment Through Journeys, Blueprints & Diagrams

Jim Kalbach

Praise for Mapping Experiences Second Edition Jim Kalbach demystifies the visual logic that underlies every possible “design thinking” or “UX workshopping” artifact with the intellectual enthusiasm of Edward Tufte. Kalbach gives meaning and studied attention to the ginormous service blueprint that covers an entire wall of your office all the way down to the humble sticky note that’s fallen to the floor. —John Maeda Technologist and author of How To Speak Machine

This is the book I wish I’d had years ago. I’ve made hundreds of alignment diagrams and maps while working with clients and startups, and it can feel mucky and murky. Jim crystallizes the benefits, clarifies the processes, and provides inspiring visual examples that will motivate design and business leaders to better serve their customers. —Kate Rutter Consultant, designer, and professor of interaction design, California College of the Arts

How do you know that something (music, movie, book) is really great? Each time you listen to it, watch it, or read it, you find something new: new thought, new insight, new perspective. It just keeps ringing the bell again and again, and again. This book is exactly like this. It is the most comprehensive guide about creating value through maps and diagrams I know and recommend to my colleagues, our students, and partners. —Yuri Vedenin Founder, UXPressia

Mapping Experiences is the essential guide to using human-centered mapping methods to align stakeholders across silos in any organization. Kalbach expertly provides both a framing philosophy and practical instruction, with a healthy thread of hard-won, practical advice, in an immediately accessible and actionable package. It is a necessary reference for any individual or team creating products and services in the 21st century. —Andrew Hinton Author of Understanding Context

In this second edition, Jim expands on the topic of mapping that he had already crushed in the first edition. Jim’s insights bring clarity to what, previous to this book, had been a confusing jumble of boxes and arrows. —Leo Frishberg Principal, Phase II Design

It’s easy to approach projects from the inside out. By mapping out an experience, you uncover details about the people using your products and services that can change your viewpoint to look outside-in, and ultimately result in more thoughtful and impactful solutions. —Frances Close Design lead, Open Systems Technology

We can’t make a UX until we know the story that brings the user and experience together. Mapping Experiences helps people choose the right maps, processes, and structures to do the essential work of storytelling. —Torrey Podmajersky Author of Strategic Writing for UX

This book is a treasure trove of diagrams. If you are searching to find one suitable for your specific needs, reading this book is the right first step. This book teaches you to focus on the basic concepts of alignment so that you don’t get trapped in the labyrinth of jargons. —Saadia Ali CX consultant and journey mapper at EPIC Consulting

First Edition Mapping Experiences will help both designers and consumers of design services understand how to visualize experiences and the system ecology in which products and services exist with the all-important customer. His approach to the subject is both broad and deep. The analytical and practical/practice chapters speak directly to the current interest in visual artifacts associated with strategy and service design. —Paul Kahn Experience Design Director, Mad*Pow Author of Mapping Websites

As designers grapple with ever more complex services and systems, the need to visually map them is paramount. There are hundreds of different ways of mapping and diagramming experiences and they are locked away in hundreds of different books and academic papers. Jim Kalbach has pulled them all together in an excellent book that should be on the desk of everyone involved in UX, service design and business. —Andy Polaine Design Director, Fjord

Adopting an outside-in perspective, developing empathy with the people you support, and creating visualizations of these perspectives is the power-trio for the future of your organization. The trio allows you to support people, internally and externally, in a more nuanced, coordinated manner. It also enables you to see new paths ahead, so that you can branch away from your competition. Jim’s book is an excellent explanation of this trio, and includes a collection of tools that you can put to immediate use. —Indi Young Research consultant and empathy coach indiyoung.com

With Mapping Experiences, Jim Kalbach has done a terrific service for anyone tackling complex, systemic design challenges. He not only documents the best approaches to experience mapping, but also pushes the topic forward, by sharing his insights and hard-won experience about this rich, still-evolving area of design practice. Mapping Experiences will be an essential guide for many years to come. —Andrew Hinton Author of Understanding Context

We live in an age where images are more powerful than words. Everyone working in the areas of customer experience and strategy will benefit from learning how to express ideas visually, and Mapping Experiences is a great place to start. —Victor Lombardi Author of Why We Fail: Learning from Experience Design Failures

This book offers the right approach to using maps as a tool in experience design and execution, and that is, there is no one-size-fits-all. Instead of offering just one idea around how to best align your teams around the idea of better experiences, Kalbach offers several tips, tricks, and processes to actually get things done. This is the down-to-earth manual that’s been missing. Readers will find the right way for their unique challenges, not one unique process to try to make fit for their situation. Everyone can benefit from reading this book! —Jeannie Walters CEO and Chief Customer Experience Investigator of 360Connext, writer, and speaker

Our experiences interacting with faceless companies often make us ill. Mapping Experiences, wielded properly, might actually do something to eliminate the alltoo-typical shoulder shrugging and buck passing we face—and help designers and decision makers alike become customer experience heroes. —Lou Rosenfeld Publisher, Rosenfeld Media Coauthor of Information Architecture for the Web and Beyond

Kalbach gives clarity to the growing number of customer-focused visualization— and provides readers with practical guidance for creating their own. —Kerry Bodine Coauthor of Outside In: The Power of Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business

Thoughtful. Rigorous. Clear. Jim Kalbach’s Mapping Experiences literally creates a new cartography for organizations and innovators to successfully navigate design processes. His essential themes of “designing to align” and “aligning to design” address the key issues I see in enterprises seeking to better organize around UX. —Michael Schrage Research fellow at MIT Sloan School’s Initiative on The Digital Economy Author of Who Do You Want Your Customers to Become?

Second Edition

Mapping Experiences A Complete Guide to Customer Alignment Through Journeys, Blueprints, and Diagrams

Jim Kalbach

Boston

Mapping Experiences by Jim Kalbach Copyright © 2021 James Kalbach. All rights reserved. Printed in Canada. Published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472. O’Reilly books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. Online editions are also available for most titles (oreilly.com). For more information, contact our corporate/institutional sales department: (800) 998-9938 or [email protected]. Acquisitions Editor: Jennifer Pollock Developmental Editor: Angela Rufino Production Editor: Kristen Brown Copyeditor: Rachel Head Proofreader: Shannon Turlington Indexer: Potomac Indexing, LLC

Cover Designer: Ellie Volckhausen Interior Designers: Ron Bilodeau and Monica Kamsvaag Illustrator: O’Reilly Media, Inc. Compositor: Ron Bilodeau

Revision History for the Second Edition: 2020-11-02

First release

See http://oreilly.com/catalog/errata.csp?isbn=0636920330172 for release details. The O’Reilly logo is a registered trademark of O’Reilly Media, Inc. Mapping Experiences, the cover image, and related trade dress are trademarks of O’Reilly Media, Inc. Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and O’Reilly Media, Inc. was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in caps or initial caps. Although the publisher and author have used reasonable care in preparing this book, the information it contains is distributed “as is” and without warranties of any kind. This book is not intended as legal or financial advice, and not all of the recommendations may be suitable for your situation. Professional legal and financial advisors should be consulted, as needed. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any costs, expenses, or damages resulting from use of or reliance on the information contained in this book. 978-1-492-07663-6 [TI]

For my mother and father

Contents PREFACE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv PART 1.  Visualizing Value CHAPTER 1. Visualizing Value: Aligning Outside-In. . . 3

Modeling Experiences Alignment Diagrams Multiple Alignment Focus on Aligning for Value Principles of Alignment Benefits of Alignment Diagramming Case Study: Fighting Violent Extremism with Alignment Diagramming

4 5 12 15 18 19 24

CHAPTER 2. Fundamentals of Mapping Experiences.. 31

Frame the Mapping Effort 32 Identify Touchpoints 42 Case Study: Consumer Intervention Mapping 48

CHAPTER 3. Employee Experience: Aligning Inside. . . 57

Employee Experience Mapping the Employee Experience Align the CX to the EX Case Study: Aligning CX and EX for Strategy Building

58 60 64 76

CHAPTER 4. Visualizing Strategic Insight. . . . . . . . . . . 81

A New Way of Seeing Mapping Strategy Case Study: Identifying Opportunities— Combining Mental Model D ­ iagrams and Jobs to Be Done

82 94

109

PART 2.  A General Process for Mapping CHAPTER 5. Initiate: Starting a Mapping Project. . . . 119

Start a New Project Decide on a Direction What’s the Difference? CJMs, Service ­Blueprints, and Experience Maps Define the Effort Putting It All Together: Which Techniques Are Needed When?

120 124 132 136 139

CHAPTER 6. Investigate: Make It Real. . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Review Existing Sources Interview Within the O ­ rganization Create a Draft Model Conduct Research Externally A Brief Guide to Interviewing Analyze the Data Quantitative Research Case Study: Music Curation—User Research and Diagramming at Sonos

144 148 151 153 159 161 164 168

CHAPTER 7. Illustrate: Make It Visual.. . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Lay Out the Diagram Compile the Content Design the Information Showing Your Emotions

175 178 182 191

Tools and Software 194 Case Study: Mapping the Lab Test Experience 199 CHAPTER 8. Alignment Workshops: Find the

Right Problem to Solve.. . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Empathize 208 Business Origami 210 Envision 214 Evaluate 218 Case Study: Presumptive Design Aligns Teams on the Problem to Be Solved 223 Facilitating an Alignment ­Workshop 225 Case Study: Customer Journey Mapping Game 231 CHAPTER 9. Envisioning Future Experiences:

Build the Right Solution. . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Run Experiments 238 Ideas Are Overrated 240 Design the New Experience with Maps 243 Aspire to Transform 247 Design Sprints 256 Case Study: Rapid Online Mapping and Design Workshop 258

Contents  xi

PART 3.  Primary Diagram Types in Detail CHAPTER 10. Service Blueprints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Visualizing Services Extending Service Blueprinting Related Approaches Elements of a Service Blueprint Case Study: Facilitating Collaborative Sessions with ­Practical Service Blueprinting

266 270 273 279 282

CHAPTER 11. Customer Journey Maps.. . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Customer Lifecycle Maps Related Models Elements of CJMs Case Study: Value Story Mapping—An Alternative View to CJMs

292 296 299 303

CHAPTER 13. Mental Model Diagrams. . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Diagramming Mental Models Related Approaches Elements of Mental Model D ­ iagrams Case Study: A Mental Model for a Forward-Thinking Insurance Company

341 348 352 354

CHAPTER 14. Ecosystem Models. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

Ecosystem Maps Elements of Ecosystem Models Case Study: Building a Service Ecosystem Map from the Ground Up

368 380 382

References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389 Index.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

CHAPTER 12. Experience Maps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Hybrid Experience Maps Related Models Elements of Experience Maps Case Study: Mapping the Domestic Violence Journey

xii  Contents

315 319 332 334

PREFACE

Second Edition Preface My journey with mapping experiences began around 2005, while I was working for LexisNexis. At the time, we were intent on understanding the workflows of legal professionals. There was only scattered literature on the topic of mapping back then, and I was forced to navigate different approaches myself. In many ways, the first edition of Mapping Experiences is the sum of my mistakes and observations along the way. Mapping has become mainstream over the past decade or so. Stakeholders are now asking for “customer journey maps” by name, even if they don’t know exactly what they are requesting. Mapping experiences and associated fields, such as experience design, service design, and customer experience management, are maturing quickly to keep up with demand. As I continue to watch the field, I’ve noticed five trends since Mapping Experiences was published in 2016.

First of all, mapping is moving from an activity focused on a deliverable to one of actionability. It’s not about the map (the noun), but about the mapping (a verb). The mapmaker necessarily becomes a facilitator, and the map becomes a springboard into collective sense making around human experience. Chapters 8–9 have been rewritten to better reflect this trend, and many of the case studies included in this edition highlight how to make mapping more actionable. A second trend is an increased focus on multichannel experience design and ecosystem mapping. Although I touched on those topics in the first edition, the demand has risen greatly. I’ve reframed an entire chapter (Chapter 14) to provide more detail on multiple alignments. Third, I’ve also been seeing mapping applied to noncommercial settings. The notion of diagramming experiences has been used in social arenas, government, and beyond. For instance, at the end of Chapter 1, I summarize my involvement in mapping the experiences of former violent extremists. But I’ve also

xv

seen mapping being used in fighting homelessness, helping tornado victims, and even fighting domestic violence. In the end, mapping experiences isn’t just for software design or commercial applications; it’s about understanding the human condition. Fourth, we’re seeing the expansion of mapping as a management activity. Customer experience (CX) measurement has matured quite a bit, with a range of tools on the market. I discuss this progress in Chapter 3 at a high level. The type of mapping I advocate in Mapping Experiences is a generative one, starting with team alignment and creative exploration of possibilities. Managing CX contrasts with this by focusing on the quantification and tracking of the experience over time. Finally, there has been a dramatic increase in focus on the employee experience (EX) as a driver for great customer experiences. Since mapping plays a role in EX, I’ve included a completely new chapter on the topic. It’s a rich field with a growing body of literature and research—enough to fill an entire book. Accordingly, my focus is limited to some of the core concepts of mapping the EX: in particular, aligning the EX and CX. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has changed the way we work in general, and along with this has changed the nature of experience mapping. First, mapping research and workshops need to happen remotely. As a longtime advocate of remote collaboration, I had already included some perspectives on remote work throughout the book in the first edition. In a post-pandemic world, mapping online and facil-

xvi  Preface

itating remote sessions will be part of the new normal; the way we collaborate at work will be changed forever. Perhaps more importantly, the pandemic has forced businesses to be more resilient in many ways—from managing employees to finding new avenues to success. Here again, mapping can help teams reprioritize existing customer journeys and create entirely new experiences. For instance, a supermarket could leverage mapping to plan and accelerate a new online pickup journey, or a large corporation could map new office space and employee interactions for a safer employee experience. This second edition of Mapping Experiences has been significantly updated to include current information reflecting these trends, as well as new examples and extended references.

First Edition Preface “Then the Ping-Pong match begins.” That’s what a customer told me about his experience with the billing process of the company I was consulting. After digging deeper and having conversations with other customers, it became clear to me what he meant. Apparently, the company was known for sending incorrect invoices. Finding a resolution often proved difficult for customers. They instinctively called the support hotline first, but agents there weren’t empowered to fix problems with invoices. Customers then called their sales representative, who wasn’t responsible for billing issues. Relatively quickly,

customers fell into an aggravating communication loop with the company. But it got worse. The collections department didn’t suspend its scheduled warning notices. And they didn’t know if a customer may have questioned an incorrect bill. So amidst customers’ frustration troubleshooting an incorrect bill, they received a past-due notice. That not only added insult to injury, it also made the resolution exponentially more complicated: three or four parties were now involved, and the customer was caught in the middle. Ping-Pong, indeed. This was not rare. I easily uncovered similar stories with just a handful of additional customer interviews. One person I spoke with recalled how absolutely livid she was when this happened. She was ready to cancel a service vital to her business just out of principle. As a designer, I find it disheartening to hear such stories. But it’s not surprising. I’ve seen it over and over again: in large organizations, one hand does not know what the other is doing. My research was part of a larger experience mapping project I was conducting. The effort resulted in several diagrams to illustrate customers’ current condition: a map of the end-toend journey and a series of workflow diagrams illustrating their experiences step-by-step.

To conclude the project, I held a workshop with various stakeholders from a variety of functions: sales representatives, marketing specialists, business managers, designers, and developers. Walking through the illustrations allowed us to comprehend the customer experience in detail. I intentionally put myself in the breakout group examining the billing workflow—just to see what would happen. Everything went fine until we got to the point where an incorrect bill and past-due warnings were sent out. Then came the collective outrage: “How is this possible?” they asked. They were unaware their company was capable of inflicting so much pain on customers. A clear action item emerged: implement the ability to place a hold on bills that customers have challenged. This would prevent collection notices from being sent out until the issue was resolved. The head of customer care had a draft proposal for this procedure by the end of the day. Initially, this was to be done manually, but eventually an automated hold was needed. Of course the real problem was sending incorrect invoices in the first place. But even if that were corrected, a larger, more fundamental issue emerged in our team discussion: the organization wasn’t able to handle customer complaints and requests across departments. From this particular incident, the sales manager was easily able to recount additional stories of troubleshooting non-sales-related issues with customers. This distracted him from his sales duties. And the customer care representative Preface  xvii

described how their team often couldn’t help customers on the phone immediately, yet would have to take the brunt of their anger.

More and more, people select goods and services based on the total experience they have. To meet market expectations, it’s imperative to align around the end-to-end experience.

By coming together and having a conversation around the actual experience, we were able to reflect on the company’s performance as a service provider across functions, beyond this one particular incident. It became obvious: the organization faced larger, systemic issues. These only came to light after we focused on the experience from the customer’s point of view.

To achieve alignment, I see three imperatives organizations must follow:

Aligning for Value Few organizations deliberately want to create bad experiences for the people they serve. Yet experiences like the one described previously happen all the time. I believe the fundamental problem is one of alignment: organizations are out of sync with what the people they serve actually experience. Misalignment impacts the entire enterprise: teams lack a common purpose, solutions are built that are detached from reality, there is a focus on technology rather than experience, and strategy is shortsighted. Aligned organizations have a shared mental model of what they are trying to accomplish. They are obsessed with delivering amazing experiences for the people they serve.

xviii  Preface

1. View your offerings from outside-in rather than inside-out. From my work with dozens of companies, I have seen teams with the best intentions focused too much on internal processes. They are wrapped up in a type of organizational navel gazing. Many simply don’t know what customers actually go through. What’s needed is a change in viewpoint—from inside-out to outside-in. Organizations must have a clear understanding of the experiences they create. This is not limited to just frontline personnel. Everyone must empathize with the individuals they serve. In this sense, gaining empathy isn’t only about feeling the same emotions as another person. Instead, it refers to the ability to grasp what others are experiencing—the ability to put yourself in their shoes. Empathy for others comes with the recognition that their perspective is valid even if it’s different from your own. A little empathy is not enough: teams must deeply care about their customers and what they experience.

More than that, members of an organization need to internalize people’s desires and motivations, and advocate on behalf of the people they service in everything they do. They need to be able to turn empathy into compassion by taking action toward creating a better overall experience. 2. Align internal functions across teams and levels. Organizational silos prevent alignment. Aligned organizations instead work across functional boundaries. They have a relentless focus on doing whatever it takes to ensure their constituents have great experiences. Alignment is not just about superficial improvements. It’s about the collective actions of the entire group, at all levels. An organization’s backstage processes have as much to do with the overall experience as the visible points of interaction that individuals encounter. On his TV show, top chef Gordon Ramsay saves failing restaurants by realigning the whole establishment. He usually starts by fixing the kitchen. He’ll chastise cooks for improper food storage or for having a dirty exhaust hood above the stove. The actions in the kitchen influence the experience diners have. Aligned organizations have their kitchens in order. They move together in the same direction, for the same cause—to create brilliant experiences. And they don’t focus on parts of the experience. They consider the endto-end interaction. The sum of local optimizations does not guarantee optimization at the global level.

Note that “alignment” is already an inherent part of the business strategy vernacular. Typically, managers speak of upward alignment—getting everyone in the organization to work toward a stated strategy from above. My interpretation of the term focuses on value alignment: looking first at the value an organization needs to create from the individual’s perspective, and then figuring out the strategy and technology needed to deliver that value. 3. Create visualizations as shared references. The challenge of alignment lies in the difficulty of seeing interdependencies across the organization. Each department may be functioning fine on its own. But from the users’ perspective, the experience is a patchwork of interactions they have to navigate themselves. Visualizations are a key device to break down siloed thinking. A diagram of the individual’s experience serves as a tangible model for the teams to rally around. More importantly, visualizations allow the viewer to grasp interlocking relationships at once. In the story opening this preface, sales managers and customer care agents had separately shared their obstacles and inefficiencies with their managers. But it was not until decision makers could see connected factors that both the problem and the solution became apparent. Reports and slide decks full of text and numbers tend not to have this causal effect. Visualizations do.

Preface  xix

But visualizations don’t provide answers outright—they foster conversations. Diagrams are compelling artifacts that draw interest and attention from others in the organization. They are a means to engage others in discourse. Visualizations point to opportunities and serve as springboards into innovation. In a broader sense, visualizations inform strategy. They are a key way of seeing the market from the customer’s perspective. Mapping experiences isn’t a nice-to-have design tool; it’s a must-have for strategic alignment. Finally, as practices like lean product development take hold in organizations, the need for alignment only increases. Small, empowered teams need to be on the same page as the rest of the organization. A compelling visualization gets everyone moving in the same direction for the same reasons. Your organization’s agility depends on shared purpose.

This book is about possibilities. My hope is that the book expands your thinking and approach toward mapping in general.

xx  Preface

Scope of This Book This book is about a type of tool that provides organizations insight into their broader product and service ecosystems. I call these tools alignment diagrams—an umbrella term for any map that seeks to align how individuals in a system engage with that system and its provider. Note that there is no one method or approach for creating alignment diagrams. Instead, you’ll find a range of options depending on the problem you’re solving. Chapter 1 explains this concept in more detail. This book deals with various techniques for mapping experiences, not a single method or output. The focus is on the category of diagrams that collectively seek to describe the human experience. Many related techniques are included here as well. These diagrams have already been an implicit part of the design and creative disciplines for decades. In fact, you may have already used alignment diagrams as part of your work. Reframing these approaches as tools for organizational alignment emphasizes their strategic relevance. They help flip an organization’s perspective from inside-out to outside-in. In doing so, they help build empathy and provide a model for decision making that is inclusive of the human condition. Alignment diagrams also offer a common vision throughout an organization. They aid in creating consistency in thought and action across departmental lines. This type of internal coherency determines success.

To be clear: alignment diagrams are no silver bullet and only part of organizational alignment. However, I believe the story they tell goes a long way in achieving alignment, particularly in larger organizations. The concept of mapping helps us understand complex systems of interaction, particularly when we’re dealing with abstract concepts like experience. But mapping experiences is not a singular activity limited to one type of diagram over another. There are many possible perspectives and approaches. In this sense, this book is about possibilities. My hope is that the book expands your thinking and approach toward mapping in general. There are many types of diagrams covered here, each with different names and backgrounds. Don’t get hung up on labels. Many of the distinctions are historical and based on which term was coined first. Instead, focus on value alignment, not one specific technique over the other. It’s entirely possible to create a new type of diagram that continues to evolve the practice. I encourage you to do so.

What This Book Is Not About This book is not about customer experience management, service design, or user experience design. It is about diagrams—conceptual models that span those fields of practice. The approach I describe here is not a design process but rather a process for mapping independent of specific discipline. This is also not a comprehensive book about formal techniques in graphic design, information design, or illustration.

There are volumes of resources about graphic design and illustration that go into much more detail than I can here. Finally, I realize that there is a technical difference between the words map (an illustration of where things are) and diagram (an illustration of how things work). However, this book does not distinguish between the two. In practice, terms like customer journey map and experience map are, in fact, misnomers. But they are so widely used that the distinction between map and diagram becomes irrelevant.

Audience for This Book This book is intended for anyone involved in the end-to-end planning, design, and development of products and services. It’s for people who need a holistic view of the ecosystem in which their offerings are situated. This includes designers, product managers, brand managers, marketing specialists, strategists, entrepreneurs, and business owners. Regardless of your skill level in mapping, there is something for you in this book. The steps and processes outlined here are basic enough for beginners to start creating diagrams. The related techniques should provide new insights for experts as well.

A Note on the Diagrams I’ve taken painstaking care to provide a range of diagrams in this book that reflect different approaches to mapping experiences. My interest is in providing complete, whole examples so you can view them in their entirety. Although I’ve given the Preface  xxi

utmost attention to the display and clarity of each diagram, in some cases, not all texts are legible. Please see the references in the image credits and throughout the book to locate the originals online, where available. I also encourage you to find and collect your own examples for inspiration and guidance.

Book Outline The second edition of Mapping Experiences is divided into three parts.

Part 1: Visualizing Value Part 1 provides an overview and background on the concept of alignment diagrams: • Chapter 1 introduces the term alignment diagram as a class of document that seeks to visually align an individual’s experience with the services of an organization. It focuses on the concepts of value alignment and value-centered design. • Chapter 2 looks at the key elements of mapping experiences, breaking them down into individual components. • Chapter 3 introduces the broader topic of experience design with a particular focus on the employee experience. • Chapter 4 deals broadly with the topic of strategy in general and the role of visualization in strategy creation.

xxii  Preface

Part 2: A General Process for Mapping Part 2 details a general process for creating alignment diagrams, broken into four phases: initiate, investigate, illustrate, and align. After understanding and empathizing with the current experience, we envision what future experiences can be: • Chapter 5 details how to initiate a mapping project, including the key considerations in effectively framing the effort. • Chapter 6 outlines how to investigate and perform research before creating a diagram. • Chapter 7 provides an overview of how to illustrate a diagram. • Chapter 8 deals with how to use diagrams to align teams in a workshop to explore and understand the problem to be solved before developing a solution. • Chapter 9 presents a range of complementary techniques used in conjunction with alignment diagrams to envision future experiences and make mapping actionable through experimentation and eventually design and development.

Part 3: Types of Diagrams in Detail

About the Author

The final part of the book looks at some specific types of diagrams in detail, including a brief historical overview of each:

Jim Kalbach is a noted author, speaker, and instructor in user experience design, information architecture, and strategy. He is currently the Head of Customer Experience at MURAL, the leading online whiteboard, and has also consulted with large companies such as eBay, Audi, SONY, Citrix, Elsevier Science, LexisNexis, and more. Jim holds a master’s degree in library and information science and a master’s degree in music theory and composition, both from Rutgers University.

• Chapter 10 introduces service blueprints, the oldest type of diagram covered here. • Chapter 11 focuses on customer journey maps, including investigations into decision making and conversion funnels. • Chapter 12 deals with experience maps, including a discussion of job maps and workflow diagrams. • Chapter 13 looks at mental model diagrams, as pioneered by Indi Young. There are also discussions of grounded theory, information architecture, and related diagrams. • Chapter 14 discusses ecosystem maps, or diagrams that seek to visualize a broad system of entities and interactions between them.

Before returning to the United States in 2013 after living for 15 years in Germany, Jim was the cofounder and longtime organizer of the European Information Architecture conferences. He also cofounded the IA Konferenz, a leading UX design event in Germany. Previously Jim was an assistant editor with Boxes and Arrows, a prominent journal for user experience information. He also served on the advisory board of the Information Architecture Institute in 2005 and 2007. In 2007, Jim published his first full-length book, Designing Web Navigation (O’Reilly), and in 2020 he released the popular book The Jobs To Be Done Playbook (Rosenfeld Media). He blogs at experiencinginformation.com, tweets at @JimKalbach, and offers workshops and online courses with The JTBD Toolkit (www.jtbdtoolkit.com).

Preface  xxiii

Acknowledgments for the ­Second Edition

The case studies in the second edition have been significantly expanded and updated. I am very grateful to have had such talented people agree to contribute to this book:

Writing is solitary; publishing a book is collaborative. It’s amazing just how many people are involved. I thank you all. Hopefully, I won’t leave anyone out.

• Thanks to Matt Sinclair for his excellent technique of Consumer Intervention Mapping and his case study in Chapter 2.

First, I’d like to thank the folks at O’Reilly who made this project possible, in particular Angela Rufino, Kristen Brown, Ron Bilodeau, and Rachel Head.

• Thanks to Seema Jain for her contribution to aligning CX and EX in her case study in Chapter 3.

I’m indebted to all of the reviewers for their feedback. First, I’d like to give a special thanks to the primary technical reviewers: • Leo Frishberg provided thoughtful, critical feedback both on the first edition and on this second edition of Mapping Experiences that greatly impacted the book. • Kate Rutter’s careful analysis of the second edition added new perspectives and input that I gladly took on board. • Nathan Lucy gave particularly thorough feedback that was spot on, as expected, giving me plenty to think about as I updated this second edition. Thank you all for your detailed reading of the book! I gained major insights from the many other reviewers as well. Thanks to Andrew Hinton, Victor Lombardi, Ghulam Ali, Saadia Ali, Yuri Vedenin, Torrey Podmajersky, Ellen Chisa, Frances Close, and Christian Desjardins.

xxiv  Preface

• Thanks to my former colleagues for the case study in Chapter 4: Jen Padilla, Elizabeth Thapliyal, and Ryan Kasper. • Thank you to Amber Braden for her case study from Sonos in Chapter 6. • Thanks to Paul Kahn and Mad*Pow for their excellent case study and beautiful diagrams in Chapter 7. • A special thanks to Leo Frishberg for his description of Presumptive Design in Chapter 8. • Thank you to Christophe Tallec for his case study on Journey Games in Chapter 9. • Thanks to Erik Flowers and Megan Miller for contributing a piece on their Practical Service Blueprinting technique in Chapter 10. • Thanks to Michael Dennis Moore for introducing us to Value Story Mapping in Chapter 11.

• Special thanks go to Dr. Karen Wood for her incredible story of using experience mapping to help fight domestic violence in Chapter 12. • Thanks once again to Indi Young for her description of mental model diagrams in Chapter 13. • Thank you Cornelius Rachieru for your case study in Chapter 14 on ecosystems. The figures and images make Mapping Experiences uniquely accessible and engaging. A huge thanks goes out to all of the creators who agreed to have their diagrams published in the book. These include: • Part 1: Susan Spraragen, Carrie Chan, Chris Risdon, Indi Young, Andy Polaine, Gianluca Burgnoli, Tyler Tate, Gene Smith, Trevor van Gorp, Booking.com, Accelerom AG, Matt Sinclair, UXPressia, Chris McGrath, Rafa Vivas, Martin Ramsin, Sofia Hussain, Claro Partners, Clive Keyte, Michael Ensley, Alexander, Osterwalder, Elizabeth Thapliyal, Seema Jain, and Emilia Åström. • Part 2: Jim Tincher, Yuri Vedenin, UXPressia, Chris Risdon, Indi Young, Amber Braden, Eric Berkman, Sofia Hussain, Hennie Farrow, Craig Goebel, Jonathan Podolsky, Ebae Kim, Paul Kahn, Samantha Louras, Jess McMullin, Scott Merrill, Brandon Schauer, Erik Hanson, Jake Knapp, Christophe Tallec, Deb Aoki, Steve Rogalsky, and Leo Frishberg.

• Part 3: Brandon Schauer, Erik Flowers, Megan Miller, Susan Spraragen, Carrie Chan, Pete Abilla, Adam Richardson, Effective UI, Marc Stickdorn, Jakob Schneider, Kerry Bodine, Jim Tincher, Michael Dennis Moore, Sarah Brown, Diego Bernardo, Tarun Upaday, Gene Smith, Trevor van Gorp, Stuart Karten, Jamie Thomson, Megan Grocki, Karen Wood, Beth Kyle, Indi Young, Chris Risdon, Patrick Quatelbaum, Andy Polaine, Lavrans Løvlie, Ben Reason, Kim Erwin, Mark Simmons, Aaron Lewis, Wolfram Nagel, Timo Arnall, Paul Kahn, Julie Moissan Egea, Laurent Kling, Jonanthan Kahn, and Cornelius Rachieru. A special thanks goes to Hennie Farrow for contributing the beautiful diagram in Chapter 7, as well as providing the style for the artwork throughout both editions of Mapping Experiences. Thanks, Hennie! Finally, I’d like to show my appreciation to everyone who gave feedback on the first edition of Mapping Experiences, online or in my workshops. It’s an honor to have had such a positive reception and for this second edition to be possible at all. Thank you!

Preface  xxv

The above diagram is a blank model for a multichannel experience map created by Chris Risdon and the folks at Adaptive Path, leaders in experience mapping techniques (taken with permission from “Anatomy of an Experience Map”). In this book, we’ll look at how to complete this and other illustrations to help you shift team alignment from an inside-in to an outside-in perspective.

PART 1 Visualizing Value

I’ve seen it over and over again: organizations get wrapped up in their own processes and forget to look at the markets they serve. Operational efficiency is prioritized over customer satisfaction. Many simply don’t know what their customers go through. But we’re witnessing a shift of Copernican proportions. Nowadays, customers don’t revolve around the business; rather, businesses must figure out how they fit into the lives of their customers. This requires a change in mindset—one that this book can help you achieve. *

Part 1 covers some of the fundamental aspects of the mapping process.

Alignment diagrams, introduced in Chapter 1, are a category of diagram that reorients organizations. They help you move from an inside-out view of the market to an outside-in perspective.

* See, for example, Steve Denning, “Why Building a Better Mousetrap Doesn’t Work Anymore,” Forbes (Feb 2014).

Chapter 2 deals with the overall approach to mapping experiences. Although the concept of “experience” is slippery, there is a systematic way to capture an experience in a diagram. The best way to create a great customer experience is to focus intently on fostering an exceptional employee experience. This is the topic of Chapter 3, which shows how you can use mapping techniques to improve and innovate; to go beyond mere satisfaction and create a sense of purpose among employees. Chapter 4 looks at how diagrams point to new opportunities that inform strategy. They represent a new way of seeing the market, your organization, and your market position.

“You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology.” —Steve Jobs

IN THIS CHAPTER ■

Introduction to alignment diagrams

■

Value-centered design

■

Principles and benefits of mapping

■

Case study: Fighting violent extremism with alignment diagramming

CHAPTER 1

Visualizing Value: Aligning Outside-In

People expect some benefit when they use the products and services an organization provides. They want to get a job done, solve a problem, or experience an emotion. If they then perceive this benefit as valuable, they’ll give something in return—money, time, or attention. To be successful, organizations need to capture some worth from their offerings. They need to earn profit, maximize reach, or improve their image. Value creation is bidirectional. But how do we locate the source of value in such a relationship? Simply put, value creation lies at the intersection of human interaction with the provider of a service. It’s where the experiences of individuals in a given market Individuals intersect with the offerings of an organiFIGURE 1-1. Value lies at the Value zation (Figure 1-1). intersection of individuals and the offering of an organization.

Organization

A number of years ago, I was struggling to determine what type of diagram to use on a project: a customer journey map, mental model diagram, service blueprint, or something else. After some comparison of several examples, a similar set of principles became apparent: these diagrams all illustrate the value creation equation in different ways. Viewing the commonalities of various diagrams opened up possibilities. I wasn’t locked into one method over another. I realized the focus should not be on a specific technique but rather on the broader concept of alignment. More importantly, I was better able to connect the dots between human-centered design and business objectives. Concentrating on alignment allowed me to talk with business leaders and stakeholders about how mapping experiences could help them reach their goals. Within a short time, I was running workshops with senior leaders and showing my diagrams to CEOs. Creating solutions by focusing on the interaction between individuals and organizations represents a perspective referred to as value-centered design. In his article “Searching for the

3

Center of Design,” service design expert Jess McMullin defines value-centered design as follows: Value-centered design starts a story about an ideal interaction between an individual and an organization and the benefits each realizes from that interaction. In this chapter, I introduce the concept of alignment diagrams to describe a class of diagrams that visualize the story of interaction between individuals and an organization. By the end you should have a firm grasp of how to model value alignment, some of the core commonalities underlying different diagram types, and the benefits of value alignment.

Modeling Experiences In 1997, Steve Jobs returned to Apple as CEO. In a town hall meeting, he responded to a question about the company’s technology from an Apple employee by saying, “You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology.”* With this he gave insight into how he was going to turn Apple around: by reversing the standard equation for providing software. Instead of inventing a technology and then marketing it to customers, he wanted to begin by imagining an ideal experience and then fitting the technology to that experience. The strategy worked, for Apple at least. Other companies were slow to adopt this mindset, and yet others are still

* See the YouTube video “SteveJobs CustomerExperience” at https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=r2O5qKZlI50.

4  Chapter 1: Visualizing Value: Aligning Outside-In

working toward that position. Although simple in principle, traditional organizations struggle to adopt a new view of creating value. Part of the struggle is that the concept of “experience” defies precise definition. Organizations aren’t set up to manage such fuzzy concepts. How, then, should a team start with an experience and work back toward the technology? A key way to understand “experience” is to create a model that visually represents the experience. Models are already a common part of innovation and design. For example, a persona represents people in a given market and a business model represents how an organization can be profitable. Hugh Dubberly, renowned designer and business consultant, believes models are an antidote to complexity in modern business operations. By illustrating all the moving parts at once, they can help organizations better understand their playing field and their markets. He explains: [In the internet age,] there is a virtually infinite number of combinations, and no one customer ever does quite the same thing as another. And these things are never finished; they just keep growing and changing and being constantly updated on the fly. A model is what you get when you put it all into one view to understand what’s going on. It can be a great tool for managing the teams of people necessary.†

† From an interview with Hugh Dubberly conducted by David Brown. See David Brown, “Supermodeler: Hugh Dubberly,” GAIN: AIGA Journal of Design for the Network Economy (May 2000).

It stands to reason, then, that a model of an experience can align the perspectives of the people who have to enable that experience. This is the role of mapping experiences: a form of visual storytelling that allows teams to find solutions together. Overall, diagramming coordinates insights from the outside world with the teams inside an organization who create products and services to meet market needs. In other words, a model can serve as a hinge upon which we can pivot from the problem space into the solution space.

Alignment Diagrams I use the term alignment diagram to refer to any map, diagram, or visualization that reveals both sides of value creation in a single overview. It is a category of models that illustrate the interaction between people and organizations, making an otherwise invisible, abstract circumstance—a human experience—tangible and actionable.

Individuals Interactions Organization FIGURE 1-2. Alignment diagrams have two parts: a description of an experience and a description of an organization’s offerings, with the interaction between the two.

Logically, alignment diagrams have two parts (Figure 1-2). On the one side, they illustrate aspects of the individual’s experience—a depiction of aggregate behavior across archetypal users. On the other, alignment diagrams reflect an ­organization’s offerings and processes. The points of interaction between the two are the means of value exchange. Such diagrams are not new and are already used in practice. Thus, my definition of alignment diagrams is less of a proposition for a specific technique than a recognition of how existing approaches can be seen in a new, constructive way. You may have already used some of the following common examples: • Customer journey maps • Service blueprints • Experience maps • Mental model diagrams Take, for instance, customer journey maps (CJMs). They illustrate the experiences of an individual as a customer of an organization. CJMs typically include three key phases: becoming aware of an offering, deciding to acquire it, and then either staying loyal or discontinuing use. Figure 1-3 shows a simple CJM of a search service for finding architects internationally. This is a modified version of a diagram I created for a project a number of years ago, concealing the name of the product and company. The intent was to map the current state experience customers had with the service.

Alignment Diagrams  5

Individuals

Interactions

Organization

FIGURE 1-3. A simple customer journey map aligns the individual’s experience with enabling activities across an organization.

6  Chapter 1: Visualizing Value: Aligning Outside-In

Phases of interaction are listed across the top, starting with “Become Aware” and going on to “Renew/Upgrade.” The rows show various facets of the customer experience: actions, feelings, desired outcomes, and pain points. The bottom half shows key departmental activities to support or respond to the customer. An analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats appears below that. The primary means of interaction are listed in the middle row.

Again, we see the two halves of the equation: the individual’s frontstage experience (in pink and purple) and the backstage processes of the organization (in green and blue). The diagram serves as a diagnostic tool to pinpoint service inefficiencies and sources of improvement for the customer.

Experience maps are a relatively new type of alignment diagram compared to CJMs and service blueprints. Figure 1-5 shows an example of an experience map created by Chris Risdon, author and thought leader in experience mapping. These maps illustrate experiences people have within a given topic, in this case touring through Europe by train.

Overall, moving from left to right through the chronology shows alignment between the customer’s experience and the processes that intersect with that customer experience. The focus should not be on a The team I was working with In the top portion, the map specific technique but rather on the at the time used the diagram shows the experience people broader concept of alignment. to identify opportunities for have when traveling. At the innovation and improvement bottom are opportunities in the journey. We were able to troubleshoot some major for the service provider. The interactions between the two are barriers to consumption that were previously unknown. embedded in the middle of the diagram. Teams can use this view to understand how a range of services might fit into an Service blueprints are another type of diagram showing the individual’s broader objective. In this case, Rail Europe’s offerchronology of a service interaction. Figure 1-4 shows an ings are mapped back to the traveler’s experience. example of what is called an “expressive service blueprint,” created by Susan Spraragen and Carrie Chan. This diagram illustrates the interactions a patient has when going to an ophthalmologist. The intent was to explicitly show the human emotions of a service encounter. In this example the patient is left confused about their prescription, an effect caused by two emotive states: distraction and anxiety.

Other kinds of diagrams can also be considered types of alignment diagrams. For instance, a mental model diagram is a broad exploration of human behaviors, feelings, and motivations. The approach was pioneered by Indi Young and detailed in her book Mental Models. These are typically very large diagrams that, when printed, can cover an entire wall.

Alignment Diagrams  7

Individual

Interactions

Organization

FIGURE 1-4. This example of an expressive service blueprint by Susan Spraragen and Carrie Chan depicts an encounter with an ophthalmologist.

8  Chapter 1: Visualizing Value: Aligning Outside-In

Interactions

Individual

Organization

FIGURE 1-5. This experience map of Rail Europe created by Chris Risdon shows the broader context of traveling in Europe. Alignment Diagrams  9

Learn More about a Film

Choose Film Look for Certain Qualities Choose Eclectic Films

Avoid Certain Films

Read Reviews Regularly

Choose Films by Director

Avoid Non-PC Films

Read the Reviewers I Respect

Choose SelfDeprecating Films

Avoid Violent Films

Choose Serious Films

Avoid Film to Preserve Book Experience

Choose Quality Films

Avoid Mainstream Films

Individuals Read Compiled Reviews

Decide Film Based on Reviewers’ Opinion Choose Film Based On Reviewers’ Opinion

Choose Familiar Films

Include Random Film Choices

Choose Films Togeth. with Companions

Choose Blockbusters

Choose Film Because I’ve Read the Book

See What’s Playing to Choose Film

Compromise on Film Choice

Avoid Certain Genres

Decide if I Agree with Reviewers’ Points

Choose Film for the Story

Choose Film of Country I’ve Been To

Watch a Certain Genre in Winter

Choose a Variety of Films

Avoid Certain Films for Companion

Avoid Films with Bad Stories

Read Reviews When I’m Not Sure

What’s Playing Today (by title)

What’s Playing today (by location)

Film List (by genre)

What’s Playing today (by location)

What’s Playing today (by location)

Film List (by genre)

What’s Playing (by title)

What’s Playing (by location)

Film List (by related films)

What’s Playing (by location)

What’s Playing (by location)

Film List (by related films)

What’s Playing today (by director/actor)

What’s Playing today (at favorite theaters)

What’s Playing (by director/ actor)

What’s Playing (at favorite theaters)

Film List (by genre)

Film List (based on books)

Film List (by director/actor)

Film List (by country of story)

List of Movies Coming Soon

Film List (by mood)

Film List (by country of origin/director)

Theater Release Dates

Film List (by related films)

List of Movies Playing Now

List of Movies Coming This Weekend

List of Movies Playing Now

Watch a Certain Genre in Winter

Inherit Interest in a Genre from Family Inherit Interest in a Genre from Family

List of Movies Playing Now

What’s Playing Today (by title)

Pick a Film (by favorite theater)

What’s Playing (by title)

What’s Playing in the Next Two Hours (by location)

What’s Playing today (by director/actor)

What’s Playing in the Next Two Hours (by title)

What’s Playing (by director/ actor)

What’s Playing in the Next Two Hours (by actor/director)

What’s Playing today (at favorite theaters)

What’s Playing in the Next Two Hrs (at favorite theater)

What’s Playing (at favorite theaters)

How Much Longer Will It Be Playing?

Showtimes

Running Time

What’s Playing Today (by title)

Read Newspaper Reviews

Postpone a Film

Read Review to Get Talk About Films I an Idea of the Film Want to See

Anticipate a Film

Look for Trailers Online

Set Expectations

Read Reviews Out of Curiosity

Look for Film Information Online

Get Excited About a Film

Read Film Festival Reviews

Wait for Film to Come out on DVD

Read Review to Get an Idea of the Film

Talk About Films I Want to See

Film List (compiled reviews)

Rent a DVD from Sponsor

Film List (compiled reviews)

Film Chat Room (by title)

Link to IMDB

Link to IMDB

List of Movies Coming Soon

Film List (compiled reviews)

Film List (by favorite reviewer)

Reserve a DVD from Sponsor

Film List (by favorite reviewer)

Film Chat Room (by genre)

List of Extras on Film

Link to Official Film Website

Theater Release Dates

Film List (by favorite reviewer)

Film List (by peer rating)

Film Chat Room (by director)

Links to Entertainment Websites

Links to Unofficial or Fan Sites

List of Movies Coming This Weekend

Film List (by peer rating)

Links to Film Archive Websites

Links to Fan Films (Remakes by Fans)

Trailer Release Dates

Film List (by related films)

Trailer

DVD Release Dates Links to Film Archive Schedules

Film List (by peer rating)

DVD Release Dates

Film List (by related films)

Film List (by related films)

Film Chat Room (by actor)

What’s Playing today (by director/actor)

List of Movies Playing Now

My Favorite Reviewers List

My Favorite Reviewers List

Links to Entertainment Websites

What’s Playing (by director/ actor)

What’s Playing (by title)

Read About Films I Want to See

Look for Trailers Online

Read Many Reviews to Get a Consensus

Interactions

Organization My Favorite Reviewers List Pick Favorite Reviewer

Is It Sold Out?

Pick Favorite Reviewer

Pick Favorite Reviewer

Top Requested Trailers

What’s Playing today (at favorite theaters)

Is There a Line?

Links to Other Review Websites

Links to Other Review Websites

Trailer Release Dates

Links to Other Review Websites

What’s Playing (at favorite theaters)

How Much Longer Will It Be Playing?

Links to Entertainment Websites

Links to Film Archive Websites

Links to Entertainment Websites

Showtimes

Running Time

FIGURE 1-6. Mental model diagrams seek to hierarchically align customer behavior with business support, shown in two halves.

10  Chapter 1: Visualizing Value: Aligning Outside-In

The example in Figure 1-6 shows a close-up of a mental model diagram for going to the movies. A horizontal line in the middle divides the diagram into two parts. The top shows the individual’s tasks, feelings, and philosophies. These are grouped by topic into what are called “towers,” which are then sectioned off into goal spaces (e.g., “Choose Film” and “Learn More about a Film”). The boxes below the center line show support for achieving those goals from various products or services.

call a customer journey map, another calls an experience map or service blueprint. The lines between these examples are often blurred. Don’t be overly concerned with the labels. Instead, focus on the desired outcome of your mapping effort: alignment. The notion of alignment diagrams finds common ground in these examples. As the fields of customer experience, user experience, and service design evolve and overlap, it becomes increasingly important to have a range of approaches to solve unique problems in order to adapt to new challenges.

Alignment diagrams communicate an aggregate story of typical behavior and emotions across a similar group of people. The In the end, alignment diagrams represent a range of techway that story is told differs from diagram to diagram. A cusniques for mapping experiences. When alignment diagrams tomer journey map is useful are crafted from an outfor improving the customer side-in perspective, they A key way to understand “experience” experience by showing a build empathy and align is to create a model that visually breadth of touchpoints across decision making. Like ethrepresents the experience. time; a service blueprint nographers, we observe the details the steps in a service outside world and encode episode and is well suited to optimizing the service provision it. But unlike ethnographers, the result we produce isn’t a process; an experience map shows a broader context to help lengthy written work but instead a relatively compact visualidentify how offerings integrate; and a mental model diagram ization that serves as a springboard into action. reveals unmet needs that can serve as the impetus for comIt’s up to you to select the approach most appropriate for pletely new solutions. your situation. This book is designed to help you do just that, Note that in general, terminology around different types of alignment diagrams is inconsistent: what one person might

and in the following chapters I’ll help you navigate how to best map the experiences most relevant to you.

Alignment Diagrams  11

Multiple Alignment Mapping tends to focus on a single actor and single experience. However, modern business complexity motivates us to be more inclusive in the scope of mapping efforts. Multiple alignment (i.e., alignment across multiple actors and/or multiple touchpoints) is possible, but techniques are still ­developing. One way that I’ve found to map the experience of multiple actors is to create a series of related but separate diagrams for each target segment. For instance, eBay targets two distinct user groups: buyers and sellers. It’s possible to illustrate separate interactions as two interlocking experiences, as reflected in Figure 1-7. A visual comparison between the two experiences is possible by looking at the top and bottom of a single Seller Experience

Decide to sell

List item

Take order

Search for item

Place order

Actions Thoughts Feelings Buyer Experience Actions Thoughts Feelings

column spanning the diagrams (e.g., compare “Take order” to “Place order” in Figure 1-7). It’s also possible to show the interaction between three or more actors in a single diagram, placing a focus on the overall process rather than a given individual’s experience. Andy Polaine, a leading service design expert, has expanded on service blueprints by mapping multiple actors simultaneously. His approach is straightforward: add a row in the diagram for each new role involved in a service ecosystem, as shown in Figure 1-8.

Another issue with multiple alignment is how to show the interaction across multiple touchpoints. Gianluca Brugnoli, for one, suggests creating a touchpoint matrix, as shown in Figure 1-9, in Ship product his article “Connecting the Dots of User Experience.” He overlays a single actor’s interactions on possible touchpoints in a chronology that doesn’t move from left to right, but rather in a circular motion through Wait for shipment Use product the touchpoints. By showing a sequence and the locations of interactions, Brugnoli provides context for touchpoints in a journey.

FIGURE 1-7. To align the experience of multiple actors, create separate but related diagrams that can be displayed together.

12  Chapter 1: Visualizing Value: Aligning Outside-In

FIGURE 1-8. This expanded service blueprint by Andy Polaine includes multiple actors, each on a separate row. Multiple Alignment  13

FIGURE 1-9. This multichannel experience diagram for photography created by Gianluca Brugnoli shows a sequence of interactions.

14  Chapter 1: Visualizing Value: Aligning Outside-In

Brugnoli believes that the system is the experience. It’s the sum of all touchpoints, as well as the connections between them. He writes: The challenge that logically follows is to design connections. In the system scenario, design should be mainly focused on finding the right connections within the network and its parts, rather than in creating closed and self-sufficient systems, tools and services. Consider also the cross-channel blueprint (Figure 1-10) created by Tyler Tate, an entrepreneur and expert in search system design. While it doesn’t include the visual richness of other types of alignment diagrams, it does align user behavior (along the top of the chart) with channels (vertically on the left) and support from the organization (the bottom row). In this simple yet insightful example, a product taxonomy spans all channels, highlighting the need for cross-departmental collaboration. Regardless of the approach, the same core principles of alignment still apply. The aim is to visually coordinate internal and external factors of the context you’re operating in. The result will help align the perspectives of the teams that have to enable the intended experience. Chapter 14 discusses both multichannel design and ecosystem mapping in greater detail.

Focus on Aligning for Value Business magnate Warren Buffett once said, “Price is what you pay, value is what you get.” In other words, from the individual’s perspective value is a much richer, more dynamic concept than cost, involving human behavior and emotions. Value is a perceived benefit. Existing frameworks help us understand the subjective nature of the concept. Marketing professors Jagdish Sheth, Bruce Newman, and Barbara Gross* identify five types of customer value: • Functional value relates to the ability to perform a utilitarian purpose. Performance and reliability are key considerations with this type of value. • Social value refers to the interactions among people, emphasizing lifestyle and social awareness. For instance, Skype in the Classroom is a program aimed at inspiring students with prominent speakers who lecture from remote locations. • Emotional value emphasizes the feelings or affective responses a person has while interacting with an organization’s offerings. For example, personal data security services tap into the fear of identity theft or data loss.

Value is a perceived benefit. * Jagdish Sheth, Bruce Newman, and Barbara Gross, Consumption Values and Market Choices (South-Western Publishing, 1991).

Focus on Aligning for Value  15

FIGURE 1-10. This cross-channel blueprint by Tyler Tate aligns user behavior with channels and organizational support.

16  Chapter 1: Visualizing Value: Aligning Outside-In

• Epistemic value is generated by a sense of curiosity or a desire to learn. This type of value emphasizes personal growth and the acquisition of knowledge. The Khan Academy, for example, provides online courses that allow people to learn at their own pace. • Conditional value is a benefit that depends on specific situations or contexts. For instance, the perceived value of pumpkins and monster costumes increases conditionally just before Halloween in the US each year. Beyond these types, design strategist and educator Nathan Shedroff points to meaning as a form of what he calls “premium value.”* This exceeds mere novelty and delight and looks at the purpose products and services have in our lives. Products and services that provide meaningful experiences help us make sense of the world and give us personal identity. Together with coauthors Steve Diller and Darrel Rhea, Shedroff identifies 15 types of premium value in the book Making Meaning: 1. Accomplishment—The sense of pride in achieving goals 2. Beauty—The appreciation of aesthetic qualities that give pleasure to the senses 3. Community—A sense of connectedness with others around us 4. Creation —The satisfaction of having produced something * See Nathan Shedroff’s talk at Interaction South America on the topic of design and value creation: “Bridging Strategy with Design: How Designers Create Value for Businesses” (Nov 2014).

5. Duty—The satisfaction of having fulfilled a responsibility 6. Enlightenment—The gratification of learning about a subject 7. Freedom —A sense of living without constraints 8. Harmony—The pleasure of balance between parts of a whole 9. Justice —The assurance of just and fair treatment 10. Oneness—A sense of unity with people and things that surround us 11. Redemption —Deliverance from past failure 12. Security—A freedom from worry about loss 13. Truth —A commitment to honesty and integrity 14. Validation —External recognition of one’s worth 15. Wonder—Experiencing something beyond comprehension Diagrams illuminate the human dynamics of value creation at all levels. When they embrace the subjective nature of value, they provide organizations an outside-in view of the value they actually create. Strive to include an indication of how value is perceived from the individual’s perspective. As a class of documents, alignment diagrams allow you to visualize and locate value within your offering ecosystem. From this you can ask: What is your value proposition at each point in the experience? How is the organization meaningfully unique from the customer’s perspective? What meaning can you create for customers? Focus on Aligning for Value  17

Principles of Alignment

U

nderstanding the common aspects of alignment diagrams opens up possibilities—you’re not limited to one approach over another. Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind: Show the big picture. Alignment diagrams focus on human behavior as part of a larger ecosystem. They are not about product research. As much as possible, look at what individuals do, think, and feel in a given context. Include multiple dimensions. Alignment diagrams illustrate multiple facets of information simultaneously. This is what the “alignment” part of the technique is really all about. Common aspects on the user side include actions, thoughts, feelings, states of mind, goals, and pain points. On the organization side, typical elements include processes, actions, objectives, and metrics, as well as actors or roles involved. Show how value is exchanged. Alignment diagrams expose touchpoints and the context of those touchpoints. The multiple layers of information come together to show an exchange of value. As a result, alignment diagrams prototype experiences. It’s easy to walk through the touchpoints in slow motion, analyzing the broader circumstances around each interaction.

18  Chapter 1: Visualizing Value: Aligning Outside-In

Visualize the experience. Alignment diagrams show a composite view of experiences in a graphical overview. It’s the immediacy of an all-at-once visualization that makes them powerful. A 10-page report or bulleted slides with the same information won’t have the same impact. Visualizations make otherwise abstract and invisible concepts like “user experience” tangible. Make it self-evident. Alignment diagrams should need little or no explanation. People can walk up to one and orient themselves relatively quickly. Keep in mind that a visual format itself does not guarantee simplicity: you’ll still have to work hard to reduce information to just the most salient points. Ensure relevancy to the organization. Alignment diagrams must be relevant to the organization. As the mapmaker, you must investigate and understand the goals, challenges, and future plans of the organization. Do the research. Alignment diagrams are grounded in investigation, not made up in isolation. They require some contact with the people in the real world through research and observation.

Benefits of Alignment Diagramming Alignment diagrams are no panacea. They do not provide immediate answers outright. Instead, alignment diagrams are compelling visualizations that draw others into important conversations about creating value. Your ultimate goal is creating an inclusive dialogue within the organization, not creating the diagram itself. From this perspective, mapping experiences has many potential benefits: Alignment diagramming fosters compassion for customers. It’s often amazing how little organizations know about the actual experiences of the people they serve. Alignment diagrams shed light on real-world human conditions. In doing so they not only instill empathy into an organization, but more importantly lead to compassionate action aimed at fulfilling individuals’ needs. Bruce Temkin, a leader in customer experience management, stresses the relevance and importance of such mapping activities. He writes in a blog post: Companies need to use tools and processes that reinforce an understanding of actual customer needs. One of the key tools in this area is something called a customer journey map. … Used appropriately, these maps can shift a company’s perspective from inside-out to outside-in.*

* Bruce Temkin, “It’s All About Your Customer’s Journey,” Experience Matters blog (Mar 2010).

Looking into the organization from the outside causes a change in perspective, one that is more sensitive to people’s thoughts and feelings. Alignment diagramming provides a common “big picture.” Diagrams serve as a shared reference, helping to build consensus. In this sense, alignment diagrams are strategic tools: they influence decision making at all levels and lead to consistency in actions. For instance, Jon Kolko, now partner at Modernist Studio, believes diagrams help address what he calls “alignment attrition”—the tendency for people to get out of sync with one another. He writes: A visual model becomes one of the most effective tools for minimizing alignment attrition. A visual model captures and freezes a thought in time. By building a visual model together, alignment is offloaded to and “frozen in” the diagram. Your thoughts, opinions, and views will change, but the diagram won’t, and so you’ve added a constraining boundary to the idea— and a tool for concretely visualizing how the product vision is changing.†

† Jon Kolko, “Dysfunctional Products Come from Dysfunctional Organizations,” Harvard Business Review (Jan 2015). Benefits of Alignment Diagramming  19

This type of alignment is crucial in designing broad information architectures and shared information environments. Alignment diagrams can provide a type of conceptual scaffolding that allows organizations to conceive of services at scale. What’s more, diagrams also help retain a common big picture as organizations change personnel. Team members may come and go, and diagrams help maintain continuity. In this sense, maps also play a knowledge management role. Alignment diagramming breaks down silos. People experience a product or service holistically. Ideal solutions can easily cross an organization’s department lines. Illustrations of the customer experience typically reveal divisional joints in an organization. Discussion around them sparks cross-department collaboration. But be warned: alignment diagrams often bring inconvenient truths with them. Silo busting is rarely a simple affair. Pointing out flaws and unknown phenomena may be met with resistance. Alignment begins by first exposing inconsistencies and then convincing others to embrace them, not necessarily for their own gain, but to the benefit of the customer. For large enterprises, a view across functions from the individual’s perspective is crucial for creating great customer experiences.

Alignment diagrams are compelling visualizations that draw others into important conversations about creating value. Alignment diagramming brings focus. In a study in 2011 by Booz and Company,* a majority of the 1,800 executives surveyed indicated they were unable to focus on business strategy: they were being pulled in too many directions. As a result, many companies lack coherence. Coherence in business strategy—or incoherence, as is often the case—is the subject of The Essential Advantage by Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi. After years of research in corporate strategy, the authors conclude: To unlock the benefits of coherence, you need to take deliberate steps—to reconsider your current strategy, overcome the conventional separation between your outward-facing and inward-facing activities, and bring your organization into focus. Alignment diagrams represent such a deliberate step: they inherently match outward- and inward-facing endeavors. In doing so, they bring focus and coherency to organizations. * Booz and Company, “Executives Say They’re Pulled in Too Many Directions and That Their Company’s Capabilities Don’t Support Their Strategy” (Feb 2011).

20  Chapter 1: Visualizing Value: Aligning Outside-In

Alignment diagramming reveals opportunities. Visualizations offer an immediacy of comprehension, providing insight into previously unnoticed value-creation opportunities. Indi Young describes this potential in a common response to her mental model diagrams from stakeholders: I have invited executives to presentations 15 minutes earlier than other folks, so they can stand in front of the diagram on the wall and walk from the left to right, asking me questions as they go. As I answer their questions, I explain how it will be used to direct product design. This kind of walkthrough is quick, to the point, and stays in the context of “missed” and “future” opportunities that executives usually focus on. Many executives have told me that they’ve never before seen all this information collected so succinctly in one place.† While the diagrams themselves don’t give an immediate solution, their presentation to the team often has an aha effect. They pinpoint areas for improvement in both operational efficiency and experience design, as well as exposing opportunities for growth. Good diagrams are both compelling and engaging, providing an outside-in view of the organization.

Alignment diagrams enjoy longevity. Mapping an experience is a foundational activity. Because alignment diagrams uncover fundamental human needs and emotions, the data is not volatile. Once completed, diagrams tend not to change very quickly; they generally remain valid for years. From this perspective, mapping is best viewed as an investment with ongoing, long-term benefits rather than a project-level activity. Alignment diagramming goes beyond commercial settings. In the broadest sense of the word, an “experience” reflects the human condition, not just a customer’s relationship with a service provider. While this book focuses on commercial contexts, mapping techniques can be used in a range of situations, including social arenas, government, and beyond. I’ve seen mapping used in learning design, urban planning and improvement, and helping protect the environment. The possibilities are endless.

† Indi Young, Mental Models (Rosenfeld Media, 2009). Benefits of Alignment Diagramming  21

Summary This chapter introduced the concept of alignment diagrams, a category of diagrams that visually align individuals’ experiences with an organization. It is an umbrella term for various contemporary approaches. Thus, alignment diagrams are not a specific method but rather a reframing of existing practices. Examples of alignment diagrams include customer journey maps, service blueprints, experience maps, and mental model diagrams. There are more examples, shown throughout this book. Like other models used in business design, such as personas, alignment diagrams make the abstract concrete. There are many benefits to alignment diagrams: • When properly crafted, they build empathy and ultimately compassion, shifting an organization’s view from insideout to outside-in. • Alignment diagrams give teams a common big picture. • Mapping experiences helps break organizational silos. • Visualizations bring focus to organizations. • Alignment diagrams point to opportunities for improvement and innovation.

22  Chapter 1: Visualizing Value: Aligning Outside-In

Alignment diagrams also enjoy substantial longevity. They are based on fundamental human needs and emotions. Once completed, they tend not to change quickly. Finally, alignment diagramming goes beyond commercial settings and can be applied to a wide range of situations in which understanding experiences is required. Alignment diagrams are foundational. They don’t provide answers or solutions directly, but facilitate conversation and stimulate deeper reflection. As complexity in business increases, such approaches are no longer nice to have: they are imperative tools for organizations to learn about the experiences they create.

Further Reading Chris Risdon and Patrick Quattlebaum, Orchestrating Experiences (Rosenfeld Media, 2018) This full-length book makes end-to-end service design actionable with a wealth of examples and hands-on, practical techniques. While creating a diagram plays a large role in the process, the authors’ approach looks far beyond mapping into the complexity of aligning modern organizations. This is a highly recommended resource. Gianluca Brugnoli, “Connecting the Dots of User Experience,” Journal of Information Architecture (Apr 2009) Brugnoli provides some practical tips on how to map systems. The highlight of the article is his customer journey matrix. He observes: “The user experience takes shape on many interconnected devices and through various interfaces and networks used in many different contexts and situations.” Jess McMullin, “Searching for the Center of Design,” Boxes and Arrows (Sep 2003) In this article, McMullin calls for us to think beyond user-centered design and embrace value-centered design. This fundamental principle underlies the basic notion of alignment diagrams.

Jim Kalbach and Paul Kahn, “Locating Value with Alignment Diagrams,” Parsons Journal of Information Mapping (Apr 2011) Jim Kalbach, “Alignment Diagrams,” Boxes and Arrows (Sep 2011) These two articles by the author are the first concrete writings on alignment diagrams as defined in this book. They are based on a presentation given at the Euro Information Architecture conference in Paris in 2010. The first was coauthored with Paul Kahn, who greatly helped develop the concept of alignment diagrams. Harley Manning and Kerry Bodine, Outside In: The Power of Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business (New Harvest, 2012) This is an excellent full-length book on the value of customer experience design for businesses. “Customer experience is at the heart of everything you do—how you conduct your business, the way your people behave when they interact with customers and each other, the value you provide,” the authors write. Mapping is a key activity to gain insight into the experience customers actually have with your organization.

Benefits of Alignment Diagramming  23

CASE STUDY

Fighting Violent Extremism with Alignment Diagramming In November of 2016, I was asked to lead a mapping workshop for Hedayah, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) based in Abu Dhabi involved in countering violent extremism (CVE). The project was focused on understanding the experience of ex-violent extremists, called “formers,” after they disengage from their hate groups.

But my preliminary exploration turned out to be off track. I had misunderstood the brief and defined the experience to be mapped at the wrong level. The top half of Figure 1-11 shows the overall experience I started mapping erroneously, from becoming radicalized to disengaging and then integrating back into society—basically all of violent extremism.

Formers are valuable to CVE efforts. They can hear “dog whistles” (or encoded messages that appear normal to the general public) and see the extremist groups from the inside out. Additionally, people currently looking to leave hate groups often confide in formers because they understand what it means to disengage.

It dawned on me that this was too broad for a single workshop, and I wouldn’t be able to facilitate a conversation on such a wide range of topics. My hunch was right, and I clarified the scope with my stakeholder in a follow-up call.

My sponsor came to the idea that mapping formers’ experiences would provide insight into how to recruit more of them. A search for “mapping experiences” led them to my work, and they invited me to lead the workshop. I accepted the job on a pro bono basis and started planning my trip to Abu Dhabi and the workshop.

Getting the Right Scope Not knowing much about violent extremism, I did some initial investigation into formers ahead of the event. At a minimum, I wanted to understand enough to be able to keep up with experts in the field, as well as sketch out a hypothesis experience map to be validated and completed in the workshop.

24  Chapter 1: Visualizing Value: Aligning Outside-In

The lower part of Figure 1-11 shows the updated focus. It’s much narrower, centered specifically on why some formers get involved in fighting hate and others don’t. Setting the right scope with the main stakeholder was critical to the project’s success.

Running the Workshop At the workshop in Abu Dhabi there were seven formers from a range of groups, including ex-white supremacists, ex-Al Qaeda, and ex-gang members, who had all chosen to get involved in fighting hate. In addition, there were nine other participants from various CVE organizations, including the US State Department and other NGOs. It was nerve-racking for me, as I was unsure any of it would work.

CASE STUDY

FIGURE 1-11. Two preliminary experience maps show different levels of granularity.

Case Study: Fighting Violent Extremism with Alignment Diagramming  25

CASE STUDY

I planned the workshop as I would a typical experience mapping workshop. The focus was, of course, a group mapping exercise to foster a broad discussion about how the formers got involved in CVE themselves (see the images in Figure 1-12). They indicated their actions, thoughts, and feelings during their journey to involvement. Together, we identified key moments to concentrate on and moved into ideation before developing concrete solutions together. Overall, the workshop was a success and garnered very positive feedback. One participant representing an NGO said, “This was the best hands-on workshop I’ve ever attended.” And a former who participated said about the workshop, “Experience mapping

changed the way that I look at counter violent extremism. Cultivating empathy by mapping an experience elevates the technique beyond just optimizing business performance and makes it an asset to building a more peaceful world.”

The Final Results My primary output from the multi-day session was a map of a former’s journey toward involvement, which was included in an in-depth analysis created by Hedayah. Figure 1-13 shows the path from guilt (a common emotion after leaving an extremist group) toward atonement, a primary motivation for getting involved in CVE. Overall, the session was an exploration of new ground: no one had ever investigated formers’ paths to involvement. In this sense, the project contributed to a broader, long-term understanding of why some formers get involved in CVE and others don’t.

FIGURE 1-12. Various techniques from mapping experiences were used in a workshop with former violent extremists.

26  Chapter 1: Visualizing Value: Aligning Outside-In

From my perspective, the effort reaffirmed the notion that techniques from mapping experiences can have a broader application outside of commercial settings. Indeed, after sharing my story in presentations at conferences and meet-ups, this example has inspired others I’ve met to consider social applications of creative techniques like mapping experiences in their own work and lives.

CASE STUDY FIGURE 1-13. The final map of a former’s journey after denouncing violent extremism shows the process of moving through different stages, from guilt to atonement. Case Study: Fighting Violent Extremism with Alignment Diagramming  27

Diagram and Image Credits Figure 1-3: Customer journey map by Jim Kalbach, modified from its original form, created in MURAL in Proxima Nova Figure 1-4: Expressive service blueprint by Susan Spraragen and Carrie Chan, used with permission Figure 1-5: Experience map for Rail Europe by Chris Risdon as found in his article “The Anatomy of an Experience Map,” used with permission Figure 1-6: Section of a mental model diagram created by Indi Young and included in her book Mental Models, used with permission Figure 1-8: Diagram by Andy Polaine from the article “Blueprint+: Developing a Tool for Service Design,” used with permission Figure 1-9: Touchpoint matrix created by Gianluca Brugnoli, originally appearing in his article “Connecting the Dots of User Experience,” used with permission Figure 1-10: Cross-channel blueprint by Tyler Tate, taken from “Cross-Channel Blueprints: A Tool for Modern IA,” CC BY-SA 3.0 Figure 1-11: Draft experience mapping by Jim Kalbach, created in MURAL Figure 1-12: Photos by Jim Kalbach, all rights reserved Figure 1-13: Formers’ experience map by Jim Kalbach, created in Figma

28  Chapter 1: Visualizing Value: Aligning Outside-In

“The purpose of visualization is insight, not pictures.” —Ben Shneiderman Readings in Information Visualization

IN THIS CHAPTER ■

Framing the mapping effort

■

Touchpoints

■

Moments of truth

■

Value creation

■

Case study: Consumer intervention mapping—designing strategies for the circular economy

CHAPTER 2

Fundamentals of Mapping Experiences

The cause of the great cholera outbreak in London in 1854 was initially unclear. Prior to Louis Pasteur’s germ theory, many thought the disease was in the air. John Snow, a London physician, had a different explanation. He believed cholera was in the water. After microscopic examinations were inconclusive, Snow instead analyzed the spread of cholera to prove his hunch. To do this, Snow mapped cholera cases in Soho, London (Figure 2-1). The resulting patterns demonstrated causality: proximity to a certain water pump correlated to cholera cases with high predictability. The decline of cholera is credited to Snow’s recommendation to shut down that pump. Snow’s map contained multiple layers of information— streets, houses with cholera cases, and water pumps—just enough to reveal previously undetected evidence (in this case, the cause of a disease). The approach was simple but effective, and Snow was able to generate a hypothesis based on his map: if the city shut down a specific pump, then cases of cholera would decline.

FIGURE 2-1. John Snow’s map of London during the great cholera outbreak of 1854. The red circle highlights the water pump that was the source of the disease.

31

Visualizations offer an immediacy of comprehension and help us arrive at such hypotheses. Maps show interrelationships in an ecosystem.

1. Framing the effort clearly. Determine the point of view, scope, and focus, as well as the structure of the diagram and how you intend to use it.

It may not be immediately apparent, but I would argue that there is alignment in Snow’s example: water (a service provided by the waterworks department), water pumps (the touchpoints to that system), and households with cholera in Soho (individuals). What Snow showed was that the means of treating and storing water miles away affected people in central London. This conclusion is generally credited with the start of public health practices around the world.

2. Identifying the various touchpoints in the system, as well as critically charged points, called “moments of truth.”

This is why I love maps of all kinds: they provide an overview and, with some creative imagination, show new relationships leading to new insights. Armed with only a map and a few data points, John Snow was able to see what the best microscopes of the time couldn’t. That’s powerful. Similarly, this is what experience mapping offers: new insight. It starts with an investigation and illustration of the human condition and then works out ways to support people’s needs. Diagrams provide a systematic overview of the experiences people have. By fostering conversations across the organization, the process of mapping helps avoid disjointed interactions and promotes coherency. Regardless of the specific diagram type you create, there are overarching aspects to consider in mapping experiences, covered in this chapter. These include:

32  Chapter 2: Fundamentals of Mapping Experiences

3. Focusing on creating value. Use the diagram to improve and to innovate your offering and your business. By the end of this chapter, you should have a greater un­ derstanding of the key decisions in mapping experiences.

Frame the Mapping Effort The term experience defies precise definition. Still, we can point to some common aspects to better understand it: Experiences are holistic. The notion of an experience is all-encom­passing, including actions, thoughts, and feelings over time. Experiences are personal. An experience is not an objective property of a product or service; it’s the subjective perception of the individual. Experiences are situational. I like riding on roller coasters, but not immediately after eating a large meal. In one case, the experience is exhilarating; in the other, it’s a dreadful few minutes of nausea. The roller coaster doesn’t change; the situation does. Experiences differ from situation to situation.

FIGURE 2-2. Harry Beck created his iconic map of the London Underground in 1933. Frame the Mapping Effort  33

How, then, do we approach mapping experiences? Put simply, it’s a matter of selection. Maps are purposefully focused. As the mapmaker, it’s up to you to decide which aspects to include and which to leave out.

Before starting the mapping effort, there are three fundamental aspects to define, shown in Figure 2-3: 1. Point of view—Whose experience are you mapping and which experiences are included?

Cartographic maps, for instance, are selective in what they show. Consider Harry Beck’s famous map of the London Underground, first published in 1933 (Figure 2-2). It is sparing in what it includes: Tube lines, stops, exchanges, and the River Thames—nothing more.

4. Additionally, the structure of the diagram should best be determined in advance, along with the intended uses.

This map also distorts the train lines, relying only on horizontal, vertical, and 45-degree angled lines. Stops are spaced equidistantly as well, when in reality the distances vary greatly. That’s OK: maps are abstractions of the real world.

As the mapmaker, it’s your responsibility to get agreement on each of these aspects from the key stakeholders who will ultimately be the audience of the diagram. Each is discussed in detail in the following sections.

Beck’s map has remained virtually intact for over 70 years, with only minor updates. Its brilliance lies in what it doesn’t show: streets, buildings, curves in lines, and actual distances between stops. The longevity of Beck’s map is due to its appropriateness—it fulfills a specific need extremely well. Likewise, mapping experiences requires choice. Distortions will necessarily occur, but if your definition of the effort is on target, the overall message will be valid. And of course, the framing of your project must be relevant to the organization and address its goals.

2. Scope —When does the experience begin and end? 3. Focus—What types of information will be included?

1. Point of view

2. Scope

3. Focus

FIGURE 2-3. Define every mapping effort by addressing three key criteria up front.

34  Chapter 2: Fundamentals of Mapping Experiences

Point of View The point of view of a diagram should answer the question, “Whose perspective are you taking in the diagram?” In some cases, this may be obvious. But in other contexts—for instance, more complex B2B situations—there may be half a dozen or more actors involved in a given experience with a variety of interdependent interactions. You’ll need to first sort out which experiences to map.

News consumption Another point of view might be to look at how readers consume news in general. This would situate the magazine within a broader spectrum of human information behavior. This point of view could be beneficial if the magazine is looking to expand its offering. A mental model diagram could be useful in this case. Day-in-the-life

You could also look at a day in the life of typical readers: Point of view is given by two criteria: the people involved and how does a news magazine fit into their daily actions? the types of experiences they engage in. For example, a news Where do they come in contact with the magazine? magazine might serve two distinct audiences: readers and When? What else do they advertisers. The interactions do to find and read news? each has with the publisher are As the mapmaker, it’s up to you to An experience map may be very different. decide which aspects to include appropriate for mapping this Once you’ve decided on the and which to leave out. experience. people to focus on—assume Each of these points of view has a different unit of analysis— readers in this example—there are different experiences to purchasing, consuming news, or a daily routine. And each can choose from. Consider these three potential experiences for a be beneficial depending on the needs of the organization. news magazine reader: Understanding the point of view of the diagram is critical in Purchasing behavior determining your approach and resulting message. One point of view is to look at how readers purchase the Typically, any given diagram reflects a single point of view. A news magazine: how they first heard of the magazine, clear perspective generally strengthens the message of a diawhy they bought it, if they make a repeat purchase, and gram. It’s common to include a reference to a persona in the so on. Mapping an experience from this point of view top corner of an experience map to clarify the point of view makes sense if there is a need to optimize sales. A cusfor the diagram’s audience. tomer journey map would be a good fit.

Frame the Mapping Effort  35

But, as mentioned in Chapter 1, a map may coordinate multiple points of view. Still, you’ll have to define whose experiences and which experiences to include. Oftentimes, a primary point of view is defined and secondary perspectives are aligned to that. There’s no right or wrong answer to the question of how to determine a point of view for your mapping effort. What you decide to illustrate depends on your stakeholders’ needs. Strive to align the point of view of the map with the goals of the organization.

Scope Scope is fairly straightforward to understand: you need to answer the question, “When does the experience begin and when does it end?” Think about scope as the left and right sides of a chronological diagram. Sometimes the scope of a mapping effort may seem self-evident, but additional concerns can extend the start and stop points you’ll define. Consider the previous example of riding a roller coaster. Does it begin when you get strapped into the car or while you’re waiting in line? Or does it begin before you even get to the amusement park, while you’re still at home, or even before that? And when does it end—when you get out of the roller coaster car or when you look at the photos of yourself during the ride? Or does it end when you look at those photos a month later? It’s up to you, the mapmaker, to define the scope of the experience to be illustrated. There are no right or wrong answers; it depends on the needs of the project. I’ll often find an obvious point in time to start and then go back one step to include the precursors before the beginning of an experience.

FIGURE 2-4. An experience map can include elements before the main experience even begins, such as the “past experiences” in this diagram.

36  Chapter 2: Fundamentals of Mapping Experiences

For instance, on one project we were seeking to foster a more customer-centric mindset in employees of an organization. We initially scoped the employee experience to start around the first day of employment. However, by going back in time to the phases prior to that, including the recruiting and hiring phases, we found even more opportunities to increase customer centricity (e.g., instilling the desired mindset during the hiring process or including our intent in the job posting).

end stations far off the page. Given his scope—to show the entire system—this lack of fidelity was necessary. Or, imagine you’ve been contracted by the tourist bureau of a city in the US to improve the experience of visiting tourists, with a specific goal of increasing the mobile services offered. One approach could be to scope the entire visit, starting from planning at home, to visiting the city, and all the way to follow-up actions afterward. This would give you a broad picture across different touchpoint types across the entire service ecology for multiple stakeholders.

The diagram in Figure 2-4 shows a close-up of the first part of an experience map for different types of gamers created by Gene Smith and Trevor van In another approach, you Gorp (shown in full in Figure could limit the effort to only Understanding the point of view of the 12-4). Notice that they define experiences in the city with the beginning of the experidiagram is critical in determining your mobile services. This journey ence as “Past Experiences”— approach and resulting message. might begin at the point an explicit recognition that of arrival and end when people bring past experiences departing the city, but would provide greater depth on mobile into the one mapped here. The scope of this diagram is broadtouchpoints for a particular user type. er than just playing games, which can help point to previously Both approaches are valid depending on the needs of the unconsidered opportunities. organization, as well as its interests and gaps in knowledge. But scope is deeper than just the beginning and end of an exAre you focused on a discrete problem or do you need a view perience. It also requires a tradeoff in granularity. A map of an of the entire system? The point is to be explicit about the end-to-end experience reveals the big picture but leaves out tradeoffs you’re making up front and set the right expectadetail. On the other hand, a detailed diagram may illustrate tions. Setting the right scope will guide subsequent comprespecific interactions but cover less ground. hension of the experience, as well as what strategic opportuThe equally spaced Tube stops on Beck’s map of the London nities might emerge. Underground (see Figure 2-2), for instance, allow the entire system to fit on one page. Actual spacing would have put the

Frame the Mapping Effort  37

Focus What types of information will you include in the diagram? What’s the diagram about? Think of the focus as the rows of information in a given map. That defines the content you’ll include. Again, it’s up to you, the mapmaker, to choose which aspects to focus on. Strive to make it relevant to your organization and stakeholders’ needs. There are many types of elements to consider. The ones you choose depend on how you’ve framed the effort (see Chapter 5) and what aspects are most salient to the organization. I typically start with the actions, thoughts, and feelings of the individual as a default way to describe an experience, in general. Your project may require emphasis on other foci. To make your map relevant to your team, you might include some of the following typical aspects: • Physical: artifacts, tools, devices • Behavioral: actions, activities, tasks • Cognitive: thoughts, views, opinions • Emotional: feelings, desires, states of mind • Needs: goals, outcomes, jobs to be done • Challenges: pain points, constraints, barriers • Context: setting, environment, location • Culture: beliefs, values, philosophy • Events: triggers, moments of truth, points of failure

38  Chapter 2: Fundamentals of Mapping Experiences

Setting the right scope will guide subsequent comprehension of the experience, as well as what strategic opportunities might emerge. Elements that describe the organization can include: • Touchpoints: mediums, devices, information • Offering: products, services, features • Processes: internal activities, workflows • Challenges: problems, issues, breakdowns • Operations: roles, departments, reporting structures • Metrics: traffic, financials, statistics • Evaluation: strengths, weaknesses, learnings • Effort: difficulties, inefficiencies, ease of interacting • Opportunities: gaps, weaknesses, redundancies • Goals: revenue, savings, reputation • Strategy: policy, design making, principles The question of balance of the above elements comes into play as well. I recommend listing a set of target aspects that are most relevant to your mapping effort, starting with the

Individual CJM FIGURE 2-5. Focus differs across diagram types.

Service Blueprint Organization

suggestions here. Then, arrange them in a sketch of a map to see how they might fit together to meet your goals. Also keep in mind that different diagram types naturally have different foci (see Figure 2-5). For instance, a customer journey map may focus primarily on an experience with only a minimal description of the organization. A service blueprint, on the other hand, may highlight the service provision process across channels at the expense of a detailed description of the user experience.

Structure Alignment diagrams also differ in structure. The most common scheme is chronological (Figure 2-6a), and many of the examples in this book have a chronological organization. However, other arrangements are possible, including hierarchical, spatial, and network structures (Figures 2-6b to 2-6d). Figure 2-7 is a map of the guest experience with the service Booking.com. It’s an excellent example of illustrating an experience using a network-like structure. The focus is on touchpoints that lead to positive or negative experiences.

Frame the Mapping Effort  39

Phase 1

Phase 2

Phase 3

Phase 4

Space

Time FIGURE 2-6a. CHRONOLOGICAL: Because experiences happen in real time, a chronological arrangement provides a natural sequence of human behavior. A timeline of some sort is the most prevalent way to structure alignment diagrams. See Chapters 10–12 on service blueprints, customer journey maps, and experience maps for more.

FIGURE 2-6c. SPATIAL: It’s also possible to illustrate experiences spatially. This makes sense when interactions take place in a physical location—for example, in a face-to-face service encounter. Spatial diagrams can also be imposed on an experience in a metaphorical sense: spatial maps represent experiences as if they could exist in a 3D space even when they do not.

Hierarchy

Network FIGURE 2-6b. HIERARCHICAL: Mapping experiences hierarchically removes the time dimension. This can have advantages when there are many aspects occurring simultaneously, which is difficult to show chronologically. Chapter 13 discusses mental model diagrams and other hierarchical arrangements.

40  Chapter 2: Fundamentals of Mapping Experiences

FIGURE 2-6d. NETWORK STRUCTURE: A network structure shows a web of interrelationships between aspects of an experience that are neither chronological nor hierarchical.

FIGURE 2-7. A network-like arrangement of actors and concepts shows positive and negative experiences with Booking.com.

Frame the Mapping Effort  41

Use Keep the intended use of an alignment diagram in mind from the very beginning. First, consider who will be consuming the information in your diagram. The London Underground map is read every day by travelers on the Tube. They use it to determine how to travel between any two points on the network. But the engineers who maintain the switching signals in the London Underground would likely find Beck’s map lacking in detail—they need specifications with a much higher degree of fidelity to accomplish their work. Beck’s map is not intended for that audience. Also consider what you’ll use your diagrams for. Frame the effort in a way that is appropriate for your team’s needs. What questions does the organization have that a diagram can address? What gaps in knowledge does it fill? What problems will it help solve? Finally, ask yourself how the diagram will be used. Will it be used to diagnose problems or improve the design of an existing system? Will it be used to create a strategy and plan for development? Or does your audience intend to use your alignment diagram to discover new opportunities for innovation and growth? The type of mapping advocated in this book is best suited for generative activities; that is, teams can use maps of the current state of an experience to creatively find opportunities

42  Chapter 2: Fundamentals of Mapping Experiences

together. From this perspective, a map serves as springboard into conversations about what might be possible in the future. A future state map may or may not be needed, depending on the solutions generated. Mapping can also serve a summative function. Journey management is a rapidly growing field that coordinates live data (e.g., satisfaction scores, usage metrics) to touchpoints in customer experience for ongoing monitoring. Teams can see data about the experience people are actually having in real time at each stage in the journey.

Identify Touchpoints Framing the effort, as outlined above, provides a basis for illustrating the overall experience. Within that experience, you also need to consider the relationship between individuals and an organization. The concept of touchpoints, the means of value exchange, allows you to show the interaction between the two. Typically, touchpoints include a range of things, such as: • TV ads, print ads, brochures • Marketing emails, newsletters • Websites, blogs, online newsletters • Apps, software programs • Phone calls, service hotlines, online chat • Service counters, checkout registers

• Physical objects, buildings, roads • Packaging, shipping materials • Bills, invoices, payment systems Historically, there are three primary types of touchpoints: Static These touchpoints don’t allow for users to interact with them. They include things such as printed materials, signage, or advertisements. Interactive Websites and apps are interactive touchpoints, often with a call to action and workflow to follow. Human This type involves human-to-human interaction. Examples include a sales representative or a support agent on the phone, as well as hosted communities and forums. Organizations that take an ecological view of the experiences they provide have a competitive advantage. For businesses, this impacts the bottom line. One study from 2013 by Alex Rawson and colleagues found that optimization across touchpoints was a strong predictor of business health.* The researchers found a 20% to 30% correlation with improved outcomes, such as higher revenue, better retention, and positive word of mouth. Reducing friction and providing a coherent experience pays off. * Alex Rawson, Ewan Duncan, and Conor Jones, “The Truth About Customer Experience,” Harvard Business Review (Sep 2013).

Consider the inventory of touchpoints in Figure 2-8. This diagram was created by the Swiss-based marketing firm Accelerom (accelerom.com), an international consultancy and research firm based in Zurich, as part of its 360° touchpoint management process.† This shows a fairly comprehensive list of touchpoints a company has with its customers. But some people call for a broader perspective. Chris Risdon, for one, defines a touchpoint as the context around an interaction. In his article “Un-Sucking the Touchpoint” he writes: A touchpoint is a point of interaction involving a specific human need in a specific time and place. Jeannie Walters, a leading customer experience consultant, also advocates a broader definition. She is critical of touchpoint inventories, writing: The challenge with viewing touchpoints this way is this approach often assumes the customer has a) been in a linear and direct relationship with the organization and b) reads and engages with these touchpoints in meaningful ways. In short, an examination of touchpoints is often entirely company-focused. (Sometimes, it is so company-focused the touchpoints are categorized by org chart: marketing; operations; billing, etc.).‡

† See Christoph Spengler, Werner Wirth, and Renzo Sigrist, “360° Touchpoint Management – How Important Is Twitter for Our Brand?” Marketing Review St. Gallen (Feb 2010). ‡ Jeannie Walters, “What IS a Customer Touchpoint?” Customer Think blog (Oct 2014). Identify Touchpoints  43

CUSTOMER MAGAZINE

SHOP ADVICE PROVIDER

FIGURE 2-8. This 360° matrix created by the Swiss firm Accelerom illustrates a range of touchpoints.

44  Chapter 2: Fundamentals of Mapping Experiences

CONSUMER REPORT RADIO

But the notion of touchpoint visualization can be useful beyond commercial settings that seek to optimize brand perception and profits. Matt Sinclair, Leila Sheldrick, Mariale Moreno, and Emma Dewberry have developed a unique tool for looking at the touchpoints across a broad ecosystem. Working in the field of circular design, or the creation of products beyond single lifecycles for single users, they wanted to visualize the points within an ecosystem where stakeholders can intervene in the product’s journey to extend its life. See the case study at the end of the chapter for more on circular design and Consumer Intervention Maps.

of energy in a desired outcome. Moments of truth either make or break the relationship—they’re the crux of the interaction. For example, when purchasing a new home, the selection of which property to buy will likely be a moment of truth.

Alignment diagrams, in general, reinforce an ecological view of the interaction with customers. They not only illustrate individual touchpoints but also provide an end-to-end picture of the experience. The insight from mapping goes beyond just delighting customers and optimizing consumption; it has strategic underpinnings that can include innovation in means of production, product lifecycles, and more sustainable design.

Moments of truth point to opportunities for innovation and growth. For instance, in their book The Innovator’s Method, business scholars and consultants Nathan Furr and Jeff Dyer suggest creating what they call “journey lines,” or a brief visualization of the steps customers take. They write:

Moments of Truth Alignment diagrams are not just collections of touchpoints. They also provide insight for identifying and understanding critical points in the experience. Called moments of truth, these key emotional instances help focus attention on the aspects that matter most. Moments of truth can be thought of as a special type of touchpoint. They are critical, emotionally charged interactions, and usually occur when someone has invested a high degree

The term “moments of truth” was popularized by Jan Carlzon, the then CEO of SAS Airlines, in his book of the same name. To illustrate his point, Carlzon starts his book with a story of a customer who arrived at the airport without his boarding pass. The SAS agents personally drove back to the hotel where he’d left it and delivered it to him at the airport. This left an indelible impression on the customer.

Create an in-depth visual portrait in which you identify pain points to understand how your customers do the job today and how they feel while doing it. Visually map out the steps customers take to achieve an outcome. It helps to assign a customer emotion to each step to identify how the customer is feeling. They go on to recommend looking for moments “that ignite their emotions”—in other words, moments of truth. Solutions that address these moments, they claim, are more likely to be monetizable: people are generally willing to pay for services that address critical needs. In this sense, moments of truth are points of opportunity for the organization. Identify Touchpoints  45

Focusing on moments of truth allows you to concentrate your energy on experiences that matter. The perceived coherency of your offering is given by how you handle moments of truth. Diagrams provide insight into these points across time, allowing organizations to design a more cohesive experience and reduce transitional volatility.

Summary Historically, visual alignment has helped people make sense of the world. Take John Snow’s map of cholera cases in London in 1854: he was able to literally see the cause of an outbreak by layering different elements in a map. Visualizing experience can have a similar effect. But unlike physical spaces, experiences are frustratingly intangible and broad. As the mapmaker, it’s your job to frame the diagram and the experiences you’ll be mapping. This includes decisions about the perspective, scope, and focus, as well as structure and use. Chapter 5 discusses the process of selection in more detail.

46  Chapter 2: Fundamentals of Mapping Experiences

Touchpoints are the means by which interactions between individuals and an organization can take place. Typically, these are seen in terms of interaction with an advertisement, application, or website, or through a service encounter or phone call. A broader definition of touchpoints, however, includes the whole context in which these interactions occur. An interaction between an individual and an organization happens at a given time and within a given environment. Organizations that design for and manage coherency across touchpoints see enormous benefits: greater satisfaction, stronger loyalty, and larger returns.

Moments of truth are critical, emotionally intense moments. They are those instances that make or break a relationship. Identifying the moments of truth points to potential opportunities for innovation. From the individual’s perspective, value is subjective and complex. There are many types of value they may consider: functional, emotional, social, epistemic, and circumstantial. Premium value goes beyond these types to include meaning and identity.

Further Reading Matt Sinclair, Leila Sheldrick, Mariale Moreno, and Emma Dewberry, “Consumer Intervention Mapping—A Tool for Designing Future Product Strategies within Circular Product Service Systems,” Sustainability (Jun 2018) This journal article introduces Consumer Intervention Mapping as a technique for developing circular design strategies. Though academic in style and format, the content is approachable and easy to comprehend. The authors include many examples and have also made further diagrams available online (see https:// repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/Consumer_Intervention_ Map/4743577). They’ve validated the technique in several workshops, the results of which are also presented in this article. Megan Grocki, “How to Create a Customer Journey Map,” UX Mastery (Sep 2014) This is a short but very informative article on the overall process of journey mapping. Grocki breaks it down into nine steps. The article includes a short video that explains the approach very well.

Marc Stickdorn, Markus Edgar Hormess, Adam Lawrence, and Jakob Schneider, This is Service Design Doing (O’Reilly, 2018) This easy-to-read book has over five hundred pages of detail on service design methods and techniques from recognized experts in the field. The book is accompanied by 54 method descriptions, including a range of ideation and facilitation techniques, available at https://www.thisisservicedesigndoing.com/methods. See also the precursor to this book, This is Service Design Thinking (BIS Publishers, 2012), by Marc Stickdorn and Jakob Schneider. Harvey Golub et al., “Delivering Value to Customers,” McKinsey Quarterly (Jun 2000) This is an excellent summary of articles from the prior three decades on the creation and delivery of customer value. It highlights the work of McKinsey employees, with references to their respective full articles on the subject.

Identify Touchpoints  47

CASE STUDY

Consumer Intervention Case Study Mapping—Designing Title Strategies for theby tkCircular Economy by Matt Sinclair Circular design is an approach to the conception and creation of products and services that emphasizes looking beyond single product lifecycles for single users, and instead treats products as entities within systems that allow multiple users and usages. The idea of Consumer Intervention Mapping came about when our research team was involved in an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) project looking at how circular design could be integrated with redistributed manufacturing—the type of manufacturing that can occur when production machinery is smaller, cheaper, and more easily localized (3D printers are probably the best known example of this). We realized that most strategic visions of a circular economy see the consumer as fairly disinterested in anything except consuming. But there is also this whole other idea of the consumer, as someone who is engaged, even if to a relatively small degree, in designing, making, repairing, and reselling products whose lifecycles do not match those of conventionally conceived consumer goods. Touchpoint diagrams in commercial settings typically concentrate only on experiences that occur within the value chain a brand is able to influence. Consumer interventions such as

48  Chapter 2: Fundamentals of Mapping Experiences

post-purchase modification, repair, lending, and resale often receive little attention because brands cannot monetize them. We realized there is a whole ecosystem of activities going on, carried out by people who are interested in ideas that are central to the circular economy that never appear on brands’ touchpoint diagrams. Consumer Intervention Maps were our way of trying to capture these activities, partly because we found them interesting in their own right, but also because we felt that drawing attention to them might encourage brands to think about how to design for them. Figure 2-9 shows the underlying framework for Consumer Intervention Mapping. The design of the map follows a conventional brand touchpoint wheel, in which touchpoints are defined at the top level as pre-purchase, purchase, or post-purchase experiences. These are subdivided into a further six categories, including new product development (something brands rarely see as an area for consumer involvement), and then divided again into 18 categories, including maintenance and disposal (again, areas that brands often leave out of touchpoint diagrams).

CASE STUDY

FIGURE 2-9. The Consumer Intervention space visualizes the broader circular design ecosystem. Case Study: Consumer Intervention Mapping—Designing Strategies for the Circular Economy  49

CASE STUDY

A further refinement is to add concentric rings that indicate the degree of control a brand exerts when a consumer intervenes in the product’s lifecycle (for example, a brand has much more control when a consumer uses an authorized dealer for a repair, rather than purchasing a gray market spare part and repairing a product themselves). A touchpoint on the map refers to an event in which a stakeholder actively and intentionally intervenes in a product’s intended customer journey model. Passive touchpoints that do not involve consumer intervention are excluded (e.g., seeing an ad). Touchpoints are indicated in their appropriate phases using a system of color-coding: manufacturing (orange), communication (pink), supply (blue), and usage (green). The darkness of the color shows the degree to which a brand allows consumers to intervene at this touchpoint. Starting in the definition phase of new product development, a line connects touchpoints to describe a product’s lifecycle from pre-purchase to post-purchase. Figure 2-10 shows an example product lifecycle for an imaginary, mass-customized product, in which disposal involves extracting materials during remanufacturing and feeding them back into new product development. The diagram is populated with touchpoints found from literature and from three workshops conducted with experts from industry and academia, including one held at the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in London and one at the Product Lifetimes and the Environment conference in Delft. Each workshop

50  Chapter 2: Fundamentals of Mapping Experiences

allowed participants to question and reposition touchpoints, and to add new touchpoints that hadn’t previously been identified. In this way, the resulting diagram (shown in Figure 2-11) was validated and improved. In addition, we ran exercises that asked participants to imagine scenarios for product service systems within future circular economies and to visualize these using the Consumer Intervention Map. To a large extent the value of the tool has been seen in the discussions that have arisen from these exercises, and the way that alternative visions of product strategies and business models have emerged. A number of participants have commented that it is refreshing to be asked to consider possibilities, rather than constraints, and that the tool’s focus on users introduces a perspective that many had not previously considered. This is something we are keen to continue through further collaborations as the tool develops. If you would like to use the materials mentioned in this case study, the following are available online at the Institutional Repositories: • Consumer Intervention Map: https://doi.org/10.17028/ rd.lboro.4743577 • Workshop materials and Interaction cards: https://doi. org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4749727

CASE STUDY

FIGURE 2-10. The fully populated Consumer Intervention Map reveals relationships that point to new opportunities for circular design. Case Study: Consumer Intervention Mapping—Designing Strategies for the Circular Economy  51

CASE STUDY FIGURE 2-11. A future product service system map engaged a group of participants in a workshop.

52  Chapter 2: Fundamentals of Mapping Experiences

About the Contributor

• Royal Society of Arts, “The Great Recovery Report” (2013), https://www.thersa.org/discover/publications-and-articles/ reports/the-great-recovery • Ellen MacArthur Foundation and IDEO, The Circular Design Guide (2017), https://www.circulardesignguide.com • Kersty Hobson and Nicholas Lynch, “Diversifying and De-Growing the Circular Economy: Radical Social Transformation in a Resource-Scarce World,” Futures (Sep 2016), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2016.05.012

Dr. Matt Sinclair is Programme Director for Industrial Design at Loughborough School of Design and Creative Arts, UK. His research is broadly situated within the field of responsible design futures, utilizing research methods from user experience design to place users, consumers, citizens, and people at the center of movements for change. See more about his work at no-retro.com.

Case Study: Consumer Intervention Mapping—Designing Strategies for the Circular Economy  53

CASE STUDY

Learn More About Circular Design

Diagram and Image Credits Figure 2-2: Harry Beck’s London Underground map, licensed from TfL from the London Transport Museum collection Figure 2-4: Excerpt of experience map by Gene Smith and Trevor van Gorp (see full map in Chapter 12), used with permission Figure 2-7: Image of Booking.com from Andre Manning, “The Booking Truth: Delighting Guests Takes More Than a Well-Priced Bed,” used with permission Figure 2-8: 360° touchpoint matrix created by Accelerom AG ( accelerom.com ), an international consultancy and research firm based in Zurich, used with permission. Accelerom has been combining management practice, cross-media marketing research, and cutting-edge analysis and visualization technologies for over a decade. For more, see http://bit.ly/1WM1QyU. Figures 2-9 and 2-10: Consumer Intervention Maps by Matt Sinclair, Leila Sheldrick, Mariale Moreno, and Emma Dewberry, used with permission Figure 2-11: Photo by Matt Sinclair, used with permission

54  Chapter 2: Fundamentals of Mapping Experiences

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” —Peter Drucker

IN THIS CHAPTER ■

What the employee experience is and why it’s important

■

Mapping the employee experience

■

Aligning the customer experience to the employee experience

■

Organizational design and customer experience

■

Journey management

■

Case study: Aligning CX and EX for strategy building

CHAPTER 3

Employee Experience: Aligning Inside There was a deli around the corner from my previous home in Hamburg, Germany, that had quality meats and specialty items. I used to stop in every so often to get products that were otherwise hard to find. But the service was often rude and abrupt. I sometimes felt nervous interacting with the servers, who might get annoyed if I asked about the different types of salami they had, for instance, as if I should already know all the subtleties. My wife worked in the area and knew a lot of the neighborhood businesses. When I brought up the abrasive service I had experienced, she immediately said, “Not surprising: the owners are exactly like that too. They are difficult people to deal with.” And to be sure, they had a high employee turnover. The point is that organizations are often mirrors of the customer experiences they deliver. If employees are treated poorly behind the scenes, how can they be expected to provide good service to customers? If management sets a bad example for interacting with customers, why should employees act any differently?

Melvin Conway, a computer programmer, observed that the solutions organizations produce reflect their own communication structures. Dubbed “Conway’s law,” his observation highlights the power of organizational design: how a company operates is as important as what it produces. If great customer experiences are informed from the outside in, they are built from an inside-across alignment. It’s a twostep process, as shown in Figure 3-1. First, an organization has to be deeply attuned to the individuals it serves. Then, teams have to be aligned not only to the ideal customer experience, but also to Individual one another.

1. Outside-in alignment

Organization 2. Inside-across alignment

FIGURE 3-1. There are two types of alignment: alignment to the experience, which happens from the outside in, and internal (inside-across) alignment between the teams that create the experience.

57

This chapter discusses the concept of internal alignment through the lens of employee experience. As the customer experience (CX) becomes more imperative for business growth, the employee experience (EX) will too be critical for success. Said another way, the path to becoming more customer-centric is to be more employee-centric by creating a great employee experience. The two—CX and EX—are inextricably linked. Mapping heightens alignment along both dimensions, helping to intentionally coordinate them.

Employee Experience EX is a relatively new field that goes beyond smooth onboarding, proper workplace setup, and free perks. It’s about more than employee satisfaction, and even more than employee engagement. Instead, EX takes into the account the sum of the experiences—thoughts, actions, and feelings—an employee has with an organization over time. It’s about how they understand and internalize the vision and strategy of the organization, as well as the behaviors employees exhibit in working toward the company’s mission. Employee experience overlaps with existing functions in a company, such as HR or People Operations. In many ways, EX is an extension of those existing fields and represents a modern way to manage a workforce through the lens of the overall experience. But it’s broader than the typical scope of HR functions.

58  Chapter 3: Employee Experience: Aligning Inside

EX also overlaps with the notion of company culture, but has important distinctions. Culture is the tacit beliefs and philosophies of a group of people and their collective assumptions about how the world is. EX is how employees live the company culture over time. Ultimately, EX is an explicit recognition that employees have the potential freedom to change jobs. While in reality many may be tied to a role and can’t just leave, EX positions itself as if there were free choice. In other words, it’s not enough to have a workforce that works happily for a company (i.e., for a salary and benefits). Instead, an enlightened organization also create a sense of belonging, so people want to join its cause. EX is about the purpose that comes along with employment—a purpose that is as strong (or stronger) a reason to work than money alone. With this in mind, a holistic set of contributing factors emerges, including many of the following: • Physical and digital spaces, including tools and equipment • Internal systems, capabilities, and support • Flexibility, autonomy, and transparency • Feeling valued and having a sense of agency • Coaching and mentorship on the job • Personal and career growth • Teamwork and social aspects of work • Workflow and processes

• Passion for the brand • Diversity and inclusion • Health and physical well-being • Emotional and psychological well-being Variation exists from organization to organization. Your perspective may result in different divisions of these topics to highlight what’s most important for the organization at this point. For instance, a startup may emphasize brand passion and workflow more than a large corporation, which might focus on coaching and career development. Jacob Morgan, the author of The Employee Experience Advantage, offers a practical way to grasp EX as a whole. He compartmentalizes the key aspects of employee experience into three categories: Cultural environment This is the biggest and perhaps most important contributor to the employee experience. A range of factors are at play here: a sense of purpose, the perceived value of employees in the organization, diversity and inclusion, fair treatment, growth and mentorship, well-being, and more. Technical environment The software and hardware employees use make up the technical environment. Availability and consumer-grade options are key factors in providing a great employee experience, as well as alignment of employee needs and business requirements.

Physical environment This refers to where employees work, including in offices and remote or at-home work. Flexibility and multiple workspace options are key factors when considering the physical employment environment. Morgan points to a desire to bring friends to work as a sign of a good physical environment.

Employee experience is how employees live the company culture over time. The point is that EX is multifaceted, considering multiple characteristics simultaneously. The important thing to remember is that EX is not just nice-to-have, but an imperative for growth. Through rigorous research, Morgan shows that organizations that invested most heavily in EX were: • Over 11 times more likely to appear in Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work” list • More than four times more likely to feature in LinkedIn’s list of North America’s “Most InDemand Employers” • 28 times more often listed among Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Companies” • Listed twice as often by Forbes as one of the “World’s Most Innovative Companies” • Twice as often found in the American Customer Satisfaction Index Employee Experience  59

Additionally, Morgan found that “experiential organizations had more than 4 times the average profit and more than 2 times the average revenue. They were also almost 25 percent smaller, which suggests higher levels of productivity and innovation.” This message is not necessarily new. As early as 1998, Joseph Pine II and James Gilmore showed that we had entered a new era they dubbed the “experience economy.”* We are evolving toward an age of networked enterprises, in which the traditional hierarchies of the corporation will be supplanted by self-organizing systems collaborating on digital platforms. The bottom line is that how a company works is as important as what it produces. This includes everything from recruiting to org charts to collaboration to culture. With so many factors to consider, the concept of experience becomes a unifying force. In other words, viewing the customer experience without considering the employee experience misses half of the equation.

Mapping the Employee Experience Organizations concerned with employee experience don’t want to just observe and report on it; they want to actively shape it. As with any experience, we can map EX as a sequence of interactions that unfold over time. Logically, a * B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore, “Welcome to the Experience Economy,” Harvard Business Review (Jul–Aug 1998).

60  Chapter 3: Employee Experience: Aligning Inside

­ iagram of the EX is a key first step in facilitating a dialogue d with an actionable outcome. The process for creating a map of the employee experience is the same as that for creating a map of the customer experience. We can apply all that we know about diagramming customer experiences and human experiences to understanding the end-to-end employee experience. After determining who will be on the team that runs the mapping process, start the effort by determining the point of view, scope, and focus. Decide which employee experience to map. Not everyone (for instance, executive management versus individual contributors) will have the same experience. To begin with, define the point of view that is most relevant to the problem you are trying to solve. But just defining whose experience to map can get complicated quickly. For instance, you may want to consider freelancers and how they fit into the organization as related to the employee experience. While it’s tempting to exclude external contractors from the scope of your EX map, they in turn impact the full-time employee experience. And as the gig economy takes off and organizations are more and more motivated to scale through freelancers, aligning them to the organization becomes critical. After defining whose experience to map, scope the experience. The map in Figure 3-2 shows an example of an employee experience provided by UXPressia, an online mapping tool. It’s nearly identical to a customer journey map in form and format.

In this case, the scope of the diagram is broad—from recruiting to career development. This high-level view could help an organization prioritize which aspects of the overall employee experience it might seek to improve first. For example, addressing issues during recruiting could have a downstream effect on later stages. From this diagram it’s also clear that onboarding is a weak spot relative to other phases.

It’s possible to zoom in and map just one section, such as the beginning from searching for a job to completing a trial phase of employment. At any point in the overall journey, you can drill down further and map the experience in more detail. Be sure to get the right level of granularity and scope the effort to address your team’s most important questions.

PROJECT: untitled MAP: Sales Rep Journey Map JOB SEARCH AND APPLYING

PERSONAS (1) Stage details John Shaw

John is 29 y.o. He has a bachelor's degree in business management.

JOB OFFER

ONBOARDING & TRAINING

Onboarding paperwork

First 90 days 

John prepares for the interview. A

asks his friends for assistance, visits job

company rep sends him materials

boards, and subscribes to job board

they want John to read before the

Filling out a W-4 form.

Taking an office tour

Following the onboarding schedule

emails to receive new job alerts.

interview, an interview plan, and a

Receiving an employee handbook.

Receiving equipment 

Receiving feedback from employers

map with the office location.

Applying to employee benefits,

Online setup (email and password)

Peer/culture acclimation

He finds some sales-related positions

For the last two years, he has been working as a sales rep in a small company. He wants to boost his career, but there are no opportunities in his current company.

EVALUATION

First day

John starts searching for a new job. He

continues working in the company. Enablers

The interview goes smoothly in a

all.

warm and welcoming environment.

The company he likes most sends him

John receives a job offer and accepts

an invitation to the interview.

it.

whether he hit a career ceiling there.

61%

assessment % positive

Manager support 

59%

(moment of truth ) Resources to do the job

55%

Career coaching  Visibility to career

50%

options

67%

Performance evaluation

50%

Practical dev. plan

Benefits

58%

Access to training

Expense management

58%

76%

compensation PTO/Vacation

49%

Barriers Barriers

% negative

56% 49%

Colleague feedback

% positive

Competitive 61%

Barriers

Applying new skills at work  Access to training

Enablers Enablers Clear goals

John gets a promotion. He is not sure

eNPS+1

% positive

Objective performance

Job training

that seem attractive. He applies to them

CAREER MANAGEMENT

John successfully passes the probation period and

% negative

39% 34% 31%

Career path defined

30%

Effective job transitions

24%

% negative

Practical dev.plan

31%

Training and coaching

26%

OJ-coaching

27%

Dynamic goal setting

50%

Objective skills assessment

24%

Think & feel They want to meet me!

I got the job!

I hate handwriting!

They say I'm a perfect fit! But I feel there are some

But is their position for me?

I got promoted!

drawbacks they didn't mention.

Experience joy

joy

trust

trust

anticipation

worried

anger

Process and channels Application form

Career portal

Problems

Ideas / Opportunities

Unclear

position description

Encourage job applicants to ask

Office space

Interview

Employee Handbook

Poor interview feedback

Give candidates more detailed

questions about the position before

feedback so that they can see what

they apply.

needs to be improved.

Colleagues

Workplace

Having to wait for equipment Lack of training

Minimize the amount of handwriting if possible.

Prepare an employment contract and receive signed, if applicable.

Prepare equipment in advance. Appoint a tutor for a few weeks to help the new hire with daily tasks.

Achievement

OJT-only training Lack of trust/empowerment Inflexible goals

Subjective evaluation

Take advantage of different types of

When giving the employee feedback on the

When informing the employee about

training.

probation period, be completely honest by covering

promotion, mention further career

both positive and negative things about the hire.  

opportunities in the same company.

Ask

Lack

of visibility of career options

(external and internal)

Poor

the new hire for feedback regularly

career mentoring

and give him performance feedback as well.

Discuss

the goals you set with the new

employee and change them if needed.

FIGURE 3-2. An end-to-end experience map shows a broad sequence of touchpoints employees have with an organization, from the job search to career management. Mapping the Employee Experience  61

For example, Chris McGrath created a day-in-the-life map of an employee for his digital transformation consultancy, Tangowork. The top of the diagram in Figure 3-3 shows the employee’s workflow across a single day. The middle includes an estimation of common thoughts along with emotional highs and lows. At the very bottom in the colored boxes are concrete tactics to address the employee’s pain points.

While such a day-to-day view may only lead to local, tactical solutions, mapping at this level becomes part of creating a more fulfilling employee experience. Such granular views can ladder up to a picture of the overall experience employees have.

FIGURE 3-3. An EX map can take a day-in-the-life format rather than mimicking a customer journey map.

62  Chapter 3: Employee Experience: Aligning Inside

FIGURE 3-4. Based on a common template for EX, consultants at XPLANE are able to map different employee experiences consistently using the same format for each diagram. Mapping the Employee Experience  63

Or consider the approach taken by Rafa Vivas, creative director at XPLANE, a leading visual business consultancy, shown in Figure 3-4 (in Spanish). Their template for an employee experience reflects common stages of employment along the top, from discovery and onboarding to work, rewards, and eventually exit. The rows then illustrate the touchpoints they have with internal people, tools, and systems, an estimated emotional curve, and needs before concluding with insights and opportunities. Overall, this reflects alignment across multiple aspects of employment and points to actionable outcomes for improvement.

I like to think of the relationship of customers to employees as a single ecosystem. How companies provide value to customers these days is as important as the offering itself. The key is to view employees as endpoints in the value creation process: their experience is as important as the resulting customer experience. Frontstage employees, such as sales representatives and customer support agents, may have direct contact with customers. But even backstage employees, such as product developers and HR functions, play a role, too: they either support the people who interface with customers or interact with customers through the offering. Everyone in an organization is part of the experience.

CX

Offering

After defining the cornerstones of the mapping effort, research the experience with data from existing and prospective employees. Follow the steps for the investigation outlined in Chapter 6.  Then, illustrate the experience as outlined in Chapter 7. The aim is to tell a story that EX reflects the insights you gathered from the investigation in a way that is clear and accessible to others.

Align the CX to the EX

FIGURE 3-5. View the CX and EX as a single ecosystem, with customers and employees as equal endpoints, communicating directly with one another or indirectly through an offering.

Backstage employees

64  Chapter 3: Employee Experience: Aligning Inside

Frontstage employees

Customers

Figure 3-5 shows a conceptual model for how the employee experience and the customer experience are connected through direct and indirect relationships. The point is that companies must necessarily be concerned with developing the infrastructure that supports experience, both inside and outside the organization. To be customer obsessed, you also have to be employee obsessed.

in a market, the customer experience is how people perceive it over time while interacting with a company. Likewise, while culture is the attitudes and beliefs of a company, the employee experience is the timeline of how employees live that culture from their customer obsessed, perspective while on the job.

To be you also have to be employee obsessed.

Brand leadership expert Denise Lee Yohn discusses the importance of this type of alignment. She points out that the biggest challenge in becoming a customer-centric company is creating a structure that enables customer centricity. Lee Yohn discusses CX through the lens of a brand, and relates EX to company culture. In her book Fusion she uses the metaphor of nuclear fusion, writing: When fused, the two nuclei create something entirely new. In the same way, you can unleash great power when you fuse together your organization’s two nuclei: your culture—the way people in your organization behave and the attitudes and beliefs that inform them (i.e., “the way we do things around here”)—and your brand or brand identity, how your organization is understood by customers and other stakeholders. I view the customer experience as the brand in action and the employee experience as the company culture in action. In other words, if the brand represents a company’s overall posture

Many companies have explicitly made the connection between CX and EX in the manner that Lee Yohn recommends. For instance, Southwest Airlines made this explicit in a blog post on its company culture: “Happy Employees=Happy Customers=Increased Business/Profits=Happy Shareholders! We believe that, if we treat our Employees right, they will treat our Customers right, and in turn that results in increased business and profits that make everyone happy.” Seema Jain, my colleague at MURAL, has taken practical steps to align the CX with the EX. Her approach is straightforward: map both in a single overview for a visual alignment of the two. Figure 3-6 shows a basic template for her approach. At the top is a very typical map of a customer journey, in pink. Below that, in blue-green, is a space to map the employee experience. The aim is to enumerate the key defining elements of the CX (actions, attitudes, and touchpoints) and correlate those to the aspects of the EX that support the experience (processes, team interactions, systems, and tools, as well as the employees’ attitudes and feelings).

Align the CX to the EX  65

In workshops with a range of stakeholders, she’s able to facilitate a strategic conversation on how to align the employee work to better support the desired outcomes on the customer experience side. Read more about her approach and view a completed example of the CX/EX alignment template in the case study at the end of the chapter.

It’s no easy task to design a holistic employee experience. Overall, many steps require commitment and perseverance. Some of the key considerations are how to build compassionate teams, how to manage journeys over time, and how to organize around experience—these themes are discussed in the following sections.

FIGURE 3-6. Using standard mapping techniques, it’s possible to visually align the CX and EX using a simple template.

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Build Compassionate Teams Empathy for customers is a starting point on the path to achieving customer centricity, but it’s not enough. The overall system of value creation must allow for compassion, or the ability to take action toward creating an ideal customer experience. For instance, looking at a broad employee journey—from before a person comes to a company and throughout their career development—you can explicitly consider how employees internalize the customer experience and become empowered to contribute to it. Consider some of these approaches to empowering employees to be customer obsessed across the employee journey: Recruiting Give your prospects a sense of what to expect even before they join your organization. Indicate your commitment to the customer experience up front by signaling what type of employee you are looking for. Foreshadow your desired CX culture in advance to ensure you get the right people. The very first contact people have with you—as early as coming across a job description—is part of their employee experience and can spark their interest in customer obsession.

Interviewing Ask prospects about their impression of the CX of your company during their job interview. For instance, you can ask about the experience they had interacting with your brand for the first time or how they might improve your customer experience. This can give insight into how they think about CX in general and how they may affect it in their role. Hiring Put language in your offer letters and other documents that strongly suggest a commitment to providing a worldclass customer experience. Reinforce your position about CX and the expectations you have of employees and indicate their responsibilities with regard to CX. Onboarding As new employees enter the company, show them early on how their experience at the company will empower them to take action to ensure an ideal customer experience. For instance, in his book The Year Without Pants, author Scott Berkun discusses his first days working at Automattic, the makers of WordPress. Every new employee there answers support tickets from customers. This not only gives them direct contact with customers, but also exposes them to the internal and external systems that provide the customer experience.

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Empowering work Build programs that expose all employees to customer insight. For instance, tax software giant Intuit has established a company-wide “follow me home” program that gets employees out of the building and observing customers at their places of work. In another example, Hyatt Hotels encourages employees to be themselves rather than using scripted texts when speaking to guests. They are encouraged to engage in a more authentic and empathic dialogue with customers. Career development and growth Anchor criteria for promotion and advancement in the organization around customer experience. Typically, monetary incentives permeate organizations like invisible girders, driving behaviors and actions from the top down. For instance, executives may have quarterly revenue goals that guide their strategies and actions. Instead, consider how incentives around the customer experience can be a motivating force. Explicitly reward people for their advances in creating a better CX through bonuses and career advancement.

The overall system of value creation must allow for compassion, or the ability to take action toward creating an ideal customer experience. 68  Chapter 3: Employee Experience: Aligning Inside

Living the brand values Design ways for employees to experience brand values themselves and to step into the shoes of customers as much as possible. For instance, Airbnb directly aligns the employee experience to its core brand identity: “belong anywhere.” Their flexible office design allows employees to move around and work from different desks and areas. They also promote remote working in a way that allows employees to collaborate from anywhere in the world. The “belong anywhere” workplace—both physical and virtual—allows employees to live the brand, reinforcing the desired customer experience. Of course, mapping helps provide insight into the employee experience in several ways. Three ways to leverage mapping for an overall improved employee experience are: 1. Workshop the employee experience as a team, internally. Creating a map is a great first step to designing a better employee experience. But to activate the insights from the diagram for management and HR teams, you’ll need to bring people together for a united effort. Hold a workshop to review the employee experience together and come to an agreement on action steps. You can use many of the techniques outlined in Chapter 8 to set up and run such a workshop. 2. Use maps of the experience to onboard new employees. During their initial introduction to the company, review existing experience maps with employees. Consider

reserving an entire day or more during onboarding to focus on customers and the customer experience. Use a map to not only describe the customer experience, but to engage new employees in thought exercises around how they impact the CX from their position in the company. 3. Make mapping a regular exercise to get employees into a customer-centric mindset. As I’ve said elsewhere in this book, it’s not about the map (the noun), it’s about the mapping (a verb). Involve employees in creating various maps regularly, perhaps once a quarter. Make sense of the customer experience together, for team building and for a rich employee experience (see Figure 3-7).

Organize Around Experience In his article “Dysfunctional Products Come from Dysfunctional Organizations,” design leader Jon Kolko points to bureaucracy, siloed functions, and a culture of defensiveness as the root causes of product failure. He concludes: If the process, culture, and day-to-day experience of the organization is chaotic or broken, we can start to predict that our customers are experiencing an equally broken product or service. … I’ve observed its validity in many products and companies. Of course, there are exceptions, but on the whole it seems true that bad products point to bad alignment. He recommends various activities—all of which can be seen as elements of an employee experience—to get teams aligned, such as regular team-building events and alignment workshops. Visual models, such as experience maps, play a particularly large role according to Kolko. More importantly, building models of the intended experience together aligns the understanding of those creating the customer experience. But trainings and workshops aren’t enough. They only superficially create an experiential mindset across the organization. Aligning teams inside-across for an ideal customer experience is a structural issue as well, and broad change management may be needed.

FIGURE 3-7. Make mapping a team activity at regular intervals for an engaging EX that puts people in contact with the customer experience.

Every company with more than a few employees has silos. Journey thinking requires cross-silo organization of work. Aligning the functions of your organization to aspects of the Align the CX to the EX  69

customer journey goes a long way toward creating an employee experience that directly supports the customer experience. It’s more than just symbolic: org charts that mirror the CX reinforce your commitment to a customer-centric ­company. This raises the question, who owns the customer experience of an organization? Ultimately, it’s the responsibility of the entire company. Teams labeled “Customer Experience” or similar are there to connect the dots, not to take the responsibility off of others. Their job is to enable and empower everyone in an organization to take care of the CX. If we agree that “everyone owns the customer experience,” or at least “everyone impacts the customer experience,” then

Experience

Organization

Become Aware

Find

Discovery

Content Design

Compare

Buy

Receive

Purchasing

Dev

Content Design

Diagrams of the customer journey provide the basis for this type of organization. They reveal a model to follow that mirrors the individual’s experience, and thus serve as a type of blueprint for your organization. This leads to a new way of seeing your offerings, which in turn fosters innovation.

Use

Follow Up

Success

Dev

Management Branding Platform & Systems FIGURE 3-8. Organize teams around the customer experience.

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how you organize is critical to providing a desired outcome. For instance, a previous client of mine at an ecommerce provider once introduced himself as a member of the Discovery group. He explained their job was to help people find the products they offered, regardless of channel or medium. They also had teams for Purchasing and Success. In other words, their organization mirrored the customer journey, not functional lines or technology types (Figure 3-8).

Content Design

Dev

What’s more, aligning to the customer experience can also guide goal setting and performance reviews. For instance, a team could use the phases of the customer journey to form monthly or quarterly OKRs (objectives and key results), or performance reviews could have target outcomes for a specific phase, such as increasing awareness or improving the findability of products or services. The organizing principle of a customer journey can appear throughout the organization.

If the customer experience matters, then you have to organize in a meaningful way to deliver it. For example, take how USAA, a financial services and insurance provider to military veterans in the US, organized around different “experiences.” Rather than focusing on functional capabilities and services, as they had previously (e.g., checking accounts, credit cards, auto loans, home loans), they shifted to more human-centered lines of business. Now there’s a “daily spending” owner responsible for parts of experiences across checking accounts and credit cards. In another example, a large publisher I once worked for took a similar approach. They first identified four logical divisions in their offerings that correlated to experiences they wanted to create, and then they organized offering teams around those. Though not embedded in the top-level org chart, the cross-functional teams came together to align around the intended customer experiences. Mapping informed this structure initially, which resonated with the market and also increased internal collaboration. Organizing around experience embeds customer centricity at a deep level. This is no easy task, but companies that are customer obsessed can make the shift, which ultimately allows them to outperform competitors. Anchoring experience at the foundational level of an organization creates a unique employee experience, pointing everyone in the same direction toward a better customer experience.

Manage Journeys Over Time One-off efforts are not enough. Driving customer experience through a better employee experience is an ongoing endeavor. Managing the customer journey needs to be done over time to provide insight into progress and how employee efforts measurably impact customers. The type of mapping advocated in this book in general centers on qualitative model creation and activation within teams. The aim is to instill empathy and to agree on opportunities and action plans moving forward. This is a core step in overall customer experience management, but it’s not enough to keep momentum toward an improved customer experience going. Active journey management takes a more dynamic view of the experience and brings it alive in the employee experience. The aim is to monitor the customer journey using live data as it happens and to monitor the CX as it unfolds. This requires much more than just mapping an experience—namely, integrating metrics into the journey, e.g., via a dashboard of some type. A range of tools and solutions allow for the integration of real-time data into a journey model for up-to-date insights into actual customer behavior. Current examples of such tools include BryterCX by ClickFox, Kitewheel, SuiteCX, TandemSeven, and Touchpoint Dashboard, to name just a few. These tools often have a range of functions, from modeling journeys to managing and orchestrating customer experiences Align the CX to the EX  71

over time. Many of them leverage maplike visualizations to help make sense of the analytics. For instance, Figure 3-9 shows an example of a dashboard that Kitewheel provides showing paths through an online service. Key indicators for the journey are shown at the top, with a view of the actual pathways through the website below. Journey management is part of the broader field of customer experience management, which seeks a controlled monitoring of interactions through each touchpoint. The objective is to deliver the right experience at the right time. The analysis can get quite complex and detailed.

For instance, the Qualtrics XM suite of tools offers real-time journey management capabilities. Figure 3-10 shows just one dashboard view from the XM Suite to report on the actual customer experience. As expected, artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in customer experience management. Ultimately, AI will allow for greater personalization of customer interactions. But regardless of the technologies involved, customer experience management begins with a deep understanding of the customer journey, and in most cases it’s rooted in research and visualized through customer journey mapping.

FIGURE 3-9. An example of a customer journey management dashboard by Kitewheel, reflecting live data and interactions with customers.

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Keep in mind that to gain a view into the live customer experience, inputs from across the organization are needed. CX is not a single department’s responsibility, and ongoing journey management breaks silos.

Installing a customer journey management program is a strategic endeavor requiring buy-in from teams across the organization and commitment from the top of the company. Broadly, there are five steps involved in monitoring customer journeys over time: 1. Define your vision of the end-to-end customer experience. This need not be an elaborate analysis. To keep it simple, define and agree on the core pillars of what you believe makes a great customer experience for your business. 2. Segment journeys by persona. Not everyone will have the same interactions with your offering. New customers are different from existing ones; buyers may be different from end users; partners will have a different experience than suppliers; and full-time employees are different from contractors. Decide on which categories of customers you want to track.

FIGURE 3-10. The Qualtrix XM suite is a powerful collection of tools for measuring both the customer experience and the employee experience in real time.

3. Identify key indicators for your customer experience. Defining the business metrics to measure experience is challenging. There may be a mix of qualitative and quantitative data points to consider that defy being combined into a single measure. Journey analytics is an approach to insights and measurement that examines customers’ behavior not just at individual touchpoints, but along the paths they take as they attempt to accomplish their goals and tasks.

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4. Connect data across channels. To implement journey analytics effectively, you’ll need a tech platform to aggregate data across multiple channels. Net Promoted Score (NPS), satisfaction survey results, customer effort scores, and usage metrics of many kinds are just some of the inputs into active journey management. In some cases, new data collection mechanisms may be needed—e.g., new customer surveys.

perspectives in an organization, helping reorient the company toward a customer experience imperative.

5. Orchestrate toward an ideal customer journey. Use the insights from monitoring the customer journey to make improvements and innovate the experience. Continue learning and improving as you make changes and adjustments. Journey management in an ongoing endeavor.

The message is clear: for companies to capture that competitive advantage and realize its value they must adopt “journey thinking.” When it comes to journey management and design, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. This mindset is driven through an employee experience that is aligned to the customer experience and managed as such over time. Focusing on CX without a plan to optimize the EX misses half of the target.

Have no doubt: designing a system to track the customer experience of an existing solution in real time is difficult, with many challenges and hurdles along the way. To execute at scale, you need the right data, the right governance, and the right operational model. You also need the right employees and the right employee experience surrounding your effort. To better make the CX come alive through the EX, customer experience leader and author Kerry Bodine advocates for a new role—the journey manager—to actively manage the customer experience over time.* She likens this role to that of a product manager, or someone who looks after the offering of a company. In this case, the offering is the experience. A journey manager is someone who brings together disparate * See Bodine’s report “The State of Journey Managers, 2018,” available at https://kerrybodine.com/product/journey-manager-report .

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Journey management is part science and part art, but has been shown to have an impactful ROI. CX management has been correlated to bottom-line increases. For instance, the top companies in Forrester’s Customer Experience Index™ had stronger stock price growth and greater returns than companies at the bottom of the list.

Summary The concept of EX is about the overall relationship employees have with an organization—the sum of their actions, thoughts, and feelings over time. It’s not enough to satisfy basic requirements of salary and benefits; these days, organizations also have to create a sense of purpose so people choose to contribute. As with customer experiences, the employee experience can be mapped for deeper understanding. Visualizing EX helps an organization find key opportunities for improvement. More

importantly, mapping helps a company align the CX to the EX. If you treat employees right, they will treat customers right, and your business will grow. If the customer experience is the brand in action, the employee experience is the company culture in action. Beyond mapping the EX to help encourage passionate employees, organizations can also organize around experience by forming teams that align to the customer experience. Managing journeys over time and bringing customer insight to employees on a regular basis then becomes imperative. Journey management tools and techniques help inject customer centricity throughout the organization. The bottom line is that to be customer obsessed, you also have to be employee obsessed.

Further Reading Denise Lee Yohn, Fusion (Brealey, 2018) Lee Yohn brings together decades of experience advising companies on both brand and culture. She makes a compelling argument for fusing the two, clearly demonstrating how competitive advantage is driven by a CX/EX alignment. Her website (https:// deniseleeyohn.com) includes a range of practical tools for assessment and for building world-class fused companies.

Jacob Morgan, The Employee Experience Advantage (Wiley, 2017) This book stands out in a crowded field of writings on employee experience. It’s well organized, easy to read, and, more importantly, thoroughly researched. Morgan presents his detailed findings from years of investigation in correlating EX to bottom-line business results. He also offers practical tips on how to create an ideal employee experience. B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore, The Experience Economy (Harvard Business School Press, 1999) This landmark book is an expansion of the authors’ Harvard Business Review article “Welcome to the Experience Economy.” At a macro level, they observe the shift from an earlier agrarian economy to the industrial economy, then past a service economy toward an experience-driven economy. Written with rigor and a wealth of supporting evidence, this book marks the beginning of an important shift that we are still striving to realize, in part by understanding experiences through mapping. Simon David Clatworthy, The Experience-Centric Organization (O’Reilly, 2019) Clatworthy distinguishes between being customer-centric and experience-centric, the latter being more holistic and incorporating internal culture. He offers a five-step maturity scale for becoming an experience-centric organization. This book is well researched and rigorous, but also approachable and practical. Align the CX to the EX  75

CASE STUDY

Aligning CX and EX for Strategy Building by Seema Jain Customer journey maps begin with the first point of contact, through purchase, and continue into a long-term relationship with a brand. However, if we focus on just the customer experience, we are missing half of the story. What traditional customer journey maps don’t show is what’s beneath the surface: the massive amounts of employee activity that go into creating a customer experience (see Figure 3-11). Evaluating both the customer and the employee sides provides a full picture critical to understanding the breadth and depth of the journey. Creating robust and effective journey maps requires cross-functional team input, including from customers. It is often challenging to bring together geographically dispersed teams and people, but 2020 has spurred a radical and involuntary shift to digital interaction—even before the coronavirus became a pandemic.  At MURAL, we’ve refined an approach of explicitly aligning the customer experience to the employee experience to find new opportunities. The process has four steps:

or emotion the journey evokes. Understanding and connecting with emotion is key to designing experiences that connect and resonate with customers. 2. Map the employee journey. We complete our map by going beneath the surface to understand the employee’s journey. We expose the internal workings of the organization, including the business processes, systems, tools, and cross-functional teams that facilitate and support the customer’s experience. 

Customer experience

Employee experience

1. Map the customer journey. Through customer research and surveying, begin by mapping step-by-step behavior across the holistic customer journey. Evaluate customer actions, key interactions, and what attitude

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FIGURE 3-11. The customer experience is the tip of the iceberg above the employee activity necessary to create that experience.

our internal teams and people to drive satisfaction, engagement, and retention. Figure 3-12 shows the visual alignment of the CX to the EX in a single diagram. In this case, the experience centers on the first part of the onboarding flow into MURAL.

FIGURE 3-12. Align the CX to the EX in a single diagram to find opportunities for improving both.  Case Study: Aligning CX and EX for Strategy Building  77

CASE STUDY

Inviting representatives from all customer-facing business functions to participate will uncover the day-to-day realities of employee functions and groups. When employees are frustrated or experiencing an issue, it often translates to the customer. It’s critical that we uncover these emotions to design experiences that connect with

CASE STUDY

3. Evaluate the journey map. By evaluating customer and employee emotions, we can begin to easily identify where moments of truth are occurring—that is, pivotal moments in the journey that leave lasting positive or negative impressions on customers and employees. This presents an opportunity to either fix an issue or capitalize on an opportunity to drive loyalty and advocacy.  Identifying moments of truth allows us to reframe the issue or opportunity as exploratory questions using the phrase “how might we” (HMW). HMW questions create an open space for new ideas and encourage us to collaborate with others to find the answers. They also keep us from jumping to one solution too quickly, shutting the door on exploration and innovation. 4. ‍Prioritize. At this point in our digital workshop, we usually have several HMW questions that serve as a springboard for successful ideation. We can narrow the focus by inviting participants to vote on the most compelling HMW question, reaching a democratic consensus on where to start. We‍use this approach in strategic workshops with our customers to define how we’ll work together for the next several years. Specifically, we’re able to identify the key levers on the employee experience side that will improve the customer experience. 

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For instance, at a recent workshop with a large life insurance company, this process revealed several issues in the employee journey related to an outsourced call center that was creating negative moments of truth in the customer journey. The comprehensive CX + EX journey map shone a light on the issues, resulting in the necessary buy-in and investment from executives to build internal capabilities to support customers through important life events. By improving the EX and making operations at that point more streamlined and pleasant for everyone involved, we created a lift in the CX that ultimately improved customer retention. Our customers have said of the process, “I didn’t realize how much there is to do internally. Your approach helps us get a strong direction on addressing our toughest customer experience challenges.” Employee satisfaction is the leading indicator of customer experience—simply put, if your employees are happy and engaged, they will create better experiences, which translates to ­happier ­customers. About the Contributor Seema Jain is an experienced design and strategy leader, passionate about the intersection of design thinking with business outcomes. She is currently head of solution design at MURAL, partnering with organizations to bring measurable human-centered design to scale through high-impact digital collaboration solutions. Seema is a Design Thinking Practitioner certified by the LUMA Institute and IBM.

Diagram and Image Credits Figure 3-2: Employee experience map created by UXPressia ( uxpressia.com ), used with permission Figure 3-3: Day-in-the-life employee experience diagram created by Chris McGrath, Tangowork: Consultants for Digital Transformation ( tangowork. com ), used with permission Figure 3-4: Employee experience map based on a template created by Rafa Vivas, creative director at XPLANE ( xplane.com ), used with permission Figure 3-6: CX/EX alignment template by Seema Jain, used with permission Figure 3-7: Photo by Martin Ramsin, cofounder and CEO of CareerFoundry ( careerfoundry.com ), used with permission Figure 3-9: Screenshot of Kitewheel, taken from kitewheel.com Figure 3-10: Qualtrics XM suite screenshot, taken from qualtrics.com Figure 3-12: CX/EX alignment diagram created by Seema Jain and Emilia Åström in MURAL, used with permission

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“There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer.” —Peter Drucker The Practice of Management (1954)

IN THIS CHAPTER ■

A new way of seeing

■

Reframing competition, creating shared value

■

Reimagining value delivery, organizing for innovation

■

Visualizing strategy

■

Case study: Identifying opportunities—combining mental model diagrams and jobs to be done

CHAPTER 4

Visualizing Strategic Insight A number of years ago, I facilitated a multiday strategy workshop at the company I was working for. During dinner the director of sales explained his perspective on the workshop’s purpose: “We have to figure out how to get customers for all they are worth.” He gestured as if wringing a towel. “If the towel gets dry, you have to squeeze harder. A good leader knows how to do that, and a good strategy makes it easier.”

Take Kodak. The film giant dominated the market for over a century, but filed for bankruptcy in 2012. Many people believe that Kodak failed because it missed out on digital camera technology. This is not true. In fact, Kodak invented the first digital camera in 1975 and had one of largest holdings of digital camera patents.

He was serious. I was horrified. Our markets are not people “out there” that we shake down for loose change. Customers are our most valuable assets, I thought. We should strive to learn from them so that we can provide better products and services.

Kodak failed because it had the myopic view that it was in the film business instead of the storytelling business. Leaders feared digital technology would cannibalize profits. They believed they could protect their existing business through marketing and sales. It was nearsightedness in strategy, not technology, that led to Kodak’s downfall.

The director’s perspective was shortsighted. He believed the sole purpose of our business was getting more sales. That may be fine in the short term, but ultimately this narrow perspective leads to failure.

Successful organizations continuously innovate and expand their horizons. Incremental improvements are not enough. Technical R&D is not enough. Instead, they grow by questioning the value they create.

Companies frequently don’t realize that as a business grows, it must also widen its strategic field of vision. I call this misstep strategy myopia. It happens time and time again: organizations ultimately don’t know what business they are really in.

Diagrams of experiences offer a type of insight that is often overlooked in strategy creation: a view from the customer’s perspective.

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This chapter shows how mapping experiences can contribute missing strategic insight and ultimately serve as a corrective lens for strategy myopia. That was the focus of my workshop with the sales director. Together, we started to overcome our strategy myopia. The chapter concludes with a review of some complementary techniques that extend experience mapping in order to better visualize strategy. By the end of it, you should get a sense of how diagrams broaden your field of vision.

A New Way of Seeing The context of business has changed over the last few decades. Consumers have real power: they have access to prices, product information, and alternative providers around

Manufacturer

Supplier

Seller

Consumer

the world. Traditional approaches to sales—wringing a market for what it’s worth—do not work anymore for sustained growth. Instead, organizations need to reverse their thinking. Renowned business leader Ram Charan, for one, urges companies to invert the traditional sales perspective. In his book What the Customer Wants You to Know, he illustrates a flow of value insight opposite to traditional approaches (Figure 4-1). Insight about users is not a nuisance, it’s a strategic opportunity. The objective is not a push, it’s a pull. You don’t sell products, you buy customers. This idea runs contrary to typical strategic decision making, but it is not new. As early as 1960, renowned Harvard Business professor Theodore Levitt discussed the importance of focusing on human needs first. In his influential article “Marketing Myopia,”* Levitt writes: An industry begins with the customer and his needs, not with a patent, a raw material, or a selling skill. Given the customer’s needs, the industry develops backwards, first concerning itself with the physical delivery of customer satisfaction. Then it moves back further to creating the things by which these satisfactions are in part achieved.

Old way of seeing value flow New way for value insight FIGURE 4-1. Understanding value from the consumer’s perspective reverses the flow of insight.

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* Many of the themes and ideas in this chapter were directly derived from Levitt’s landmark article, including the term strategy myopia. The article is still relevant and highly recommended.

Consider the failure of the railroad industry in the US, a favorite example of Levitt. During their heyday at the beginning of the 20th century, railroads were extremely profitable and attractive to Wall Street investors. No one in that business could have imagined its demise just a few decades later. But railroads didn’t stop growing in the middle of the century because of competition from the technologies of cars, trucks, planes, and even telephones. They stopped growing because they let rivals take their customers. The railroad companies’ intense focus on their own products led to strategy myopia: they saw themselves as in the railroad business rather than the transportation business.

The insight that proved most striking was that passengers did not take their seats on the train until stage eight—most of the experience of train travel, in other words, did not involve the train at all. The team reasoned that every one of the prior steps was an opportunity to create a positive interaction, opportunities that would have been overlooked if they had focused only on the design of the seats. Alignment diagrams are a type of tool that points to such new opportunities. They visually align a description of the individual’s experience with the offerings of an organization.

Consider the opportunities highlighted at the bottom of the Rail Though no panacea, mapping Successful organizations experiences provides insight that continuously innovate and expand Europe diagram created by Chris Risdon that I showed earlier in the helps expand the strategic apertheir horizons. They grow by book (see Figure 1-5 in Chapter ture. For example, Tim Brown, questioning the value they create. 1). Some opportunities suggest CEO of IDEO, describes his comtactical solutions, but overall they pany’s work with Amtrak in his go beyond that to point to larger, strategic options. Should book Change by Design. His firm was brought in to redesign the company become a provider of travel information? Should the seats of the Acela trains. The goal was to make the travel they integrate with retailers and ecommerce partners? How experience more pleasurable. can they reinvent support or the ticketing experience? This Rather than diving into the seat redesign, however, the team strategic insight is directly tied to the actual experience of first mapped an end-to-end journey around train travel. They train travel and shown in context in the diagram. identified about 12 unique stages in the experience, which led In this sense, alignment diagrams offer a new way of seeing your to different conclusions about their focus and how to improve markets, your organization, and your strategy—from the outside the travel experience. Brown writes: in rather than from the inside out. Logically, they are most effective at the initial stages of providing a service (Figure 4-2). A New Way of Seeing  83

I believe the process of mapping helps correct strategy myopia. In my experience, the resulting diagrams invariably show a much broader picture of customer needs than a business currently addresses. But expanding your strategic field of vision requires change. The organization as a whole must adapt to a new mindset. In particular, there are three aspects involved: • Reframing competition • Creating shared value • Reimagining value delivery The next sections describe these aspects and how mapping experiences can play a role in each.

Strategy

Design

Develop

Deliver

Alignment Diagrams FIGURE 4-2. Alignment diagrams provide insight from the outside in and are best created up front to inform strategic decision making.

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Reframe Competition Traditionally, firms categorize customers by demographic or psychographic attributes (age, income, race, marital status, etc.), or they look at purchasing behavior or company size. In doing so, managers create categories that don’t match their actual customers’ needs and motivations. People typically don’t buy products because of their age or income. A one-size-fits-all approach inevitably fails, causing managers to reshuffle their demographic categories arbitrarily. An alternative model sees the market from the customer’s perspective. Put simply, people buy products to get a job done. The outcomes people seek, not the customers themselves, are the primary dimension for meaningful segmentation (Figure 4-3). Recalling Levitt, Clayton Christensen and coauthors Scott Cook and Taddy Hall point to the failure of traditional segmentation practices. In their article “Marketing Malpractice,” they write: The prevailing methods of segmentation that budding managers learn in business schools and then practice in the marketing departments of good companies are actually a key reason that new product innovation has become a gamble in which the odds of winning are horrifyingly low.

There is a better way to think about market segmentation and new product innovation. The structure of a market, seen from the customers’ point of view, is very simple: They just need to get things done, as Ted Levitt said. When people find themselves needing to get a job done, they essentially hire products to do that job for them.

Shifting your perspective on segmentation reframes the competition. The job, not the industry or category as defined by analysts, determines competition in the mind of the user. You don’t compete against products and services in your category: you compete against anything that gets the job done from the user’s point of view.

Desired Outcome 1: e.g., maximize privacy

Desired Outcome 3: e.g., ensure reliability

Annual Spend

Desired Outcome 2: e.g., reduce usage time

Company Size Purchase Behavior

Subscription

Transactional

FIGURE 4-3. Typical segmentation focuses on demographic and behavioral dimensions (left) instead of desired outcomes (right).

A New Way of Seeing  85

For instance, Scott Cook, founder of the tax software giant Intuit, once said: The greatest competitor [in tax software] … was not in the industry. It was the pencil. The pencil is a tough and resilient substitute. Yet the entire industry had overlooked it.*

After visualizing competing solutions across the entire experience, I found barristers were as likely to do legal research at libraries or with free online resources as with our flagship database. This was eye-opening for stakeholders. The diagrams clearly illustrated how and where our product contended with different services.

Business leader Rita Gunther McGrath believes markets should Think about it: when you’re preparing a tax return, making be seen in terms of what she calls arenas. Arenas are chara quick calculation on a pad of paper is a natural action and acterized by the experiences hard to improve on. Cook knew people have and their connechis software not only needed to Insight about users is not a nuisance, tion to a provider. She writes in outperform other tax software it’s a strategic opportunity. her bestselling book The End of packages, it also needed to Competitive Advantage: be more effective than and as The driver of categorization will in all likelihood be simple to use as a pencil. Seen this way, tax software comthe outcomes that particular customers seek (“jobs to petes with pencils and anything else that gets the job done. be done”) and the alternative ways those outcomes Diagrams can be used to track alternative means of getting might be met. This is vital because the most substantial a job done. For example, Figure 4-4 is an excerpt from a diathreats to a given advantage are likely to arise from a gram detailing the workflow of barristers in Australia. It was peripheral or nonobvious location. part of a research effort I led while at LexisNexis, a leading Diagrams of experiences challenge assumptions of who your provider of legal information. The bottom row shows how we competition really is. They reflect the needs of individuals and mapped different ways of getting work done (in gray) to the illustrate the broader experience in which they are relevant. steps in the workflow. This in turn enables you to see the market from the perspective of the customer, not by synthetic segmentation and traditional industry categorization.

* Quoted in Scott Berkun’s book The Myths of Innovation.

86  Chapter 4: Visualizing Strategic Insight

of g ls to TER

Particularly critical for juniors and sole practitioners

All facts, evidence and points of law to date

Access to additional resources

BARRISTER Uses Additional Resources N finds nds is to TER print)

earch

BARRISTER goes to Bar library or court library

BARRISTER searches online at Bar or court library

BARRISTER requests SOLICITOR to get documents

BARRISTER borrows resource from other BARRISTER’S office

BARRISTER Forms Initial Opinion BARRISTER extracts passages from legislation, commentary and cases for inclusion in documents

BARRISTER examines weakness of arguments on both sides

Does the evidence satisfy the points of law?

A formalised legal opinion of case, taking all facts, evidence and legal issues into account

Supplemental legal research

Any other LN research resource: journals, niche products, lexis.com, URJ, intl. content

BARRISTER examines weakness of arguments on both sides

University library resources General, open access online resources

LNAU LNNZ

Brookers, CCH, Thomson, Austlii, Parliamentary sites

FIGURE 4-4. This section of a diagram shows a barrister’s workflow. The elements at the bottom indicate the organization’s solutions (in orange) and competing solutions (in gray).

A New Way of Seeing  87

Create Shared Value After World War II, US corporations assumed a general retain-and-reinvest approach to strategy. They put earnings back into the company, benefiting employees and making the firm more competitive. This gave way to a downsize-and-distribute posture in the 1970s. Reducing costs and maximizing financial returns, particularly for shareholders, became a priority. The widely held economic policy belief was that profit is good for society: the more companies can earn, the better off we all are. This policy has not made America more prosperous.* As a whole, we are not better off. Since the ’70s, American workers have been working more and making less. At the same time, shareholder value in the form of dividends and CEO wages has experienced a massive upturn. As a result, trust in corporations is at an all-time low. Businesses are increasingly blamed for many social, environmental, and economic problems in general. The good news is that the balance is changing, and we are witnessing a shift from shareholder value to shared value. For example, the Business Roundtable, an association made up of the CEOs of major US companies, released in 2019 a new statement on the purpose of a corporation that moved away from serving shareholders only. Signed by nearly two hundred

* For more on the adverse effects of maximizing shareholder value on society, see William Lazonick’s critical article “Profits Without Prosperity,” Harvard Business Review (Sep 2014).

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CEOs, the statement described the group’s commitment to serving “all stakeholders,” including customers, employees, suppliers, and communities.† In his landmark article “Creating Shared Value,” strategy thought leader Michael Porter recognizes a tipping point in business: no longer can companies operate at the expense of the markets they serve. He writes: A big part of the problem lies with companies themselves, which remain trapped in an outdated approach to value creation that has emerged over the past few decades. They continue to view value creation narrowly, optimizing short-term financial performance in a bubble while missing the most important customer needs and ignoring the broader influences that determine their longer-term success. Shared value directly links revenue to creating social benefit, which in turn provides a competitive advantage back to the organization. It’s a win-win approach. Shared value goes beyond social responsibility. It touches the heart of an organization’s strategy. The aim of shared value is to make every time a customer interacts with a company also create value for society. There are three ways of thinking about shared value strategically:

† See the Business Roundtable commitment at https://opportunity.businessroundtable.org/ourcommitment .

Reconceive your offering. For example, Skype launched a program called “Skype in the Classroom” that enables teachers to collaborate with other instructors around the world and design different learning experiences for their students. In other words, Skype is not only in the videoconferencing business, they provide educational collaboration opportunities for customers. Innovate how products and services are produced.

The notion of shared value means that an organization needs to conceive its value proposition in a way that takes many perspectives into account. Chief among these is a deep understanding of human needs. For instance, in a video interview Porter advises: Figure out what your product is and what your value chain is. Understand where those things touch important social needs and problems. If you’re in financial services, let’s think about “saving” or “buying a home”—but in a way that actually works for the consumer.

In 2009, for example, Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) introduced the GreenEngage program to address the Now consider Figure 4-5, a diagram of buying a home created group’s environmental footprint. To date, they’ve achieved by Sofia Hussain, a leading digital strategist in Norway. It energy savings of about 25%, and IHG differentiates itself shows the services of a fictitious home-listwith this program to customers. In ings company in the inner circle, labeled other words, IHG is not just a proWe are witnessing a inside activities. The activities of the user— vider of hotel rooms, they are in the shift from shareholder the outside activities—are listed in the business of creating environmentally value to shared value. bigger circle. Also included are touchpoint conscious communities. types, illustrated with small icons. Collaborate with partners in new ways. In her article “Designing Digital Strategies, Part 2,” Hussain Nestlé, for example, worked closely with dairy farmers in suggests a strategic scenario for the company: they want to India, investing in technology to build competitive milk expand their business with services that address more cussupply systems. These simultaneously generated social tomer needs in this domain. The intent is to move away from benefits through improved health care. In other words, a business for buying a home and moving to one that helps Nestlé doesn’t just produce food products, they are in the people settle into a new home. This diagram can be used to nutrition business. illustrate how that expansion fits into the overall experience from the customer’s perspective.

A New Way of Seeing  89

FIGURE 4-5. This map created by Sofia Hussain illustrates the experience of “buying a home.”

90  Chapter 4: Visualizing Strategic Insight

But shared value goes one step further than increasing services or moving into a playing field. It requires the company to ask how it might also create social benefit. For example, in this case the company might promote healthier lifestyles by coordinating home listings with information about neighborhood walkability. In the map in Figure 4-5, services around selecting a neighborhood and finding a new home are points of interaction where presenting walkability information makes sense—but thanks to the potential cost savings, it could also be included in determining what you can afford. Perhaps the system could show how much money could be saved by reducing gas expenses or getting rid of a car altogether. With shared value in mind, the strategic aspiration of the company becomes even broader: it’s about more than just buying a home or even settling into a home; it’s about creating a healthier, environmentally friendly lifestyle when buying a new home.

Reimagine Value Delivery As the size of computer chips gets smaller and smaller, it becomes increasingly more feasible to embed processing power into common objects. Once fitted with a microcontroller, physical products can connect to the internet. Dubbed the Internet of Things (IoT), the resulting network of smart connected devices expands the possibilities for delivering value. Google’s Nest ecosystem, for example, is one of the most extensive smart home services available today (Figure 4-6), connecting speakers, thermostats, smoke detectors, routers, doorbells, cameras, and locks. In this environment, the design of any one component becomes more challenging. An explicit awareness of the broader system must also be considered. A firm grasp of this ecosystem comes from visualizing it, not only from a device and connectivity standpoint, but from an experiential perspective.

As the lines between physical and digital solution design blur, Diagrams help us think through the interactions and customer an understanding of how services meet the needs of individneeds in a holistic way—recalling Porter, they view the offeruals is more and more imperative. There’s a progression from ing in a way that actually works for the consumer. Finding shared business value relies on such examinations of the overall human experience, and visualizations help FIGURE 4-6. The Google Nest ecosystem of connected devices includes a range of options that can be combined and used us find opportunities. in an infinite number of ways.

A New Way of Seeing  91

individual products to connected solutions to solutions that fit into an ecosystem. Part of the value that organizations deliver, then, is how their offerings integrate with others (Figure 4-7). For example, the design consultancy Claro Partners previously developed a straightforward approach for mapping the various elements in an IoT system. They created a series of cards for the different aspects typically involved. Teams fill out cards and then arrange them into a diagram of the ecosystem. Figure 4-8 shows an example of the resulting map, in this case for the Nike FuelBand. It reveals important interdependencies in the experience, such as a relationship between FuelBand users as well as a connection between physical devices, software, and data services.

Product

Smart & connected product

IoT doesn’t just make it harder to conceive and design new products. It fundamentally changes strategy. Your service will inevitably be part of a system of services. Diagrams help you understand the complexities and interrelationships involved. Success is determined by how well services fit with one another and, more importantly, how well they fit into people’s lives.

Recipes online

Other appliances Home heating & cooling

Product

Household management system Maintenance & repair Home food delivery

FIGURE 4-7. As products become smart and connected, they fit into an ecosystem of services.

92  Chapter 4: Visualizing Strategic Insight

Service ecosystem

FIGURE 4-8. A simple diagram of an ecosystem shows connected services created by Claro Partners.

A New Way of Seeing  93

Mapping Strategy Strategy is typically created behind closed doors at the top levels of an organization. Leaders then reveal the strategy to the rest of the organization, usually as a PowerPoint presentation, and employees are expected to “get it” and somehow be able to magically align their work to the strategy. But when things go wrong later on, these same leaders blame the failure on poor execution. They overlook the fact that strategy and execution are related: a brilliant strategy that can’t be implemented isn’t brilliant. Poor communication is only part of the problem. How strategy gets created also matters. The process must overcome gaps in understanding across the entire organization. Otherwise, the realization of strategic intent has no chance. Business consultant and author Nilofer Merchant has observed a disconnect between the top and bottom layers in many organizations. She describes it as an “Air Sandwich” in her book The New How. Merchant explains: An Air Sandwich is, in effect, a strategy that has a clear vision and future direction on the top layer, dayto-day action on the bottom, and virtually nothing in the middle—no meaty key decisions that connect the two layers, no rich chewy center filling to align the new direction with the new actions within the company.

94  Chapter 4: Visualizing Strategic Insight

To address the Air Sandwich, companies should view strategy creation as an inclusive endeavor. But the traditional tools of strategy creation only confound the situation. Words are abstract and open to interpretation. Documents bewilder and confuse. Emails and communications are unintelligible by those who must implement a strategy. Diagrams are an antidote. They open up strategy for broader involvement across an organization and increase general comprehension. The next sections describe several tools that complement alignment diagrams. They all seek to visualize strategy or parts of it. These include strategy maps, the strategy canvas, the strategy blueprint, and the business model canvas and value proposition canvas. Diagrams of experiences plug in to these techniques, informing customer-related aspects.

Strategy Map A strategy map represents an organization’s entire strategy on a single sheet of paper. The technique was made popular by veteran business consultants Robert Kaplan and David Norton in their book Strategy Maps. This approach emerged from research and years of experience consulting with client companies and is part of their earlier framework called the balanced scorecard. Figure 4-9 shows an example of a generic strategy map. Each row represents objectives from one of four strategic perspectives:

Mission

Managing with greatness and strength, improving everything daily

Vision

Leading with inspiration and courage, passionate about future possibility and change

Sustained Shareholder Value

Financial Perspective

Improve Cost Structure

Customer Perspective

Revenue Growth Strategy

Productivity Strategy Increase Asset Utilisation

Enhance Customer Value

Customer Value Proposition Price

Quality

Availability

Selection

Function

Service

Production Service Attributes

Internal Perspective

Learning & Growth Perspective

Expand Revenue Opportunities

Partnership

Relationship

Brand

Image

Operations Management Processes

Customer Management Processes

Innovative Processes

Regulatory and Social Processes

Processes that produce and deliver products and services

Processes that enhance customer value

Processes that create new products and services

Processes that improve communities and the environment

Human Capital

Information Capital

Organisational Capital

Skills Training Knowledge

Systems Databases Networks

Skills/Training Knowledge Teamwork

FIGURE 4-9. A generic strategy map shows the hierarchy of relationships between objectives.

Mapping Strategy  95

Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis. Financial

Improve Profitability

Customer

Create Customer Value Provide Extreme Gear

Internal Process

Increase Market Share

Grow Revenue

Improve Efficiency

Environmental Goodwill

Protect our Clients

Solve their Problems

Inspire Innovation

Fight to Save Community Reduce Impact & Footprint

Understand the Customer Operational Excellence

Learning & Growth

Create Lifetime Employees

Customer Intimacy

Product Leadership

Maintain Patagonia Culture

Environment Stewardship

Enable Technology

FIGURE 4-10. An example of a strategy map for the sporting goods company Patagonia shows their focus on environmental goodwill.

96  Chapter 4: Visualizing Strategic Insight

Learning and growth of employees This perspective outlines the knowledge, skills, and systems that the organization needs in order to deliver the intended value. Internal processes Goals at this level reflect the capabilities and efficiencies of the organization as a whole. Customers This perspective represents the value proposition. Here, alignment diagrams reveal what customers actually perceive as valuable. Financials These are the top-level objectives centered on the value captured by the organization in terms of financial gains.

The center of this example shows how Patagonia intends to create customer value. A key internal process is indicated as solve their (i.e., customer) problems, which is linked to two aspects: provide extreme gear and protect our clients. Alignment diagrams foster the types of conversations needed to arrive at these problems to solve. Strategy maps provide a balanced view of the interlocking set of strategic choices an organization makes. They illustrate the relationships in objectives and allow others to see how their activities fit into the strategic whole.

Strategy Canvas The strategy canvas is a visual tool to both diagnose existing strategies and build alternative ones. It was developed by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne around 2000 and featured in their groundbreaking book Blue Ocean Strategy. Figure 4-11 shows an example strategy canvas for Southwest Airlines.

The resulting map is more than just a list of goals. The map connects the objectives to show causality. From this standpoint, strategy Diagrams open up strategy for is a series of IF-THEN statements, as broader involvement across Kaplan and Norton point out.

Across the bottom are the primary factors of competition. These are aspects that create value for customers and the dimensions along which an organization and increase Consider a simple example strategy firms compete. The vertical axis general comprehension. map for Patagonia (in Figure 4-10), indicates relative performance for created by Michael Ensley, a business each factor, from low to high. This consultant with PureStone Partners. Environmental goodwill is arrangement reveals a picture of how several organizations a key strategic objective prominent in the diagram. Anchoring create value compared to one another. it here makes it visible to everyone else in the organization. A strategy canvas reflects the key dynamic in the blue ocean strategy approach. Red oceans, Kim and Mauborgne explain, Mapping Strategy  97

represent fierce competition among existing industries in a given domain. As the space gets crowded, market share for each organization dwindles, and the waters become bloody.

The process for creating a strategy canvas involves the following steps: 1. Determine factors of value creation. It may be easy to come up with dozens of potential factors. The key is to focus on the most important ones. This is where alignment diagrams come in: they help identify these factors. They show what problems the organization has and how value is perceived from its perspective.

Blue oceans represent uncontested market space. Demand is created rather than fought over. Their advice is clear: don’t directly compete with rivals. Instead, make them irrelevant. To do this you must make hard tradeoffs. Southwest chooses not to compete along the traditional factors of airline service. Instead, it focuses on frequent departures from smaller airports. In doing so, Southwest competes with car travel: customers who might otherwise have driven between two cities may now consider flying with Southwest instead. The Strategy Canvas of the Short Haul Airline Industry

Car

Southwest

2. Determine competitor types. The trick is to select a limited set of representative competitors. Three is ideal. Including more than four competitors reduces the impact of the resulting diagram greatly. Us

Other Airlines

High

Them

Other

10 8

Offerings

6 4 2 0

Low Price

Meals

Lounges Seating Hub Friendly Speed Frequent Choices Connectivity Service Departures

FIGURE 4-11. An example of a strategy canvas for Southwest Airlines reveals competitive differentiators.

98  Chapter 4: Visualizing Strategic Insight

Become Aware

Purchase

Initiate

Use

Extend/ Renew

Support

FIGURE 4-12. An example of an experience-based strategy canvas comparing types of experiences.

3. Rate performance for each factor. Typically this is estimated on a relative scale of low to high. It’s also possible to get empirical evidence for each rating, such as through a survey.

what would need to be true for people to use our online content solutions—labeled “New Online Experience” in the diagram—more. From this visualization, it became clear to the team what to focus on. People in our market needed to annotate documents and compare sources, and they needed help with navigating that was better than what current online content solutions were offering.

An alternative approach to determining the factors of value creation is to focus on types of experiences individuals have. For instance, from a customer journey map you may have identified half a dozen or so phases of interaction (e.g., becoming aware, purchasing, initiating the service, using the service, extending and renewing, and getting support). For each you can evaluate how competing High services perform, comparing your solution to your main competitor’s and others (see Figure 4-12).

dat e in form Incr atio eas e ab n ility Ens to s ure ear com ch pre hen s i ven M ax ess imi M ax ze p imi o r tab ze p ility erce Nav ived igat a uth e in orit form y a t i o Allo n wit wd h ea ocu se men Ena t co ble m p wor aris kflo on wo rga niza Incr tion eas e ab i l i t y to Incr eas sc an e ea se o f re adin g Ann ota te e asil y

Low

-to-

On a graph, shown in Figure 4-13, we showed how the solutions compared in terms of meeting or not meeting each need. We then hypothesized about

Printed resources

ure up

It’s also possible to use the strategy canvas to compare the capabilities of specific solutions. For instance, while previously working for a content provider, my team wanted to understand why people preferred print resources over digital resources. After interviewing dozens of customers, we found a set of needs that reflected the difference.

New online experience

Delivery on user need

Ens

This approach may not help you find a blue ocean per se, but provides valuable insight and an experience-based view of the strategic landscape.

Electronic resources

User need FIGURE 4-13. A graph can help compare advantages based on needs. Mapping Strategy  99

Strategy Blueprint Strategy is difficult to define precisely. On the one hand, it gets confused with analysis. This includes everything from market size to technical assessments to financial prognosis. The result is often reports that fill up dozens of pages. On the other hand, strategy gets conflated with planning. You’ve probably witnessed annual strategy retreats in your organization, where leaders spend several days forging plans for the upcoming year. They then emerge from seclusion with detailed roadmaps and financial plans that quickly become obsolete. Analysis and planning, while necessary inputs and outputs in the strategy creation process, are not the core of strategy. You can’t analyze your way to strategy—the answers don’t magically emerge from data—and detailed roadmaps don’t provide the rationale for the activity they organize. Strategy does (see Figure 4-14).

Analysis

Strategy is about devising the optimal way to overcome challenges to reach a desired position. It is a creative endeavor, not based on analysis and planning alone. Strategy represents the logic that connects analysis and planning. Ultimately, it’s how your organization makes sense of its actions and decisions over time. I developed the strategy blueprint as a tool to visualize this central strategic rationale.* It uses a canvas format to help visualize the relationships between elements of the strategy. Figure 4-15 shows an example of a completed strategy blueprint. In this case, it reflects the strategy of a fictitious company: Einstein Media Company, a publisher of scientific journals, books, and information. The company has led the industry for nearly one hundred years, and scientists around the world trust its brand name. The elements in the strategy blueprint are based on research in the field. First, it borrows from Henry Mintzberg’s “five Ps of strategy,” introduced in 1987† and later elaborated on in the book Strategy Safari. These are combined with Roger Martin and A.G. Lafley’s “five questions of strategy” from their book Playing to Win. (Both books are highly recommended.)

Strategy

Planning

FIGURE 4-14. Strategy provides logic between analysis and planning.

* You can download a PDF of the strategy blueprint from my blog: https://experiencinginformation.com/2015/10/12/strategy-blueprint . † Henry Mintzberg, “The Strategy Concept I: Five Ps for Strategy,” California Management Review (Fall 1987).

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Strategy Blueprint Challenges

What problems are you trying to solve? What obstacles must you overcome?

Aspirations

What are the ideal desired outcomes? What do you want to achieve?

vent Rein tific n e i sc g to ishin publ intain a m rship leade Cont ribut e to sci disco entific very progr and ess

Losing customers e to alternativ resources, e.g., online s communitie

Declinin g revenue disrupti due to on fr low-cost om free play & ers

Focus Areas

What is the scope of the strategy? What will you focus on for the most impact?

Global Markets

Main customers = research institutions

Online channels

Social media

Guiding Principles

How will you overcome the challenges? What specific mantras will guide teams?

Activities

What types of activities solve the problems? What capabilities achieve your aspirations?

age Lever to scale win

Preserve and strengthen authoritative NAME

Acquire companies and new capabilities

Innovate business model

Refresh brand, appear more modern

Build expertise in social media and community platforms

Outcomes

What metrics will be used to gauge success? What types of measurements will you employ?

FIGURE 4-15. The strategy blueprint reveals the key logic of strategy, in this case for the fictitious Einstein Media Company.

Incre a profi se t

Improve retention

Measure contribution to scientific breakthroughs Jim Kalbach, CC BY-SA 4.0

Mapping Strategy  101

Table 4-1 summarizes and aligns these two existing frameworks. The last column reveals their thematic intersection, yielding six common elements of strategy. Each element is given a box in the blueprint. They are: • Challenges. Strategy implies the need for change, a desire to move from point A to point B. What are the hurdles to doing so? What opposing forces must you overcome to be able to reach your goals? • Aspirations. What kind of organization do you aspire to be? What do you want for your customers and for society? • Focus areas. Setting a scope for your strategy helps you concentrate effort on the things that matter most. Who will you serve? What regions will you play in? Which jobs to be done will you target? • Guiding principles. These are the pillars of the strategy that you believe will enable you to overcome the challenges you face. What mantras will unite teams and unify decision making? • Activities. What types of activities are needed to implement the strategy and achieve your aspirations? Note that this is not about making a roadmap or plans, but rather identifying the skills and capabilities you’ll ultimately need. • Outcomes. How will you know your strategy is on track? How can you show progress and success?

102  Chapter 4: Visualizing Strategic Insight

Building strategy is a creative endeavor. The strategy blueprint allows you to explore options with no initial risk. Try alternatives, cross items off, rework ideas, and start over again. The blueprint helps you design your strategy. Use it in briefings, in workshops, or as a reference document. There is no prescribed order for completing the blueprint. Typically, it’s best to start with the challenges and aspirations. After that you may find yourself moving freely between the boxes. You can do this individually at first and then aggregate the results in a master version of the blueprint, or you can work on one copy of the blueprint at the same time collectively. The blueprint helps you see all the moving parts of strategy at once, making it tangible and inclusive to others. I recommend creating a simple one- or two-page document that outlines the main the points you generated during the exercise to capture the strategy in words and in a format that can be easily shared with others.

TABLE 4-1. The intersection of existing frameworks gives rise to the six elements of the strategy blueprint. Lafley and Martin

Mintzberg

Elements of strategy

Pattern

What challenges motivate you?

What is your winning aspiration?

Position

What are your aspirations?

Where will you play?

Perspective

What will you focus on?

How will you win?

Ploy

What are your guiding principles?

What capabilities are needed?

Plan

What types of activities are needed?

How will you manage strategy?

How will you measure success?

Business Model Canvas The business model canvas is a strategic management tool that helps business owners and stakeholders discover different business models. Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur first introduced it in their book Business Model Generation. It has become very popular since then.

pany, Dow Corning. It is based on the article “Dow Corning’s Big Pricing Gamble,” by Loren Gary. The green notes represent Dow Corning’s core business. The orange notes show the Xiameter model. Interestingly, Xiameter seems to have had an effect on the core business model, according to the article. These aspects are shown in blue notes.

The nine boxes of the canvas represent the key components of a business model (Figure 4-16). There is logic to their The Business Model Canvas arrangement. The boxes Key Partners Key Activities on the right represent market-facing aspects, called the front stage. On the left are the backstage elements of a business model—the internal business processes. The visual Key Resources format of a canvas promotes exploration. You can quickly try out alternative models and evaluate them before making a commitment in any Cost Structure one direction. It allows you to apply creativity to business decisions. Figure 4-17 shows a visualization of the business model for the silicon provider Xiameter compared to its parent com-

Designed for:

Designed by:

Value Propositions

Customer Relationships

Date:

Version:

Customer Segments

Channels

Revenue Streams

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

: Strategyzer AG

The makers of Business Model Generation and Strategyzer

strategyzer.com

FIGURE 4-16. The business model canvas is a popular management tool, created by Alexander Osterwalder. Mapping Strategy  103

Key Partnerships

Key Activities

Value Propositions

Web design and development

Branding and marketing of new brand

Tailored offerings and solutions

Technical help: product testing & discovery

Key Resources

Salesforce, consulting

New brand: Meeting customer needs exactly Cost Structure Flexible, customer solutions

Choice of ordering and delivery

Automated order entry

Remote, transactional

Mature industry Co’s, specialized needs Co’s w/low performance, high-quality lo-$ needs

Channels Limited selection: 400 products

Internationalized website

Passionate, dedicated team

Customer Segments

High-touch, long-term relationships

7000+ highperformance products @ premium $$

R&D, product innovation

Other chemical companies (competitors

Customer Relationships

Free, new brand distinct from parent

Salesperson, direct, f2f

Bulk orders at low prices Web

Revenue Streams Technical service staff Minimal customer service staff

Consulting services to other chemical Co’s

Variable terms for solutions via contracts

Fixed price of products Sale of web channel to other Co’s

FIGURE 4-17. This example of a business model canvas compares the business models of Xiameter, a provider of silicon, to its parent, Dow Corning.

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Figure 4-18 shows a photo of a canvas I completed with stakeholders after an ideation session. Using sticky notes, we were able to move information around as needed and consider any possible alternatives. This allowed us to test assumptions about a new concept from a standpoint of business viability. Working with the business model canvas takes some practice. You have to be able to recognize different types of information quickly and sort them into their respective boxes. Once you get the hang of it, you can use the canvas to quickly discover alternatives. There are many resources online to learn more about this useful tool.

Value proposition canvas The basic grid structure of the business model canvas inspired the development of similar tools. One such example is the value proposition canvas (see Figure 4-19), also created by Alexander Osterwalder. It is directly related to the business model canvas and plugs into two business model elements: the customer segments you wish to create value for and the value proposition you believe will attract customers. The value proposition canvas allows you to design and test the fit between what you offer and what customers want. There are two parts. On the right is the customer profile, with three components: • Jobs to be done. These are the important issues people want solved and the needs they are trying to satisfy. • Pains. These are the barriers, hurdles, and annoyances people have in trying to get a job done. This includes negative emotions and risks they may encounter. • Gains. These are positive outcomes or benefits the individual desires.

Building strategy is a creative endeavor. FIGURE 4-18. The business model canvas is well suited for using sticky notes to explore options. Mapping Strategy  105

The other half of the canvas, on the left side, details the three features of your value proposition: • Products and services. These represent your offering, including the features and support you provide. • Pain relievers. This is a description of how your offering will alleviate the customer’s pains. These show which problems you’re addressing.

• Gain creators. These make explicit how your products and services benefit customers. By mapping the left side to the right side, you can make explicit how you are creating value for your customers. When the pain relievers and gain creators correlate to the pains and gains of customers, you have a potential strong fit. Validate your assumptions with your markets once you have formed a clear position.

FIGURE 4-19. The value proposition canvas, created by Alexander Osterwalder and his company, Strategizer, complements the business model canvas.

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Summary As organizations mature, they often develop strategy myopia —a failure to see the broader landscape of their business and how they can continue to create meaningful value— unless they actively fight against it. Successful enterprises start with insights about customer needs and work backward to their strategy. This reverses many existing practices in businesses that seek to push products and services through traditional sales channels. To change, organizations need to consider additional sources of insight that are often left out of strategy creation. This includes a deep understanding of how customers perceive value. Visualizations of various kinds broaden your field of vision and offer a new way of seeing. First, consider how to reframe competition. In the eyes of your customer, anything that gets the job done is your rival. Also consider how you contribute back to society and create shared value. Shared value is about creating societal benefits with every customer interaction, going far beyond corporate social responsibility. The Internet of Things forces us to reimagine value delivery. Connected smart products inevitably become part of a larger ecosystem. The value you create is delivered and experienced as part of that context.

Finally, organize to innovate. First, separate protecting existing value from creating new value by setting up different divisions in the organization. Then, organize teams to align with the customer experience. Visualizations tend to open up strategy, making it not only more understandable but also more inclusive across the organization. Several techniques help illustrate strategy graphically. These include strategy maps, strategy canvases, the strategy blueprint, and the business model canvas and value proposition canvas. These tools complement and extend alignment diagrams.

Further Reading Jonathan Whelan and Stephen Whitla, Visualising Business Transformation (Rutledge, 2020) This full-length book details the role of visualizing, in general, in strategic conversations and organizational design. The authors do a great job of breaking down visual components into workable elements based on their “Visualisation Continuum.” Included are discussions of everything from design thinking frameworks and the business model canvas to detailed business process mapping.

Mapping Strategy  107

Phil Jones, Strategy Mapping for Learning Organizations (Rutledge, 2016) In this book, Jones focuses on the quality of conversations that strategy mapping causes teams to have, in particular when associated with a balanced scorecard approach. A main aim is to allow managers to ask the right questions about strategy so that they can motivate the right behaviors across the organization. Maps are effective tools to foster the quality conversations needed for strategy alignment, and Jones details how to leverage them throughout this volume. A.G. Lafley and Roger Martin, Playing to Win (Harvard Business Review Press, 2013) This book offers a clear framework for understanding strategy in general, based on five key questions. It is one of the most lucid and useful approaches to strategy available today. The authors provide case studies and examples from their decades of experience. This is essential reading for anyone looking to understand strategy. W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, Blue Ocean Strategy (Harvard Business Review Press, 2005) This landmark book from the pioneers of blue ocean strategy explains the approach in detail. The key isn’t to compete with rivals directly, the authors urge, but rather to make them irrelevant. To do this, organiza-

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tions need to find new attributes of value creation. Visualizing the landscape in a strategy canvas is a key way to identify opportunities of this kind. Many blue ocean strategy tools and resources are available on the internet—for example, at https://www.blueoceanstrategy.com. Rita McGrath, The End of Competitive Advantage (Harvard Business Review Press, 2013) Strategy is stuck, declares McGrath in this compelling book. Existing frameworks view strategy as achieving a sustainable competitive advantage. Instead, organizations need to develop a new set of practices based on transient competitive advantage. This entails not only constantly finding new value, but also ramping down existing offerings as they become exhausted. This is an eye-opening book that is accessible to nonbusiness readers. Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur, Business Model Generation (Wiley, 2011) After researching business models for his thesis work, Osterwalder wrote this practical, inspiring book to accompany his business model canvas. This is a colorful, fully illustrated book that is accessible to anyone and a pleasure to read. Osterwalder highlights the importance of artifacts like personas and advocates design thinking throughout the book.

by Jim Kalbach, with Jen Padilla, Elizabeth Thapliyal, and Ryan Kasper A key challenge in product development is selecting areas of improvement and innovation to focus on. A solid theory is needed to connect user insights to development decisions. To that end, the GoToMeeting user experience design team at Citrix embarked on efforts to provide actionable needs-based insight for product development. The approach combined mapping out user behaviors and motivations through a mental model diagram and prioritizing the users’ needs using the “jobs to be done” theory. This provided a visual map of the landscape as well as directions on how to create value for their customers.

2. Create a mental model diagram. Following Indi Young’s approach closely, we analyzed the transcriptions for the jobs people were trying to get done. Through an iterative process of grouping, we created the mental model diagram. This is a bottom-up approach that entails clustering individual findings into themes, which are in turn grouped into categories. Fundamental goals and needs began to emerge. The result was an illustration of “work collaboration” based directly on field research.

The overall process had six steps: 1. Conduct primary research. We started with contextual inquiry. Broadly looking at the domain of work collaboration and communication, we conducted over 40 on-site interviews. Stakeholders and team members were included in the interviewing process. Data collection included field notes, photos, audio recordings, and video. A third-party vendor transcribed over 68 hours of audio recordings. This resulted in nearly 1,500 pages of text. FIGURE 4-20. Using a mental model diagram in a workshop with stakeholders. (The author is pictured with expert UX researcher Amber Braden.)

Case Study: Identifying Opportunities—Combining Mental Model D ­ iagrams and Jobs to Be Done  109

CASE STUDY

Identifying Opportunities—Combining Mental Model ­Diagrams and Jobs to Be Done

3. Hold a workshop.

But which gaps in people’s ability to collaborate should we aim to solve first? Jobs to be done then helped us focus on the concepts with the most potential. 5. Prioritize jobs to be done. We prioritized the jobs represented in the diagram by two factors:

In a workshop with a dozen stakeholders from various departments, we read through the diagram in breakout groups. Each group got about a third of the overall mental model to work with. The goal was to have stakeholders first empathize with the current user experience (Figure 4-20).

– The level of importance associated with getting the job done

We then brainstormed concepts using scenarios around the “future of work.” To do this, we presented each group with key trends about the future of work taken from industry reports. At each section of the diagram, we posed the question to the group, “If each trend were to come true, what must we do to support customers and ultimately to evolve as a company?”

Graphed on a chart, the jobs that are highly important but least satisfied have the highest chance of customer adoption (Figure 4-21). They fulfill an unmet need.

To help socialize the outcomes of the workshop, we created an infographic summarizing the main conclusions. We printed this graphic on a single sheet of paper, had it laminated, and sent it by regular mail to workshop participants. A year or more later, it was still possible to see this infographic on teammates’ desks.

– The level of satisfaction associated with getting the job done

High Unmet needs = Opportunity Importance

CASE STUDY

The process also included the mapping of current products and features that support customer goals and needs. This allowed the team to see how our current offerings fit into a customer’s mental model.

4. Map the concepts to the diagram. After the workshop, we updated the diagram with comments and input from stakeholders. We then mapped various concepts back to the diagram below the support towers. This resulted in an extended map and composite picture: the user’s experience on the top, the support we currently offer in the middle, and future enhancements and innovations at the bottom (Figure 4-23).

Low High

Low Satisfaction

FIGURE 4-21. Solutions that meet unmet needs—or jobs that are important but unsatisfied—have a higher chance of succeeding.

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The technique starts with generating so-called desired outcome statements, or the success measures for completing a job successfully. These were based directly on the mental model diagram. Next, we launched a quantitative survey with the complete set of about 30 desired outcome statements. Respondents were asked to rate each desired outcome statement for both importance and satisfaction. We then calculated the opportunity score for each statement. We determined this by taking the score for importance and adding the satisfaction gap, which is importance minus satisfaction. For instance, if for a given statement respondents rated importance at 9 and satisfaction at 3, the result for the opportunity score would be 15 (9 + (9 – 3) = 15). See Figure 4-22.

Importance

Satisfaction Satisfaction Gap 6

9 3

Note that this score intentionally focuses on customer opportunity, not financial opportunity or market size opportunity. In other words, we were looking to solve for customer needs that would maximize the chances of adoption by customers. 6. Focus innovation efforts. The tasks in the mental model diagram, the opportunity scores, and proposed concepts were visually aligned, providing a clear picture of the opportunity space (Figure 4-23). Efforts were prioritized against this information. This gave the team confidence that we were moving in the right direction—one that was firmly grounded in primary insights. Product managers, marketing managers, and engineers found the information useful to their work. The prioritized list of people’s needs turned out to be a highly consumable format for teams to engage with the research. One product owner said: “It’s great to have this data to help make informed decisions. I’m looking forward to incorporating it more and more.” Through these efforts multiple concepts have been prototyped, and two innovations are being launched in the Apple Store, along with several patent submissions. Overall, the approach gives a rich, user-centered theory for service development. The combination of the mental model and “jobs to be done” methods has served as a centerpiece in the process, fostering many conversations and gathering consensus.

Importance + Satisfaction Gap = Opportunity Score 9

+

6

=

15

FIGURE 4-22. Opportunity scores pinpoint unmet jobs to be done. Case Study: Identifying Opportunities—Combining Mental Model D ­ iagrams and Jobs to Be Done  111

CASE STUDY

To find this sweet spot, we employed a specific technique developed by Tony Ulwick. For more on this method, see Ulwick’s writings, listed in the “Further Reading” section at the end of this case study.

CASE STUDY

1. Mental Model

2. Supporting Services

3. Future Concepts

FIGURE 4-23. A portion of the extended mental model diagram showing the highest areas of opportunity. Note that the resolution of this diagram is intentionally low to prevent confidential information from being read. The point is to understand the alignment of four layers of information: 1. The individual’s experience represented as a mental model diagram 2. Services that currently support their experience 3. Future concepts developed by the team 4. The areas of unmet needs reflecting the highest opportunity, determined by the “jobs to be done” research

Further Reading • Anthony Ulwick, What Customers Want (McGraw Hill, 2005) • Anthony Ulwick, “Turn Customer Input into Innovation,” Harvard Business Review (Jan 2002).

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About the Coauthors Jen Padilla is an expert user researcher who has worked at software companies in the San Francisco area, including VMware, Citrix, and Symantec. 

CASE STUDY

4. Highest Opportunity

Elizabeth Thapliyal is a lead UX designer coleading needs-based innovation projects at Citrix with an MBA in strategic design from the California College of the Arts.

Ryan Kasper is a UX researcher, currently at Facebook, and holds a PhD in cognitive psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Case Study: Identifying Opportunities—Combining Mental Model D ­ iagrams and Jobs to Be Done  113

Diagram and Image Credits Figure 4-1: Diagram re-created and adapted from a figure appearing in Ram Charan’s book What the Customer Wants You to Know

Figure 4-15: Strategy blueprint created by Jim Kalbach

Figure 4-4: Excerpt of a diagram created by Jim Kalbach for LexisNexis

Figure 4-16: Business model canvas by Alexander Osterwalder, downloaded from http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/canvas/bmc , CC BY-SA 3.0

Figure 4-5: Ecosystem map created by Sofia Hussain, appearing in her article “Designing Digital Strategies, Part 2: Connected User Experiences,” used with permission

Figure 4-17: Example of a completed business model canvas comparing Xiameter to Dow Corning, created by Jim Kalbach (for more on this case study, see my article “Business Model Design: Disruption Case Study”)

Figure 4-8: Ecosystem map for Nike FuelBand created by Claro Partners, from their free resource “A Guide to Succeeding in the Internet of Things,” used with permission

Figure 4-18: Photo of a business model canvas used in a workshop, by Jim Kalbach

Figure 4-9: Strategy map example created by Intrafocus Limited, UK ( intrafocus. com ), used with permission thanks to Clive Keyte Figure 4-10: Patagonia strategy map created by Michael Ensley of PureStone Partners, originally appearing in his blog post “Going Green,” used with permission Figure 4-11: Strategy canvas for Southwest Airlines, redrawn and adapted from W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, Blue Ocean Strategy

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Figure 4-19: The value proposition canvas, created by Alexander Osterwalder and Strategizer, downloaded from http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/ canvas/vpc ; used with permission Figure 4-20: Original photo by Elizabeth Thapliyal, used with permission Figure 4-24: Extended mental model diagram created by Amber Braden, Elizabeth Thapliyal, and Ryan Kasper, used with permission

Investigate

Illustrate

Align

ENVISION

Initiate

PART 2 A General Process for Mapping

A general process for experience mapping consists of four iterative modes of activity: 1. Initiate: Chapter 5 deals with the details of setting up a mapping initiative. 2. Investigate: Alignment diagrams must be grounded in evidence. Techniques for research are detailed in Chapter 6. 3. Illustrate: Visually representing how value is exchanged between an individual and an organization is a core aspect of alignment mapping. Chapter 7 covers aspects of illustrating a diagram. 4. Align and envision: Chapter 8 shows ways to use diagrams in an alignment workshop, which includes proposing concepts for testing and future development.

The preceding process results in current state maps: depictions of experiences as you observe them today. The aim is to get agreement on how your team understands the experience and what problems are worth solving. Once a direction is decided upon, use mapping techniques to design solutions and test your assumptions with planned experiments, discussed in Chapter 9. Remember: it’s not about the map (noun), but rather the mapping (verb). Be sure to involve stakeholders and team members throughout the process, at all stages. Get their feedback on your initial proposal, include them in the investigation, create the diagram together, and come together for a workshop at the end of the effort. Don’t make mapping a solitary effort.

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one.” —Mark Twain

IN THIS CHAPTER ■

Identifying the need

■

Convincing decision makers

■

Determining the direction

■

Creating a proposal

CHAPTER 5

Initiate: Starting a Mapping Project One of the most common questions I get in my workshops on mapping is, “How do I begin?” Aspiring mapmakers may see the immediate value in these techniques, yet they have barriers to getting started. Getting stakeholder buy-in is a common challenge. I’ve been fortunate to have had opportunities to create diagrams of all kinds and have found that stakeholders typically see the value in mapping only after the process is complete. As a result, initiating an effort requires convincing them up front. What’s more, a mismatch of expectations early on can lead to problems later. It’s therefore crucial to frame your intent clearly from the outset, particularly when multiple stakeholders are involved. With the range of possibilities, it’s up to you to define your mapping effort appropriately. Some key points to keep in mind are:

Include others in the process. The mapmaker has different roles throughout the effort: researcher, interpreter, and facilitator. It’s critical to get participation from others at all points in the process. Remember: the objective is not just to create a diagram, but to engage others in conversations and develop solutions together as a team. Consider both current and future states. This book focuses on creating what can be described as current state diagrams: visualizations of existing experiences. Envisioned future products, services, and solutions are generally seen as an added layer to these diagrams. I believe it is important to see both at once: cause and cure visible simultaneously. Some complementary techniques that can help flesh out envisioned future experiences are discussed in Chapter 9.

119

Realize you can’t control everything. Strive for coherency across the entire experience, but also understand that you won’t be able to design every touchpoint. There may be interactions you can’t or choose not to control. Also be sure to set expectations around your particular scope and what won’t be included. Still, an awareness of the interdependencies across actors and touchpoints should inform your strategic decisions. You start a mapping project as you would any other effort: by determining the goals, scope, costs, and time frame, and making them explicit. This exercise need not be lengthy or time-consuming—it may only take a single meeting. But getting off on the right foot increases your chances of success.

Before embarking on a project, first determine the level of formality, then convince the decision makers to get started.

Determine the Level of Formality Every team can benefit from mapping in some form, whether sketching by hand or working with detailed diagrams. The scope of the effort can vary greatly. Determine the level of formality that’s most appropriate before beginning. This book describes a formal approach to mapping. In some cases, such as that of an external consultant working with a large organization, a rigorous approach makes sense. In

Experiences

This chapter details some of the pitfalls I’ve encountered and lessons I’ve learned when initiating mapping projects. By the end, you’ll know what key questions to ask up front and how to get a mapping effort off the ground.

FORMAL Organization

Start a New Project With increasing frequency, managers and clients are directly requesting artifacts such as customer journey maps or experience maps by name. This makes getting started easier. Without an educated audience, however, initiating a mapping effort can prove difficult. Stakeholders may not be immediately aware of the benefits of mapping. It provides a type of insight that organizations can benefit from greatly, but they often don’t know this until they go through the process.

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Team Individual

User Interface INFORMAL Product

Ecosystems

FIGURE 5-1. The need for models increases when entire organizations design experiences for ecosystems.

other situations, a full-blown process may be inappropriate. For instance, when you’re working in a startup, an informal approach is fine. The formality of a mapping effort can be seen along three dimensions, shown in Figure 5-1.* The horizontal axis ranges from producing a single product to providing service ecosystems. The vertical axis indicates movement from the design of a discrete interface to the design of holistic experiences. The third dimension, in the middle of the graph, shows an increase in the group size.

Convince Decision Makers Once you determine the level of formality you need, convince decision makers to back your effort. Internal employees typically encounter different hurdles than external consultants. The former need to persuade; the latter need to sell. Though your relationship to stakeholders may vary, many of the arguments are the same. To be able to convince decision makers, you have to know the objections, provide evidence, find a champion, and run a pilot to demonstrate the value. Also, create a pitch that you can recite at will.

Efforts tend to become more formal as you move up and Know the objections to the right in this chart. For Remember: the objective is not just If you get pushback, be instance, a designer working ready with persuasive to create a diagram, but to engage alone on a single product arguments. Table 5-1 lists others in conversations and develop may not need a formal some typical objections, the solutions together as a team. diagram. But a large team underlying assumptions, and dealing with an entire serpotential counterpoints to vice ecosystem likely would. make for each. Try creating a similar table for yourself based Consider where your project falls on this chart. on the specific pushback you’re getting from stakeholders to The important point is to consider the appropriate level of forwork through the argumentation. mality before beginning. This will determine how much effort you put into each of the phases outlined in this book. Only do Provide evidence as much work as needed. Know the benefits of alignment diagrams, outlined in Chapter 1. But also be able to provide convincing evidence to support your effort. For instance, find examples and case studies in the literature. Be able to point to those examples and inte* This diagram is adapted from Hugh Dubberly’s video talk “A System Perspecgrate them into your discussion. tive on Design Practice.” Start a New Project  121

TABLE 5-1. Typical objections that may be raised before you get started, the assumptions behind them, and arguments you can make against them. Objection

Assumption

Argument

We don’t have time or budget.

Creating diagrams takes too long and is expensive.

Mapping needn’t be expensive or time-consuming. Even a formal project can be done in a few weeks for about the cost of a usability test or marketing survey.

Each department has its own process map.

Functional silos work efficiently individually.

Fine. But do they show interaction across channels and touchpoints? Great customer experiences cross our department lines.

We already know all of this.

Implicit knowledge is enough.

Great—then we’re off to a good start. But by making that knowledge explicit we can keep the conversations going. Also, we don’t lose insight when someone leaves. And if someone new joins the team, we can ramp them up quickly.

I was in that target group. Just ask me what’s valuable.

Customers are viewed from an inside-out perspective rather than outside-in.

Your input will be invaluable to get an initial hypothesis. We want to supplement that with a grounded external perspective as well. That’s where the best insights for growth and innovation are found.

Marketing already does research.

Marketing and experience research are the same.

That’s a good thing, but not enough. We need to uncover unmet needs and unexpressed feelings and show them in the context of the overall experience.

One good source is Forrester Research, a leading technology industry research company that has been writing full reports on the benefits of customer journey mapping in particular. Locate their studies or similar reports that show strong evidence in favor of mapping. Evidence of the return on investment is even more compelling. For instance, Alex Rawson and colleagues show concrete increases in revenue when companies design experiences endto-end rather than optimizing individual touchpoints. In their article “The Truth About Customer Experience,” they write:

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Companies that excel in delivering journeys tend to win in the market. In two industries we’ve studied, insurance and pay TV, better performance on journeys corresponds to faster revenue growth: In measurements of customer satisfaction with the firms’ most important journeys, performing one point better than peer companies on a 10-point scale corresponds to at least a two-percentage-point outperformance on revenue growth rate.

Mapping customer journeys, the authors conclude, provides the insight for the design of better experiences. This in turn contributes to revenue growth. Finally, if possible, find out what competitors are doing. Search for competitors’ names along with keywords like “customer journey map” or “experience map.” Showing that others are doing this kind of work goes a long way toward convincing decision makers.

Find a champion Identify stakeholders who might best champion a mapping effort. The more influential, the better. For external consultants, this may be a client with whom you have a longer, ongoing relationship. Internal employees need to know how to navigate decision making in their organization. In both cases a quick stakeholder analysis may help.

Run a pilot effort If possible, run a small pilot project. Diagrams need not be complex or detailed to be effective. Alternatively, try creating a diagram as part of another effort. For instance, if you are running a traditional usability test, add simple follow-up questions to elicit the steps in a given process. Map these together in a draft version of an experience

map, and use that as a discussion point. Demonstrating value with firsthand results is often the most persuasive argument.

Create a pitch Finally, create a succinct statement that you can readily recite. Include the business problems you’ll address. Why should a decision maker invest in a mapping effort of any kind? Here’s an example pitch: You’d like to grow beyond your current offerings. By mapping the entire experience, you can quickly gain a better understanding of the needs and emotions of new markets and segments. Mapping is a modern technique to improve customer understanding that more and more companies are using, such as Intel and Microsoft. By visually aligning various aspects of the customer experience with business processes, you’ll be able to see how to best create and capture value across channels. It will also yield insight into innovative products and services that outperform competitors. With relatively little investment, mapping provides the strategic insight we need in today’s fast-changing marketplaces.

Start a New Project  123

Decide on a Direction

Determine Which Experiences to Map

There are several questions to answer from the outset of a project. These may be a simple matter of self-reflection, or they may need investigation. The two key areas of concern to address are the organizational goals and the types of experiences you should map. After determining those, select the appropriate type of diagram to create.

Most organizations have relationships with multiple parties: suppliers, distributors, partners, customers, and customers’ customers. To determine what experiences to map, first understand the customer value chain: a depiction of key actors and the flow of value to individuals. Figure 5-2 shows a simple example of a customer value chain for a news magazine, with the reader as an end consumer. In

Identify the Organization’s Strategy and Objectives

Some questions to explore in this step are:

Audience Customer Journey Map

Advertisers

s Ad

Alignment diagrams must be relevant to the organization. They need to answer open questions or fill current gaps in knowledge. Diagrams are most effective when congruent with the organization’s strategy and objectives.

Customer Journey Map

Publisher

• What is the mission of the organization? Experience Map

Stores

News Mental Model Diagram

Reader

Co nte nt

• How does the organization create, deliver, and capture value?

Magazines Service Blueprint

• How does the organization want to grow? • What are the strategic goals? • What markets and segments are served? • What are the gaps in knowledge?

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Journalists FIGURE 5-2. This example customer value chain for a news magazine shows the flow of value to end consumers.

Alignment diagrams must be relevant to the organization. They need to answer open questions or fill current gaps in knowledge. this diagram, journalists provide content to publishers, who make money from advertisers. Stores distribute the publisher’s magazine to readers, who form the audience for the advertisers. Overall, value flows from left to right in this diagram, from journalists to readers. Figure 5-2 also indicates some possible diagram types that might best illustrate the relationship. A service blueprint makes sense to map the relationship between the publishers and the stores to help optimize backstage processes. But a customer journey map might be better to illustrate the experience readers have with advertisers. And from the publisher’s perspective, an experience map could be a good way to understand the journalists’ relationship to the magazine’s content. Customer value chains are similar to what are often referred to as stakeholder maps or ecosystem maps. You may come across these terms in other sources on mapping. The difference here is the inclusion of the flow of value. There is no right or wrong way to create customer value chain diagrams. They are simple concept maps of the actors and entities involved in an experience. Ultimately, it’s about coming up with a model that fits your purpose. The process is straightforward:

• List all actors and entities involved in the experience being investigated. • Place the primary actor and primary provider in the center, with the provider to the left. • Place other actors and entities around the two in a way that shows their basic relationships. • Finally, reorder the elements as needed to show how value moves from providers to customers. Once completed, use the customer value chain map to examine the various types of relationships that it’s possible to map. For instance, in Figure 5-2 the relationship of the advertisers to the publisher is unlike that of the publisher to the stores, and the relationship of the journalists to the advertisers is different from that of the readers to the stores. A customer value chain helps set expectations with your clients. You can clarify which experiences to map and which to exclude. For instance, in the previous example, if the publisher is interested in learning more about the distribution of magazines to stores, and you were considering mapping the relationship of readers to advertisers, there’s a mismatch in expectations. Customer value chains can generally be completed quickly—in a matter of minutes in some cases—and it’s worth the effort to get a view of the ecosystem. This will help you scope the effort, select an appropriate diagram type, and also guide recruiting for research.

Decide on a Direction  125

Key questions when determining which experiences to map are: • Which relationships in the customer value chain do you want to focus on? • What point of view do you want to understand in that relationship? • Which types of users or customers are most relevant? • Which experiences are most appropriate to include? • Where do those experiences begin and end?

Create Personas Personas are narrative descriptions of user archetypes reflecting common patterns of behavior, needs, and emotions. They reflect details about a target group in a way that is easy to grasp. Creating personas is an in-depth process that has a history spanning decades. For more, see some of the books on the topic, including Pruitt and Adlin’s The Persona Lifecycle and Cooper’s About Face 2.0. Personas are generally short—not longer than a page or two each. Figure 5-3 shows an example of a persona document I created for a past project. When you’re illustrating a specific person’s experience, it’s common to include the persona or a shortened form of it in the diagram itself. For instance, Figure 5-4 shows a customer journey map created by Jim Tincher, founder of Heart of the Customer (heartofthecustomer.com), a consultancy specializing in journey mapping. In this example, you can see the

126  Chapter 5: Initiate: Starting a Mapping Project

persona he created along the top of the diagram. It reflects basic demographic information, motivations, and a quote that customer might say. Creating personas is not creative writing. Personas should be based on actual data. The process consists of the following steps: 1. Identify the most salient attributes that distinguish one segment from another. You can usually find three to five primary attributes to focus on. 2. Determine the number of personas that you need to represent the range of attributes included. Collect data that supports and describes those attributes. Of course, your investigation may reveal new attributes to include along the way. 3. Draft the personas based on the primary attributes. Also include some basic aspects to flesh out the persona, such as demographics, behaviors, motivations, and pain points. 4. Finalize the personas. Create a compelling visualization for each on a single page. Develop various formats and sizes for different contexts. 5. Make the personas visible. Hang them up in brainstorming sessions and include them in project documents. It’s your job to make them come alive. Creating personas is a collaborative process, so be sure to include others too so that the resulting documents are reminders of shared knowledge.

FIGURE 5-3. This example shows a persona for an architect.

Decide on a Direction  127

FIGURE 5-4. Diagrams often represent a persona at the top, as seen in this example of a customer journey map.

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Select the Diagram Type The diagrams included in this book have a similarity: they all focus on value alignment. But recognizing the differences between them allows you to apply the approach that makes the

most sense for your situation. Know your options, and don’t rule out any one technique in favor of another in advance. Once you understand the organization’s objectives and the experiences you want to map, you can select the type

Solution dependent

Concrete

Customer lifecycle maps

User story maps

Customer journey maps Ecosystem maps

Service blueprints

Narrow scope

Expressive service blueprints

Broad scope Experience maps

Workflow diagrams Job maps

Solution independent

Mental model diagrams Abstract

FIGURE 5-5. A simple matrix plotting solution independence against scope helps sort out the potential functions and purposes of different diagram types. Decide on a Direction  129

TABLE 5-2. A comparison of different diagram types along the various elements of diagrams. Type

Point of view

Scope

Focus

Structure

Uses

Service blueprint

Individual as the recipient of a service

Concentrated on service encounters and ecosystems, frequently in real time

Real-time actions, physical evidence across channels; emphasis on service provision, including roles, backstage actors, processes, and workflows

Chronological

Used by frontline staff, internal teams, and managers to improve an existing service or brainstorm new ones

Customer journey map

Individual as a loyal customer, often making a purchase decision

Usually from becoming aware, through purchasing, to leaving a company and returning

Emphasis on cognitive and emotional states of the individual, including moments of truth and satisfaction

Chronological

Used by marketing, PR, sales, account managers, customer support, and brand managers for optimizing sales, customer relations, and brand equity

Experience map

Individual as an actor behaving in the context of a broader activity

Beginning and end by definition given by the specific experience or context

Emphasis on behaviors, goals, and jobs to be done; typically includes actions, thoughts, feelings, pain points

Chronological

Used by product managers, designers, developers, and strategists for product and service design improvements and innovation

Mental model diagram

Individual as a thinking and feeling human within a given domain

Breadth of experience by definition emerges from the data

Emphasis on fundamental motivations, feelings, and philosophies

Hierarchical

Used by product managers, designers, developers, and strategists to gain empathy for individuals, to inform product and service strategy, and for innovation

Ecosystem diagram

Individual as a central actor in a larger system of entities

The broadest scope with limits set by the defined boundaries of the system

Emphasis on relationships between entities of various kinds in an ecosystem to show the flow of value

Network

Used to gain insight into top-level strategic aspects of creating an offering and how it fits into a broader system of interactions

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of diagram that’s most appropriate. To do so, consider the primary elements of mapping discussed in Chapter 2. Table 5-2 summarizes some of the common diagram types and the differences between them along these dimensions.

The chart in Figure 5-5 also helps answer the question of how often diagrams need to be updated. Typically, the more solution-independent the approach, the greater the longevity of the diagram. For example, if done properly, job maps and mental model diagrams can remain valid and stable for a decade or more. Diagrams toward the top of the chart tend to have a shorter shelf life bounded by a short-term project.

Another way to determine which type of diagram best suits your situation is to consider them along two dimensions: scope and independence. Figure 5-5 plots the main diagram The scope of a diagram types discussed throughout helps determine how many this book in a simple matrix. Don’t rule out any one technique diagrams will be needed. The intent is to show the in favor of another in advance. In general, the broader in differences between types of scope, the more holistic it maps, but there will always is and therefore the fewer diagrams are needed. It’s unlikely, be exceptions. The colors in this figure represent different for instance, that you’ll need more than one ecosystem map: types of diagrams, with some of their alternatives shown. The by definition it shows the big picture. But creating multiple size of each shape reflects the degree of variation within that service blueprints for various customer interactions across the diagram type. organization is likely. Diagrams toward the upper left tend to be more concrete. There is no clear-cut answer to the question of how many For example, user story maps show detailed interactions with diagrams you will need and how often they will need to be a specific product. These are more volatile and may change updated. In the end, it really depends on the factors detailed with technology, but are great for illustrating an experience in Chapter 2: point of view, scope, focus, structure, and use. close to implementation. Moving toward the bottom right, Generally, there’s a desire to reduce your effort as well as the the diagrams become more abstract, dealing with broad donumber of artifacts you create, so I advise creating multiple mains. Diagrams in this quadrant are stable and foundational, diagrams only if necessary to illustrate significant differences. and help find broad opportunities for innovation.

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What’s the Difference? Customer Journey Maps, Service ­Blueprints, and Experience Maps The types of diagrams most often conflated with one another are customer journey maps, service blueprints, and experience maps. Since these are all chronological and have a similar form, the mix-up is understandable. But important distinctions exist that should factor into your diagram type selection. The primary difference is the point of view of each—in particular, the relationship of the individual to the experience: • Customer journey maps (CJMs) view the individual as a customer of the organization. The story is about how someone becomes aware of the offering, decides to acquire it, and then stays loyal. CJMs help marketers, salespeople, and customer success managers look at the overall customer lifecycle to build better relationships. • Service blueprints detail how a service is experienced by a user in real time. The main concern is how well or poorly the service performs after it is acquired, so that it can be optimized. These diagrams help designers and developers improve service delivery.

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• Experience maps as I define them take a different perspective. They look at a broader context of human behavior and depict the sequence of events an actor takes while striving to achieve a goal independent of any solution or brand. Experience maps are useful to find new opportunities for innovation. In addition to point of view, there are differences between these diagram types in terms of scope. For instance, CJMs tend to be scoped very broadly over a long time frame, whereas service blueprints often focus on a specific episode but go into more depth. Experience maps will vary in scope, including everything from a day in the life to ongoing experiences.

Focus varies across these types as well. CJMs focus on motivations and triggers for becoming and staying a customer. Service blueprints expose a lot of the backstage processes and are light on emotional details. Experience maps are more free-form than the latter two types, but strive to get at needs and desired outcomes. To illustrate the differences, compare and contrast the following three examples. Each diagram is based on an imaginary case of a chicken crossing a road. The actors and the domain are the same for each, but the point of view, scope, and focus are noticeably different, as well as the style of mapping.

Figure 5-6 is an example of customer journey map for the ACME RoadCrossr, a fictitious brand and product. This is an app that helps chickens not only find the best point to cross but also assess traffic conditions.

initiates the service before trying it. Eventually, the chicken recommends it to friends. Overall, the plot of this chronology is about the go-to-market aspects of the service, from lead generation to conversion to advocacy.

A persona is included at the upper left, reflecting some key demographic details. The phases extend from left to right at the top of the map, and actions, thoughts, and feelings are along the side.

Service blueprints typically illustrate real-time interactions with an existing service. They focus on the nuts and bolts of service provision and tend to be much less about marketing and customer lifecycles than a CJM. As a result, you’ll see in Figure 5-7 many of the backstage aspects of the ACME RoadCrossr service, including third-party and partner interactions. These

Moving left to right, we can see that the chicken in this case becomes aware of the app, decides to subscribe, and then

FIGURE 5-6. A customer journey map (CJM) shows an individual’s interaction with a company and brand over time, highlighting the decisions to acquire a solution and stay loyal to it.

Decide on a Direction  133

elements are all aligned to the individual’s actions, shown in the second line from the top. Unlike CJMs and service blueprints, experience maps don’t assume the individual is a customer of a service or even needs that service. Instead, the example in Figure 5-8 focuses solely on the experience of crossing a road as a chicken. There is no purchase decision, nor are there details about using a given solution. As a result, multiple teams could benefit from this diagram: it allows them to see how they can fit into the

individual’s world, not how the individual fits into their offering. Considering how to get the chicken’s job done better can be a source of innovation. Compared to experience maps, CJMs offer a rather self-centered view of the world: they assume people want to become aware of and purchase the company’s solution and then stay around and even advocate for them—a tale of ideal market position. The underlying story is really about the company, not the individual.

FIGURE 5-7. A service blueprint details the frontstage and backstage processes of a service provision within a specific episode of interaction.

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Service blueprints are less egotistical but still view the individual as a user of a specific solution. Brand and emotions are not central, in favor of an unveiling of the behind-the-scenes machinery. Experience maps are different. As I’ve defined them, they flip the perspective from viewing people as consumers to looking at their experiences independent of a solution. Note that my definition of an experience map may differ from others. It’s easy to find instances of diagrams labeled “experience maps” that are really a combination of CJMs and service blueprints, including many examples in this book. But don’t get

hung up on labels—they’re not that important at the end of the day. In the end, any or all of these maps may help your situation. The point is to understand the nature of the diagram type you are targeting before beginning an effort. Know who the audience of the map is and its purpose before you get started. Then, focus on how you’ll show value alignment visually to engage others in your organization in a conversation.

FIGURE 5-8. An experience map can show how the individual goes about achieving a goal independent of any product or service.

Decide on a Direction  135

Define the Effort

Assess Resources

Once the overall direction of the effort is outlined, assess the amount of time needed and approximate costs. In this step you’ll also want to ensure you have the appropriate skills, equipment, and resources.

The primary resource needed for a mapping effort is staff time: someone to do the investigation, create a diagram, and facilitate workshops.

Estimate Duration The time frame for mapping efforts varies greatly. It depends on the formality of the project, the type of map you’re targeting, and the depth of information it contains. Small startups, for instance, may be able to quickly create a map in a matter of days. Formal projects typically run anywhere from a few weeks to a few months in duration. Here are some relative time frames for various types of efforts to give a rough sense of durations: • Rapid effort: one to two days • Short, full project: one to two weeks • Average initiative: three to six weeks • Generous program: more than six weeks The time estimate is primarily a factor of the extent of your investigation, as well as how many revision cycles and meetings with stakeholders are needed.

Skills needed to complete a diagram include: • The ability to organize a wealth of information and abstract concepts • The ability to collect data and conduct primary research • The ability to model and visualize complex information Other project requirements include: • Access to internal employees. You will need access to internal members of the organization. Multidisciplinary teams are ideal. Diagrams are not a give-and-go deliverable: they necessarily involve people within the organization throughout the process. Their active participation is required. • Ability to recruit customers. You will need the ability to recruit external participants in your research activities (as outlined in Chapter 6). • Ability to travel. Depending on your industry and the locations of target groups, some travel may be necessary for research. • Transcription service. Finally, depending on your research approach, you may want to record interviews with participants and have them transcribed.

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Estimate Costs Costs can vary greatly. Table 5-3 shows high and low estimates for an alignment project. The main driver is the staff month estimate. This will vary depending on your resource cost per month. The high estimate assumes one person working two full months. The low estimate assumes a person completing the project in two weeks. Of course, it’s also possible to have larger or smaller efforts. These estimates are just median guidelines to give a sense of approximate cost ranges.

TABLE 5-3. Example of high and low cost estimates for an alignment project. Figures can vary greatly in both directions, depending primarily on the cost of a staff month. HIGH

LOW

Staff month

2 × $15,000 = $30,000

.5 × $15,000 = $7,500

Research incentives

10 × $50 = $500

6 × $25 = $150

Transcriptions

10 × $150 = $1500

None

Travel

$500

None

TOTAL

$32,500

$7,650

Write a Proposal Informal efforts may not require a proposal at all. Formal projects will likely have a written statement of intent. Don’t be put off. A proposal need not be time-consuming or extensive. Keep it light by simply listing responses to each of these elements: • Motivation. Include the reason why you’re embarking on the project with the organization at this time. • Aim. Include a statement about the aim of the effort and the overall timeline. • Goals. List the objectives and measurable outcomes of the project. • Project participants. List everyone involved and their roles. Mention that you will need access to internal stakeholders and their involvement throughout.

• Activities, deliverables, and milestones. Describe the sequence of activities and the expected outputs. • Scope. Indicate the experiences you’re intending to map. You can determine these from the customer value chain, like the one shown in Figure 5-2. • Diagram type. If you have a target diagram type in mind, indicate that in the proposal. • Assumptions, risks, and constraints. Highlight aspects of the project that may be out of your control, as well as the factors that may constrain the effort. In total, a proposal doesn’t have to be more than two pages— see the example in Figure 5-9.

Define the Effort  137

Proposal: Acme Customer Experience Project The Acme Corp. has successfully extended its product and service offerings over the past decade, capturing a significant market share in the process. However, the experience customers actually have with Acme has grown organically and become disjointed, resulting in declining customer satisfaction. This effort intends to align internal activities to the customer journey in order to design a more cohesive experience across touchpoints and ultimately increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.

ACTIVITIES • • • •

Investigate: Recruit and research, internal and external participants Illustrate: Create customer journey map Align: Hold workshop and generate hypotheses Experiment: Run experiments to test hypotheses

DELIVERABLES

AIM Complete a customer journey mapping project by the end of Q1 GOALS 1. Involve stakeholders from at least 5 different departments throughout the project, from the creation of the maps to running experiments afterwards. 2. Generate and prioritze at least 100 new ideas to increase customer satisfaction. 3. Develop action plans and experiments to test 5 new services that demonstrate an increase in customer satisfaction. 4. Increase customer satisfaction scores by 5% by the end of the year. PARTICIPANTS • Core Project Team º Jim Kalbach, Project Lead º Paul Kahn, Designer º Jane Doe, User Researcher º John Doe, Project Sponsor • Stakeholders º Sue Smith, Head of Product Development (+product developers) º Joe Smith, Customer Support (+customer support agents) º Frank Musterman, Marketing Lead (+marketers) º Sales and ecommerce representatives, TBD

FIGURE 5-9. A proposal for a mapping project does not have to be long.

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• • • •

Customer Journey Maps Accompanying documents, such as personas and typical day illustrations Catalog of prioritized ideas Detailed plan for experiments, included measurements of success

SCOPE • This effort will focus on two customer personas: 1. Our current paying customers 2. Their customers (i.e., customers of our customers) • The experiences should look at touchpoints from end-to-end, starting with the first contact customers have until when they decide to end the service. • 5 hypothesis experiments with the given resources (to be confirmed depending on the nature and scope of the experiments) MILESTONES • Jan: Recruiting and research • Feb: Complete journey maps and run workshops • March: Conduct experiments to increase customer satisfaction

Putting It All Together: Which Techniques Are Needed When? This book is about possibilities. Throughout, I’ve highlighted many of the tools for mapping experiences, shown in Figure 5-10. Many of these tools and approaches will be discussed in subsequent chapters. But with possibilities comes choice. To help you select the best approach, consider the types of models that describe an experience: 1. Models of individuals. Who are you designing for? Personas and consumer insight maps are examples. 2. Models of context and goals. Maps of experiences describe the circumstances of interaction. What are the jobs to be done? What are the individual’s needs, feelings, and motivations? 3. Models of future experiences. Finally, create models for the envisioned future state. What do solutions look like? How can we represent them for evaluation?

Customer Value Chain

Personas

Individuals Whose experience?

Consumer Service Insight Map Blueprint

Customer Journey Experience Mental Map Map Model

Context & Goals What are the jobs to be done?

At a minimum, use one of each. More is possible, but be careful of model proliferation. Don’t confuse your audience. Alternatives for an informal diagramming process might follow these sequences of steps: • Experience map > Storyboards • Personas > Design map A more formal mapping process might include these models: • Personas > Mental model diagram > Scenarios and storyboards > Value proposition canvas • Consumer insight maps > Service blueprint > Storylines > Business model canvas Always keep the intent of mapping in mind: to tell the story of interactions (past and future) to align your team.

Ecosystem Map Storyboards Scenarios Storylines

Design Map

User Story Maps

Business Value Model Proposition Canvas Canvas

Future State What is the intended future experience?

FIGURE 5-10. A sequence of techniques discussed in this book can be categorized into three groups: diagrams about individuals, context and goals, and future state diagrams.

Define the Effort  139

Summary Initiating a mapping project begins by framing the effort. Start by assessing the required level of formality. Generally, larger organizations striving to design holistic experiences across a system of touchpoints have a greater need for a formal effort than an individual person designing the interface of a single product. Both internal employees and external consultants may need to overcome potential barriers to get started. Know the objections and be prepared with evidence to make convincing counterarguments. Also, identify a champion to pilot a project with. Demonstrating firsthand results goes a long way toward winning over others. The concept of alignment diagrams opens up possibilities for you: there is more than one way to address a given problem. You’ll need to understand the organization and its goals to shape the effort in the way that has the most impact. It’s up to you to determine which experiences to map. Examine various relationships in the customer value chain to narrow down possibilities and set the right expectations. Then select the diagram type that is most appropriate. Again, there are no right or wrong answers here. You’ll have to form a perspective that works best for your situation.

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For formal efforts, define the project and summarize it in a written proposal. This should include motivations, goals, participants, resources, and approximate costs of the project. Be prepared to negotiate the details of the proposal with stakeholders to arrive at an appropriate, well-defined effort. Informal efforts may not require a proposal or much documentation at all.

Further Reading Simon David Clatworthy, The Experience-Centric Organization (O’Reilly, 2019) This book looks at organizations holistically and discusses how to shift companies to become truly customer-centric. Despite its grand intentions and theoretical underpinnings, the author keeps the text approachable and quite practical. The approach is based on a maturity model with five steps toward experience-centricity. Chapter 5 deals exclusively with organizing around experience.

Tim Brown, Change by Design (HarperBusiness, 2009) This full-length book is the definitive work on design thinking. Based on his years of experience at IDEO, one of the most innovative companies in the world, Brown lays out a detailed argument in favor of design thinking. The theories are grounded in stories and case studies from the field. Though mapping plays only a minor role in the book, it advocates a change in organizational perspective—one that favors empathy for users and a general outside-in philosophy that is core to alignment diagrams. Ram Charan, What the Customer Wants You to Know (Portfolio, 2007) Charan is a highly acclaimed business leader, having worked with top executives at Fortune 100 companies. He is able to make business concepts very accessible. This book discusses value creation from the customer’s perspective in detail, including specific aspects such as customer value chains.

Alex Rawson, Ewan Duncan, and Conor Jones, “The Truth About Customer Experience,” Harvard Business Review (Sep 2013) This is an excellent article on the value of end-to-end experience design, appearing in a leading business magazine. The authors mention mapping activities only briefly and provide no details on how to create maps. They do, however, provide hard evidence on the positive effects of end-to-end experience design on the bottom line. Citing articles like this one can help convince stakeholders to embark on a mapping project. John Pruitt and Tamara Adlin, The Persona Lifecycle (Morgan Kaufmann, 2006) This is the standard reference work on personas. At over seven hundred pages, it’s packed with both theory and practical guidance on how to create personas. See also Alan Cooper’s book About Face 2.0 for more on personas and his approach, called goal-directed design.

Diagram and Image Credits Figure 5-3: Example persona created by Jim Kalbach Figure 5-4: Customer journey map created by Jim Tincher of Heart of the Customer ( heartofthecustomer.com ), used with permission Figures 5-6 through 5-8: Example diagrams created by Jim Kalbach in MURAL

Define the Effort  141

“You can observe a lot just by watching.” —Yogi Berra

IN THIS CHAPTER ■

Reviewing existing information

■

Interviewing internally

■

Creating a draft map

■

Contextual inquiry and analysis

■

Quantitative research

■

Case study: Music curation—user research and diagramming at Sonos

CHAPTER 6

Investigate: Make It Real I’m often stunned by how little some organizations know about the people they serve. Sure, they may have detailed demographic data, comprehensive purchasing statistics, and the like. But they fail to understand the fundamental needs and motivations of their customers. Part of the problem is that people’s behaviors are often irrational. They act on emotions and subjective beliefs. These are harder to understand and quantify and are generally not part of the business vernacular. Many organizations simply have a low appetite for understanding the customer experience. These same organizations might be willing to spend tens of thousands on market analysis reports—but getting out, speaking with customers, and observing them directly receives little attention. Uncovering deep emotional connections to products and services is a messy endeavor, but this type of investigation gets at the why of customer behavior. It favors understanding over measuring, quality over quantity.

Creating diagrams of experiences breaks this pattern of organizational navel-gazing. It shifts the mindset from inside-out to outside-in. Of course, the diagrams themselves don’t create empathy, but they spark and guide the conversations that do. It all begins with investigation. Research is necessary to inform your effort and provide confidence in your model of the experience. Otherwise, conclusions are based on conjecture. What’s more, research into the customer experience is typically eye-opening. There’s a healthy reality check for everyone involved. For instance, on one project I worked on for an educational testing service, my research found educators doing extra calculations by hand on paper. Adding a mechanism to do these calculations online was simple, but no one was aware of this need until we observed it. Users never complained about the absence of a calculator, nor asked for one: they just accepted the system the way it was. But with proper qualitative research, we were able to find opportunities not shown in other data.

143

People use products and services in unintended ways. They find hacks and workarounds. They invent novel uses and applications of the offering. In doing so, they may fabricate their own satisfaction. As Peter Drucker, the renowned “father” of modern management, famously wrote: The customer rarely buys what the company thinks it sells him. One reason for this is, of course, that nobody pays for a “product.” What is paid for is satisfaction. Strive to uncover the value customers believe they are getting. Understanding how your offering gets their jobs done is a source of opportunity. Target your solutions to fulfill unmet needs. This chapter covers the five main steps of investigation in mapping an experience: 1. Reviewing existing sources of information 2. Interviewing internal stakeholders 3. Creating a draft map 4. Conducting research externally 5. Analyzing the data The steps outlined in this chapter present a logical sequence to follow. You may find yourself moving back and forth between these activities fluidly. The process is typically more iterative than linear.

Review Existing Sources Take advantage of existing sources of information as a starting point. Begin by reviewing insight for patterns across various resource types, such as: Direct feedback People typically can contact an organization in a variety of ways: via phone, email, contact forms, online comments, face-to-face service encounters, and chat. Obtain a sample of data for review—for instance, customer emails or call center logs for the past month. Social media Get a sense of what people are saying in social media channels in your field. Obtain a cross-section of posts that refer to your organization or offering on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Reviews and ratings Tap into reviews and ratings for relevant insight. Amazon. com is famous for its reviews and ratings; so are services like TripAdvisor.com for travel and Yelp.com for restaurants. Also don’t forget comments and ratings in app stores as a source of insight. Market research Many organizations regularly conduct surveys and focus groups and send out questionnaires. These provide details that could inform your effort—get ahold of past market research to help provide insight.

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Usability testing If your organization has performed tests in the past, review them for insight into the overall experience users are having. Industry reports and whitepapers Depending on the industry you are working in, there may be reports available from analysts in the field.

Consolidate Findings You probably won’t find a single existing source of information about the end-to-end customer experience. Most industry reports and whitepapers focus only on slices of an overall experience. And unless your organization has already done work mapping experiences, it’s unlikely you’ll have any preexisting research in-house. Instead, you’ll have to pick through the available sources and identify the relevant bits. This is a bottom-up process that takes patience and tolerance for irrelevant information. An industry report, for instance, may include only a few facts useful for your particular project. To help comb through existing data, use a common format to review findings across source types. Organize user research findings using a simple progression of three steps, focusing on evidence, interpretation, and implications for the experience:

Evidence First, note any relevant facts or observations from the sources of information without any judgment. Include direct quotes and data points to illuminate the evidence. Interpretations Explain potential causes for the evidence you identified: why did people behave or feel the way they did? Consider multiple interpretations of the observed behavior. Implications for the experience Finally, determine the impact of the finding on the individual’s experience. Strive to include the emotional factors motivating their behavior. For each source, consolidate insights into a separate table. The consolidation tables help you sort through various information types. They then normalize findings for comparison across sources. Table 6-1 shows this type of consolidation from two different source types for a fictitious software service.

Creating diagrams of experiences breaks this pattern of organizational navel-gazing. It shifts the mindset from inside-out to outside-in.

Review Existing Sources  145

TABLE 6-1. Examples of consolidation of two different existing sources of information for a fictitious software service. Source 1: Email feedback Evidence

Interpretations

Experience implications

Many emails indicate trouble with installation: e.g., “After going through the instructions and process several times, I gave up.”

People lack the skills and knowledge to complete the installation process and get frustrated.

Installation is a problematic phase in the journey.

There were frequent questions about having admin rights to install the software: e.g., “I got the message ‘Please contact your IT admin’ and didn’t know what to do.”

For security reasons, many companies don’t allow For users without admin rights, employees to install software. installation ends their experience: It may be difficult or time-consuming for employ- it’s a showstopper.

Some emails praised customer support: e.g.,

People like to be able to speak with a “real” person.

“The customer service agent I spoke with was really knowledgeable and helpful!”

People don’t have the time or patience to read the instructions carefully.

ees to contact an IT admin. Customer support is a positive aspect of the current experience.

People feel like they are getting personal attention with live agents.

Source 2: Marketing survey Evidence

Interpretations

Experience implications

Respondents indicated that the top ways of becoming aware of the magazine are:

Customers seek input from others in their decision to purchase our software.

Word of mouth plays the greatest role in becoming aware of our service.

1. Word of mouth (62%) 2. Web searches (48%)

Advertisements may not be as effective as previously assumed.

3. Internet ads (19%) 4. TV ads (7%) 64% of customers indicated they regularly switch between a computer and mobile device while using our service.

People have a need to use the software on-the-go.

Customers experience our software across devices.

A majority of customers indicated installation was difficult or very difficult.

Installation is not straightforward for some users.

Installation is a source of frustration.

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Instructions for installation are not easy to follow.

Make Conclusions Next, collect all the implications for the experience in a separate list and group them by topic. Patterns then emerge that bring your investigation into greater focus. For instance, from the data in Table 6-1, the implication statements are shown in the simple list that follows: • Installation is a problematic phase in the journey. • For users without admin rights, installation ends their experience: it’s a showstopper. • Customer support is a positive aspect of the overall experience. • Word of mouth plays the greatest role in becoming aware of our service. • Customers experience our software across devices. • Installation is a source of frustration. Some of your findings from this exercise will be straightforward and not need much validation. For instance, you may find that how people become aware of a service may not need much further research. From the example in Table 6-1, you could conclude that word of mouth is the leading way people hear about your service. If you are creating a customer journey map, you can readily include this information in the diagram. Other points you uncover may reveal gaps in knowledge. For example, from the list of implications in Table 6-1, it’s apparent that frustration during installation is emerging as a

theme. But you may not know why this is the case and need to further research the causes of this frustration. Overall, the process is grounded in evidence, moving from individual facts to broader conclusions (Figure 6-1). By breaking down findings in a common format, you can then compare themes across different sources. Reviewing existing sources of information not only informs the creation of a diagram, it also sets up your research agenda for the following steps in this investigation phase. You’ll have a better sense about what to ask in your next phases of research, starting with internal stakeholders. This step need not take long. Depending on the number of sources to review, it may take only a day (or less) to complete. Try distributing the review of sources across several members to work even quicker. Then come together and discuss the key findings in a brief meeting.

FIGURE 6-1. Comb existing sources for relevant evidence, group the implications for the experience people may have, and make conclusions.

Conclusions

Grouped implications Evidence across sources Review Existing Sources  147

Interview Within the ­Organization Alignment diagram efforts necessarily involve investigation with people within the organization. Seek out a range of people to interview. Don’t stop with the primary sponsors of the project. Include decision makers, managers, sales representatives, engineers and technicians, and frontline personnel. At this point, your investigation is exploratory: you want to uncover the main themes to research further. The sample of people you have access to may be fairly small—only a half dozen or so in total. This also means you may only get one or two people to interview per function within the organization. If this is the case, assume your interview partner can speak on behalf of others in a similar function.

Conduct Interviews Internal stakeholder interviews can be informal and take anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes. If many of the stakeholders work in the same location, these may only take a day to complete. Phone or online interviews are also possible if you can’t meet in person. Open questioning works best since you’ll be talking with different types of people. This is a technique that allows you to have a free-flowing conversation. Your interviews should not take the form of a questionnaire but rather a guided discussion with participants. The goal is to explore and learn, not to take

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Mapping experiences starts with low-fidelity models, not with polished graphics. a quantitative poll. See the sidebar “A Brief Guide to Interviewing” later in this chapter for more on open questioning. There are three key areas to include: Role and function Start by getting the background of the participant. What do they do within the organization? How is their team organized? Get a sense of where they fit into the value creation chain. Touchpoints Everyone in an organization has some impact on the experience people have when interacting with them. In some cases, stakeholders have direct contact with customers. In this case, ask them directly about their perspective on the customer experience. Others may only have indirect contact. Either way, probe to understand their role in the user experience and the touchpoints most relevant to them.

Experience Find out what participants think people experience when interacting with the organization. Start by understanding the flow of actions: What do customers do first? What happens after that? Also, probe on how the participant believes customers feel along the way. When are they most frustrated? What delights them? What are the potential moments of truth? Keep in mind their understanding may not match what customers actually experience. At this point, your investigation will generate assumptions that need to be validated with subsequent field research. Ask participants to draw a diagram of the experience, or parts of it, as they describe it. Figure 6-2 shows an example of such a diagram from my work. The sketch evolved over the course of the conversation and allowed us to point to specific parts of the experience and dig deeper. This drawing then served as a basis for creating a diagram. Mapping experiences starts with low-fidelity models, not with polished graphics. Alternatively, try using a template to have a guided conversation about the user experience. For instance, Figure 6-3 shows an example blank template offered by UXPressia (uxpressia. com) that outlines a generic customer journey in manufacturing. You can access other blank templates or create one of your own. The point is to have interview partners fill in the blanks to understand the experience together during your interviews with them.

FIGURE 6-2. Have participants sketch during stakeholder interviews.

Interview Within the O ­ rganization  149

FIGURE 6-3. A simple mapping template can be used to gather existing knowledge about an experience.

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Create a Draft Model At this point, you should be able to draft an initial diagram to serve as a preliminary assumption about the experience. It won’t be based on research, and is therefore just an educated guess. But importantly, the draft diagram will guide your investigation by identifying gaps in knowledge and other research questions. Include others in the creation of a draft map. Assemble a small group of stakeholders to create a model of the experience together. The goal is not to analyze the experience and add data points. Instead, the aim is to get agreement on the underlying model of the experience based on your assumptions. Use sticky notes to work out a preliminary structure for the diagram together. The aim is to think about how to tell the story of alignment and value creation for your situation. Some inference may be involved, and you may have to fill in gaps by making educated guesses at this point. There may be a tendency to try to propose solutions in this initial workshop. Let this happen, and be sure to capture those ideas. But don’t make the focus of the workshop brainstorming. Instead, concentrate on the diagram and generating questions for research. Note that in startups and “lean” efforts, creating a draft map may be all you need to do. Remember: you’re looking for a common understanding within your organization of how you’ll create value for customers. If a small team is focused on

how it will create user value, more formal activities may not be needed.

Touchpoint Inventory After you have an initial framework for your diagram, take inventory of current touchpoints. One way to do this is with a type of role playing or so-called “mystery shopping.” With this approach, you step through a defined process or flow as an individual would experience it and record the artifacts and evidence they come in contact with. This includes: • Physical evidence, such as regular mail sent home, or even packaging • Digital touchpoints, including everything from emails to online marketing to use of software • One-to-one contact, such as a phone call with a sales representative or chat with customer care Mystery shopping might not touch on edge-case and exception flows, however. Go back and find alternative touchpoints to complete your inventory. For instance, the emails that a solo trial customer gets might be different from those for a paid account with multiple users. Look at the broader picture so that the breadth of touchpoints is accounted for. Figure 6-4 shows an example of a touchpoint inventory from Chris Risdon, formerly of Adaptive Path and now at H-E-B. This was created for the Rail Europe experience map shown in Chapter 1 (see Figure 1-5). It’s a simple table with a list of Create a Draft Model  151

FIGURE 6-4. Take inventory of existing touchpoints to understand the current experience.

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touchpoints per channel. In this example, each touchpoint is described with text, but you can also include a screenshot or photo of the touchpoint for higher fidelity. Both the draft diagram and a touchpoint inventory will help you understand the domain within which you are working. This will guide future research. Keep in mind that mere inspection of existing touchpoints will not provide a complete picture of the customer experience. For that, you need to do research with actual customers.

Conduct Research Externally Research for alignment diagrams typically focuses on qualitative interviews and observations as a primary source of data. The draft diagram you cocreated with the team helps identify your assumptions and open questions about the individual’s experience. Structure your research to fill in the gaps in your knowledge. Rely on expert researchers to conduct the interviews if you are new to the technique. It takes some skill to be able to drive a conversation and get the data you ultimately need. Find practitioners within your company or through external agencies to help get the necessary qualitative insights. Conducting interviews and observations on location is the gold standard for this type of research. Face-to-face interaction with participants allows you to see their environment firsthand. Conducting remote interviews by phone or via teleconferencing software is a viable option that also yields

quality insights. (See the case study at the end of this chapter for an example.) I view the research needed to map an experience as ethnographic in nature. As Clifford Geertz, the famous anthropologist, shows us, thick description is the process of providing cultural context through systematic observation.* The aim is to capture otherwise fleeting human behavior so that it can be better understood by others. This is the essence of mapping experiences. More recently, Tricia Wang has highlighted the importance of in-depth qualitative research as a way to gather what she calls thick data (recalling Geertz). In her TEDx talk in Cambridge, Wang says: “I see organizations throwing out data all the time because it didn’t come from a quant model or it doesn’t fit in one. … [Instead,] thick data can help us rescue the context loss that comes from making big data usable, and leverage the best of human intelligence.”† Approach your mapping effort with a mindset of modeling experiences after valid, real-world observations. The next section outlines a formal approach for field research, involving on-site interviews and observations. Remote interviews follow a similar pattern but involve less direct observation.

* See Geertz’s landmark essay “Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture” in The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays (Basic Books, 1973). † See Tricia Wang’s 2016 TEDxCambridge talk “The Human Insights Missing from Big Data,” which is based on her article “Why Big Data Needs Thick Data,” Ethnography Matters (May 2013). Conduct Research Externally  153

Field Research

Prepare

One of the best techniques for investigation is a qualitative method called contextual inquiry, formalized and made popular by Hugh Beyer and Karen Holtzblatt in their book Contextual Design. This type of interviewing involves visiting participants on location, in the context of their experiences.

Interviewing participants on location adds complexity to the preparation. It’s not like conducting a survey or remote interview. You’ll want to pay particular attention to recruiting, incentives, scheduling, and equipment:

Formal contextual inquiry can be time-consuming and expensive. Full-blown research of this sort is not required for mapping efforts. However, understanding the principles of contextual inquiry is valuable for the type of field research required in general. On-site interviews and observations typically last from one to two hours. Longer sessions are possible but are typically not needed. Plan on conducting four to six interviews per segment. To gather feedback more rapidly, try sending several teams into the field simultaneously to collect data. Then debrief together at the end of the day. Field research can be broken into four steps: preparing, conducting the interview, debriefing, and analyzing the data. Each is outlined below. Refer to the resources at the end of the chapter for more in-depth discussions on research techniques.

Recruiting Be sure to brief the participants and set expectations. Remind them that you will be at their workplace or in their home during the interview and that you shouldn’t be interrupted. Also, be sure that it’s OK to record audio of the session. Use a screener to make sure you recruit appropriate participants and that they approve of the conditions. Don’t underestimate the time it takes to find participants; to take the burden off completely, rely on an agency that specializes in recruiting. Incentives On-location participation may require a higher incentive than other research techniques, such as surveys. It’s not unusual to offer several hundred dollars. Generous incentives typically make recruiting easier, so it’s not advisable to aim for cost savings here. Scheduling

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Since you’ll be going on-site, be sure to schedule interviews with enough time to travel between them. Finding multiple participants in a single location is ideal, but not always possible. Typically, you’ll only be able to do two or three on-site interviews a day comfortably.

Equipment Prepare thoroughly for each interview. Be sure to go out into the field with everything you’ll need: – Discussion guide (see the sidebar “A Brief Guide to Interviewing” on page 159) – Notepad and pens to take notes – Sheets of paper for the participant to draw on (optional)

There are four parts to an interview.

1. Greet the participant Greet the participant, explain who you are, and set the stage for the interview. Keep this brief. Confirm that it’s OK to record the session before starting the audio. Begin by having the participant introduce themselves and describe their background as it relates to the study.

– Digital voice recorder or audio recording app

2. Conduct the interview

– Camera (ask permission before taking any photos)

Use a discussion guide for open questioning. Have a naïve curiosity. The relationship you want to assume is one of master– apprentice: the interviewer is the apprentice, and the interviewee is the master. In other words, don’t instruct or correct them, even if the behaviors they describe seem inefficient.

– Business cards – Incentives

Parts of an interview Since you’ll be on location for the interview, you don’t want to overwhelm the participant with interviewers and observers. Research in pairs—no more than two people at a time. More than two researchers can create an unnatural atmosphere, which in turn can affect participant behavior and the insights you get. Determine clear roles for each researcher. One is the primary interviewer; the other acts as an observer. Maintain these roles. This allows the lead researcher to build a rapport with the participant and steer the conversation. The observer may ask questions at the end or when asked.

You want to learn what they actually do in the situation you’re investigating, not what the assumed “correct” way is. Make the interview about them and their experiences, not about you or your organization. Focus on understanding the current experience to form the basis of your mapping effort, and avoid projecting future experiences or solutions. When asking broad, open questions, you may often get the response “it depends.” If that’s the case, try to qualify the question by asking about the most common situation or a typical situation.

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One technique to keep the session moving is called the critical incident technique, which has three simple steps to follow: 1. Recall a critical incident. Have the participant remember an event that happened in the past that went particularly badly. 2. Describe the experience. Ask them to describe what happened, what went wrong, and why. Be sure to also ask how they felt at the time. 3. Finally, ask what should have happened and what would have been ideal. This typically reveals their underlying needs and expectations of the experience.

3. Make observations Take advantage of being on-site and make direct observations. Take note of the physical arrangement of the space participants are in, what artifacts are present, and how the participant interacts with them. If appropriate, ask participants to show you how they might do a representative task. Keep in mind that some things may be confidential. Once they begin, simply observe with as little interjection as possible. Take photographs. Make sure to ask permission first and avoid including confidential information or artifacts in the photos.

The critical incident Video recording the technique not only avoids session is also possible, Have a naïve curiosity. The relationship generalizations but also but this is more involved. you want to assume is one of master– gets deep insight into moThe angle of the camera, apprentice: the interviewer is the apprentice, tivations and philosophies the sound quality, and and the interviewee is the master. people have about their lighting may distract you experiences. In general, at the beginning of the you want to bridge the gap between what people say or think interview. What’s more, analysis of full-length interviews can they do and what they actually have done or would do. take a very long time. Don’t video the session if you don’t have the resources to review the recordings afterward. Instead of the entire session, try video recording short testimonials or responses to a few predetermined questions.

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Finally, also consider asking participants to sketch and draw diagrams of their work or activities. This can lead to new, interesting conversations and insights.

4. Conclude At the end of the session, summarize the main points to confirm your understanding. Keep this short. Ask any follow-up questions for clarification. Ask if participants have any final thoughts about anything that was discussed. If you’re recording the session, keep the recording going during this part of the session. Often people interject important details they previously left out. Even while walking toward the door, you may hear a new insight you’ll want to record. Make sure you give participants their incentive. It may be uncomfortable for them to have to ask you directly. The incentive is your way of saying “thank you.” Be sincere and appreciative as you hand it to them. Finally, ask if you can contact them later for follow-up questions or clarification.

Debrief Schedule time to debrief immediately after each session or two. Review notes with your interview partner. Take the time to complete and complement each other’s understanding of what the participant said and did. You can start to pull out some main themes and highlights as well. It also helps to make a brief description of the customer’s environment immediately after the interview. If you were interviewing someone at their workplace, for instance, sketch a map of their office. Include tools and artifacts around them, as well as interactions they had with others. Create an online space to capture thoughts, particularly if there are multiple researchers involved. An online collaboration board such as MURAL (Figure 6-5) provides an excellent format to accumulate findings quickly. With each interview, you can add photos and notes from the field. The intended structure of the diagram and elements it will include are already reflected.

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FIGURE 6-5. MURAL ( mural.co ) is a good online tool to debrief after interviews.

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A Brief Guide to Interviewing Open questioning is a qualitative approach to interviewing that is well suited to creating alignment diagrams. The idea is to hold in-depth conversations with participants on their terms. Don’t read directly from a questionnaire, but instead probe in a nondirected way on topics relevant to the effort.

Journalist Interviews – Discussion Guide Thank you for agreeing to talk with us today. We want to take the next 1 hour to understand your work and how you interact with the publisher. We’ll first ask a few questions and then have you do typical tasks using some tools around you. It’s important that we hear how you do work from your perspective.

The aim is to embrace the uniqueness of the participants and their particular situation. What makes them special? What concerns do they have? How do they feel while experiencing your offering? This type of interviewing is an art. The challenge is balancing between a nondirected conversation and getting feedback on the specific topics you need to learn about. It’s the interviewer’s job to drive the conversation, letting go of control at times, and jumping in and steering the session at others. Use a discussion guide, such as the one shown in Figure 6-6. This is a one- or two-page document to refer to during the session, in this case for interviewing journalists. It’s a prompt for the interviewer, not a survey. A discussion guide typically begins with a standard greeting to set expectations. The body of the discussion guide consists of questions to prompt a conversation about the topics relevant to the study. These prompts should address the questions, assumptions, and gaps in knowledge you have.

We’re going to record the audio of this session. It’s completely anonymous and just for our own reference later. We may take some photos—of course with your permission. If there’s anything that is confidential, just say so—we’ll respect that at all times. 1. Background (5 mins): Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work as a journalist. How long have you been doing it? What are your interests and areas of expertise? 2. Tell us about the last piece you wrote for the publisher (20 mins) a. What were the triggers? What concerns do you have initially? How do you feel at the very beginning about a new assignment? b. How did you get started? What do you do to prepare to write? c. What background investigation did you do, if any? What prerequisite knowledge is needed? d. What is the writing process like? What concerns you most at this point? e. How do you interact with your editor? What is the most difficult part? f. What does it feel like when it’s published? Do you take any follow up actions? 3. What does a typical day look like for you (15 mins)? (If the participant answers “it depends,” ask: “What was yesterday like?”) 4. Social media a. What role does social media play in the creation of a story? What are your experiences with social media? b. What role does social media play after a story has been published? How do you feel about it?

FIGURE 6-6. A sample discussion guide for a fictitious interview with journalists.

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The discussion guide is more of a reminder of topics to cover than a script to read from top to bottom. In fact, you’ll rarely cover the themes in the same order as in your guide. That’s OK. If a participant immediately starts talking about one of the topics further down on your list, go with the flow and shift to that section of the guide. General Interviewing Tips • Create a rapport. Establish a bond with the participant and try to gain their trust and confidence. • Avoid yes-or-no questions. Strive to ask open-ended questions that keep the participant talking. • Follow the conversation. Use eye contact and affirmative gestures, such as nodding and feedback, to show you’re actively listening. Agree with them, when appropriate (e.g., “Yes, I can see how that could be frustrating for you” or “Yes, that does sound like a lot of work for one person”). • Listen. Let the participant do most of the speaking. Do not lead participants and put words in their mouths. Follow their line of thought and use their language.

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• Dig deep. Try to understand participants’ underlying beliefs and values. They may not offer this information immediately. Dig further with simple follow-ups like “Why do you think that is?” and “How do you feel about that?” • Avoid generalizations. People often generalize when talking about their own behavior. To avoid generalizations, ask questions like “How do you personally accomplish that task or feel when doing it?” and “Can you tell me about the most recent time you did that?” • Minimize distractions. People may get calls or be interrupted during the session. Try to restore focus on the interview as quickly as possible. • Respect participants’ time. Be sure to start on time. If the interview starts running late, acknowledge that fact and ask if it’s OK to continue. • Go with the flow. The setting for the interview may not be what you expected and may not offer the best conditions for interviewing. Try to make the best of the interview nonetheless.

Analyze the Data Qualitative research uncovers tacit knowledge—a clear strength of the approach. However, the data you collect does not come organized. Instead, you’ll be left with a wealth of unstructured notes and recordings to plow through. Don’t be daunted. Let the overall story of the interaction defined in the Initiation stage guide your analysis. Diagrams of a current experience are aggregate pictures of the people and organizations you are investigating. When synthesizing the data you’ve gathered, seek out the common patterns. From each interview, extract relevant findings and group them by theme. Then, align the conclusions into a flow or pattern of your diagram. Figure 6-7 shows the progress of moving from unstructured texts to common themes to sequences of experiences.

Unstructured texts from each interview

Clusters and common themes

Flows and groupings

FIGURE 6-7. During analysis, you’ll move from unstructured texts to clusters, and then to the flows that make up a diagram.

Informal Analysis One informal way to analyze the data is to cluster sticky notes on a wall. Figure 6-8 shows the creation of a mental model diagram using sticky notes. This can be done alone, or collectively in a small group. Alternatively, you may start analyzing data in a simple spreadsheet. Figure 6-9 shows a spreadsheet used to capture research findings. This is a modified version of a data collection sheet I used on a past project investigating a chronic illness. It allowed multiple people to contribute independently. FIGURE 6-8. Informal analysis using sticky notes can be done on a large wall. Analyze the Data  161

FIGURE 6-9. Use a simple spreadsheet for an informal analysis of your research.

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Interviews

Coded Interviews

Codes

Passages for Codes

FIGURE 6-10. MaxQDA is a qualitative text analysis tool that can be used to derive insights to use in mapping.

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Formal Analysis

Quantitative Research

A more formal analysis requires full transcripts of the audio recordings for each interview. A 60-minute interview may yield 30 pages of transcribed text. Consider outsourcing this step, as transcription is a very time-consuming process. There are also some modern tools like Otter.ai and others that will transcribe calls and recordings instantly, but the resulting texts may require some manual cleanup.

When you are creating an alignment diagram, a survey is the primary tool to get quantitative data. This will allow you to measure the same aspect across phases or touchpoints.

Then, use a qualitative text analysis tool to comb through the transcribed texts—for instance, MaxQDA, shown in Figure 6-10 (preceding page). First upload your interview texts (upper left), then create a list of themes to code passages (lower left), and apply the codes to the interview texts (upper right). You can then view all coded passages across interviews for a given theme in one place (lower right). Reading the coded passages for a particular theme then allows for grounded conclusions about the experience. Compare the themes to your open research questions and incorporate your findings into the draft map. Modern tools such as Dovetail and Reframer from Optimal Workshop allow for a similar type of analysis with simple online solutions.

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At a basic level, try to understand what types of experiences people are having. For instance, a question could list a series of touchpoints and require respondents to select the ones they encounter. This would allow you to indicate the percentage of people who encounter a given touchpoint. Asking questions on a scale is more powerful. This allows you to indicate how much of an aspect people experience, including such things as: • Frequency with which phases or steps are experienced • Importance or criticality of a given touchpoint • Satisfaction at each touchpoint or phase When you create the survey, use a consistent scale throughout. If you ask participants to rank satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 5 for one question, don’t change to a different scale for the next.

Creating a bespoke survey is no easy task. Consider using a standardized survey instead. For instance, NPS (Net Promoter Score) is a popular measure for customer loyalty, introduced by Fred Reichheld in his book The Ultimate Question. Or, in software and web applications, there are surveys such as SUMI (Software Usability Measurement Index, sumi.uxp.ie) and SUS (System Usability Scale)* that have been around for decades. Other sources of quantitative information include: Usage metrics Electronically enabled services—everything from online software to computer chips in cars—can capture actual usage data. Things like web analytics and software telemetrics allow for very detailed measurement of usage.

Industry benchmarks Depending on the sector and industry you are working in, there may be benchmark data available. This will show how your current service compares to others in the same field. As you collect data from these sources, think about how you might incorporate them into your diagram. Again, rely on experts either at your company or through external agencies to help you manage quantitative data analysis. Many approaches depend on the type of diagram you’re targeting, its structure, and its depth. Chapter 7 discusses some specific ways to represent quantitative information in an alignment diagram.

Call center reports Most call centers record the volume of calls and general traffic patterns. There is often a quantitative classification of call types as well. Social media monitoring Quantitative measures of social media activity can be considered for a diagram. These may include such things as traffic for each social media platform or the volume of hashtag uses or mentions.

* For a thorough description of SUS, see Jeff Sauro’s article “Measuring Usability with the System Usability Scale (SUS),” Measuring U (Feb 2011). Quantitative Research  165

Summary An experience is something that is constructed in the mind of the perceiver. It’s not something an organization owns. To map experiences, investigation from the perspective of the individual is necessary. Begin by assessing existing sources of information. This can include email feedback, phone calls, blog comments, social media activity, formal marketing studies, and industry reports. Extract relevant information that can inform the creation of a diagram. This information may be hidden or buried in existing sources. Also create a touchpoint inventory of existing physical, digital, and person-to-person interactions. Note the channel and means of interaction as you complete the inventory, and collect images of each touchpoint. Create a draft diagram together with the project team and stakeholders. This provides an initial picture of your current understanding of the individual’s experience. It also provides an overview of knowns and unknowns, which guides subsequent research. In some cases, this may be all that is needed for your team to get aligned.

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Next, interview people internally within the organization. Get a mix of roles across functions and levels. Try to include frontline personnel in your initial interviews as well: service desk agents and call center workers, for instance, often have a clear perspective on the client experience because they are serving them.

Conduct field research to fill in gaps in knowledge and to deeply understand the individual’s experience. Go on location to the place where participants interact with the service in question. Engage them in interviews, but also observe their surroundings. Remote research using teleconferencing solutions speeds up the process but loses the richness of face-toface interaction. Qualitative research can validate assumptions. Surveys and questionnaires work best here. The results of these methods can be included in an alignment diagram for greater impact. All of this data needs to be analyzed and reduced to just the key points. Only then can you start drawing a map of the experience with confidence. The next chapter discusses how to take the findings from your research and illustrate a map.

Further Reading Tricia Wang, “Why Big Data Needs Thick Data,” Ethnography Matters (May 2013) In this article Wang introduces the notion of thick data, or qualitative ethnography descriptions, to contrast the quantifications of big data. With a hat tip to Clifford Geertz’s concept of thick description, thick data focuses on emotions and motivations within a given context to reveal new patterns and explain why people behave as they do. Hugh Beyer and Karen Holtzblatt, Contextual Design (Morgan Kaufmann, 1997) This is the original landmark book that introduced a formal technique for contextual inquiry to the design community. It’s thorough and well structured, with step-by-step guidance on their process. The first part discusses interview and inquiry techniques in detail. The latter parts of the book outline a method of translating findings into concrete designs. This is a highly recommended book that everyone should read. See also Karen Holtzblatt, Jessamyn Burns Wendell, and Shelley Wood’s Rapid Contextual Design (Morgan Kaufmann, 2004).

Mike Kuniavsky, Observing the User Experience, 2nd ed. (Morgan Kaufman, 2012) Experience mapping requires some type of primary investigation. This is an excellent resource on the ins and outs of user research. Steve Portigal, Interviewing Users (Rosenfeld Media, 2013) Portigal is a recognized expert in user research. This book is a must-read for anyone engaging in contextual interviews or ethnographic research. It contains a wealth of practical information, with numerous tips and examples. Giff Constable, Talking to Humans (Self-published, 2014) This thin volume provides an excellent overview of getting in front of customers and talking to them. The approach the author takes is clearly within the Lean Startup vein, featuring discussions of assumption and hypothesis testing. The book provides useful practical information for getting started and conducting quick interviews.

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CASE STUDY

Music Curation—UserCase Research Studyand TitleDiagramming at Sonos by Amber by tkBraden Sonos is a leading provider of wireless home audio products. From the customer’s point of view, the service is simple: you connect your speakers to your home WiFi and then play music through your phone, tablet, or computer. The app for Sonos speakers enables control for multiple services, multiple rooms, and multiple people. While these components are important in making the service work, nothing really matters more to the users than playing music. The goal of this effort was to illustrate the complexity involved. Before attempting to diagram how people curate music, Sonos had to first understand how and why people used the product. Our research consisted of a series of extensive interviews with 10 Sonos households over the course of two weeks. At first, we conducted interviews remotely. Using teleconferencing software and webcams we were able to get participants to demonstrate how they use the Sonos application on their phones. All sessions were recorded to show other stakeholders not present during the interviews. After that, we asked participants to record interactions with the product in a daily diary. The weekly check-ins with each household made for the most eye-opening insights. We found that when participants recounted stories they often revealed their deeper goals.

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Next, we examined all of the data we collected to find common themes. Using sticky notes and a whiteboard, we arranged our findings into a model that served as the basis for a diagram. Finally, we created a complete diagram reflecting the key insights from our research, shown in Figure 6-11. This simplifies the user’s experience by focusing on five key elements: • User goals. We sought to uncover underlying motivations: what are customers trying to achieve when playing music? In each interview, we asked the customer why they did what they did. • Supporting features. Recalling Indi Young’s process of creating mental model diagrams, we mapped features of our app to the goals. This helped stakeholders understand what features people used to get the job done. In our case, we found there was too much weight on the queue functions of the app, for instance. • Benefits of features. Listing the benefits of the features reveals the value of the current features. This also helps with stakeholder buy-in. Instead of focusing on only negative feedback, show what is working well.

Get music ready for later

Create a playlist for a party

Supporting features

Add to queue

New playlist

Play now

Add to queue

Add to queue

Add to playlist

Play next

View queue

View queue

Play now

Play now

Share music Keep the Turn on a with someone music going mix of music next to me (DJ)

Play what I found right now

Play now

Take requests Look at what Repeat same Refer to what Avoid mixing is going to song for kids I listened to listening (DJ) happen before history with current listening

Play now

View queue

View queue

View queue

Clear queue

Add to queue

Up next

Previous track

Save queue

Replace queue

Create Turn on music immediate so I can do access to something music I am else currently listening to Add to favorites

Play now

Play a song

Play now

Play all tracks

Feels turning on a lot of music is time consuming

Play now Play all tracks

Sonos favorites

Play next Benefits of the features

I have music I can add ready to go songs/ that fits what albums/ I am in the playlists that mood for I want to a playlist

Obstruction Required to Required to of action select from a select from a menu and menu for playlist for each song each song

Unused “Curation” items

Delete track from My Library

View reviews

I can choose I can go into I can go into I can play I can build a I can play to play a the queue and the queue songs as the queue of all songs as I find them request now or view what else and view requests the different what else later is in there come in music I like is in there I can add to Once the song I can continue a list of songs ends, I can go to change what so the music back to I am playing keeps going the song The menu choices for what I am doing are at the top

Required to Required to The music will Music stops select from a select from a stop after this when I do not song plays expect it to menu for menu for each song each song A song will The song will appear in Now unexpectedly The song will The song will The song will drop to the drop to the Playing and drop to the bottom of drop to the bottom of the bottom of the not play the queue bottom of queue queue Required to the queue choose one Required to song or the choose one whole album song or the whole album Pulled into the now playing but still looking for music

View all tracks on album

Add album Search for to my this library everywhere

Artist info

Add to favorites

More albums like this

This changes I get lost when I add trying to find music, but I what I just added can’t see the change I can only When I move repeat the around the song if it’s queue, time is the only one unknown in the queue I only have a quick glance at the very next song

The queue I can choose I have easy I can easily tells me what a song and access to the get a radio I put in there erase music I listen station going before irrelevant to regularly music at the All tracks I can turn the same time I can get makes it easy queue into a to get an rid of the playlist old music I album or I can mark don’t want playlist going things I want to listen to to listen to frequently

I didn’t realize I have to The music music was in remember stops when I the queue to pick the did not expect content as I heard a Random I have to start random song my favorite the album/ music is that is in the mixed in playlist from queue with what I the beginning listened to Accidentally I have to before erased select a menu Required to someone’s each time I navigate to queue turn on a the queue station The old queue disappears

When I find a song I like I can play it right away

I can get all the tracks from a previously made playlist

Music stops It’s required after a song to go through a menu for is played each song It’s required to go through a menu for each song

Album info

FIGURE 6-11. A simplified curation model for Sonos was based on in-depth interviews. Case Study: Music Curation—User Research and Diagramming at Sonos  169

CASE STUDY

User goals

CASE STUDY

• Obstructions of actions. The most important aspect of the diagram showed that the app didn’t support people’s goals. The obstructions got our stakeholders’ attention.

• Map new concepts to the model. Once stakeholders saw what the problems were, they came up with solutions. They saw how they could replace existing features with the new concept’s supporting features.

• Unused items. This section showed features that are not used when people are playing music. The list helped us decide what could be removed without having an impact on user goals.

• Use the new benefits to write user stories. New (or sometimes existing) benefits served as a basis for writing user stories for development teams.

Once we’d created the model, we found that it could be used in multiple ways to engage with the stakeholders. Here are the ways in which we made the model actionable: • Show the diagram during meetings and workshops. The model is simple enough that others don’t get overwhelmed. I showed it in a paper form and in electronic form. This helped create a common understanding of user motivations. • Print out the model for colleagues to use at their desks. Having the model distributed around the office and kept on or near colleagues’ desks helps socialize the insight and keep the conversation going.

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Creating simple models makes it easy for stakeholders to engage. It encourages people to use them as a reference and leverage them for various activities to help improve the design. We saw product managers, engineers, and designers use this diagram to help them understand what problems they were addressing and how they could solve them. Since the model was based on firsthand investigation, we also had confidence that our decisions were grounded in actual customer needs. About the Contributor Amber Braden is a UX researcher at Facebook with specialty areas including contextual interviews, mental models, and workshop facilitation. Amber holds a degree in human–computer interaction from Iowa State University.

Diagram and Image Credits Figure 6-2: Sketch by Jim Kalbach reflecting feedback from interview participants Figure 6-3: Journey map template available from UXPressia ( uxpressia.com ), used with permission Figure 6-4: Touchpoint inventory created by Chris Risdon, appearing in his article “The Anatomy of an Experience Map,” used with permission Figure 6-6: Example of research analysis by Jim Kalbach, created in MURAL Figure 6-8: Image from Mental Models by Indi Young, retrieved from flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosenfeldmedia/sets/72157603511616271 Figure 6-9: Example of an online spreadsheet for data collection in Google Sheets, modified from the original version Figure 6-10: Image of MaxQDA, by Jim Kalbach Figure 6-11: Model for curating music with Sonos created by Amber Braden, used with permission

Quantitative Research  171

“Graphical excellence is that which gives to the viewer the greatest number of ideas in the shortest time with the least ink in the smallest space.” —Edward R. Tufte The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

IN THIS CHAPTER ■

Layout and form of a diagram

■

Consolidating the content

■

Designing the information

■

Tools and software

■

Case study: Mapping the lab test experience

CHAPTER 7

Illustrate: Make It Visual “I’m not a graphic designer and can’t draw. How can I possibly create a diagram?” I get that reaction a lot in my experience mapping workshops. There’s good news: mapping is not about artistic talent. It’s about bringing all of your findings into a single, cohesive storyline. The hard part isn’t the styling; it’s creating an insightful narrative of the experience. Consider the diagram in Figure 7-1, created by Eric Berkman, coauthor of Designing Mobile Interfaces. Visually, it has very few elements, but it reveals key insights about both negative and positive service aspects at a Starbucks coffee shop. Diagrams don’t need to have elaborate graphics to be effective. In some cases, a mere row of sticky notes on a wall may be all that’s needed—for instance, in a small startup where you’re working closely together informally. Other times, you’ll want

something more polished: for example, if you’re presenting to the CEO of a large bank on a formal project. Regardless of the level of fidelity your illustration requires, a few principles of design go a long way toward creating a compelling visual story. This chapter discusses three interdependent factors in illustrating experiences: 1. Laying out the diagram, or determining the overall form 2. Compiling the content into a reduced format 3. Designing the information for a compelling visualization There may be movement back and forth between these aspects, so be prepared to iterate. After this chapter, you should be able to transform the insights from your investigation into a meaningful diagram.

173

Enriched Experience

Eric – Repeat Customer Purpose: To work/drink coffee

Tasty drink Free Wi-Fi Flavorable Appropriate temperature

Good drink

Aroma Polite Sofa chair is comfortable

Quick, convenient

Ambience

baseline

People watching Crowd conversation noise

Good byes

Greeting Fake

Poached Experience

Worrying Second guessing

Audible Sensations Loud

Closing time Factory line

Impersonal

Office

1.b Deciding to go to Starbucks and work on design reports.

Car 1.c Hoping to find a close parking spot.

1.d Hoping Starbucks is not overly crowded and will have available seating. 1.e Considering alternative places just in case.

Not large work spaces

Feedback Confusing Inconsistent

Lack of personal space Unstructured

1.a Discussing with team the local places to grab a coffee.

Blasting air conditioning Loud music Distracting Repeating, not my taste

Unwilling to try something new, risk Feeling rushed

Cold, drafty Slightly crowded

Anticipate Touchpoints

Date: 3/22/10

Starbucks Experience Map

Enter

Lack of seating Lack of outlets Uncomfortable wooden chairs

Engage

Exit

Walk-In

Line

Order

Pay

Sit

Drink

Work

2.a Notice that there are a couple of people in line.

3.a The waiting line occupies the main traffic way.

4.a The Barista acknowledges me with a smile.

6.a Grab my drink and look for a place to sit.

2.b Notice the narrow confined layout.

3.b The menus across the counter are hard to read while in line.

4.b I can see the menu better now, but I feel rushed to order a drink. 4.c I feel forced to make a quick beverage selection. I play it safe by having what I always get.

5.a The barista tells me the total and I pay with my credit card. He asks me if I want my receipt, I decline.

7.a The cup is hot, steaming, but withstanding in my hand.

8.a I place my drink on the table next to me and place my bag on the floor.

8.f I enjoy the free wireless and the unlimited use. The signal strength is adequate.

8.b I remove my computer and accessories and now am shifting my coffee to find room for all of my things on this little coffee table.

8.g The music is really bothering me. I put my headphones on and play my mp3 songs.

2.c Enjoy the aroma of roasted coffee and mixed sweet robust smells. 2.d The lighting is pleasant, not overly bright and not too dim. 2.e The music seems ethnic, extended vocals, soft in style, volume too loud and not my taste.

3.c The line moves slow, people who just ordered are still in the same area. Becomes crowded. 3.d The ordering process seems too slow. Inconsistent structure of service.

2.f The room climate seems intentionally cold.

4.d The barista confirms my selection and asks my name to write on the cup. 4.e He writes down my name and some code on the cup and hands it off to another barista who will make it when he is finished with other orders.

5.b My interaction ends with him saying thank you. He doesn’t use my name. 5.c Now I move to the left of where I paid. Once again I feel crowded and out of place. People are walking by me. There isn’t a designated waiting, sitting area. 5.d As I stand, the drink maker shouts finished orders and places them on a drink stand. He screams Grande Chai. 5.e Confusion. Is this my drink? Why did he not call out my name or name and drink? I pick up the drink and see that it has Eric written on it.

Annoyed about closing time Annoying about where I sat Back hurts

Not large work spaces Furniture not ideal for computer work

6.b I need, most importantly, an outlet and a workspace. 6.c I notice that there are only a few locations in the seating areas that have outlets. This is discouraging. 6.d Most places are occupied. No outlets are available. 6.e The workspaces seem small and impractical. Most are just a small round wooden table with two wooden chairs. 6.f I find an empty reclined cushioned armchair. Next to it is a small wooden table shared by another person sitting in the other arm chair. 6.g The chair is comfortable and I continue to sit in it.

7.b Smells roasty and sweet. 7.c First sip is too hot, but flavorful. I’m happy with the taste and my choice. 7.d The continued sips remain satisfying.

8.c The table is too low to work from there, so I place my laptop in my lap. My drink remains on the table, my bag on the floor. 8.d I’m feeling crowded. I have no room to use my wireless mouse. I now use the surface of the arm chair as my mouse pad. Not very effective. 8.e The crowd talking doesn’t bother me after a while, but the music is way too loud and beginning to become a distraction.

Pack Up

8.h The battery use on my computer is a concern now. I will begin looking for another table to work at. 8.i The air conditioning seems intentional. It’s cold outside and cold inside. I slip my jacket on.

9.a The barista walks by me and makes an announcement to the tore that it will be closing shortly–10pm. 9.b I would like to continue to work. I feel 10pm closing time is much too early, especially in a college town. 9.c I stand up and walk around until I find a hidden trash can to throw my cup into.

Reflect Walk Out

Car

10.a I pack my things up and head out the door.

11.a I head to my car and wish that I could have stayed longer to work. I know that once I get home, I will be in the wrong mind state to continue working.

10.b The remaining staff tell me to have a good night.

11.b The coffee was very good, but I was disappointed in the environment. Distracting music, small workspace, lack of power outlets.

8.j I continually finding myself people watching while I work. There are interesting people here, so I’m not too bothered. I never like feeling alone.

FIGURE 7-1. Eric Berkman’s simple but effective diagram of a visit to Starbucks reveals important insights with minimal graphic design.

174  Chapter 7: Illustrate: Make It Visual

Lay Out the Diagram Some methods prescribe a layout in advance. Mental model diagrams, for instance, are organized hierarchically into towers, and a formal service blueprint will have prescribed rows of information by default. Otherwise, the layout and structure of the diagram are up to you, the mapmaker. I recommend a simple table or timeline, which works in most situations. But it’s worthwhile considering alternative forms as well. As discussed in Chapter 2, typical organizational schemes (chronological, hierarchical, spatial, or a network)

will affect the layout of your diagram. Figure 7-2 shows some possible layouts. Regardless of the layout you use, the important thing to consider is how the form of the information can enhance the overall message. For instance, Sofia Hussain, a leading design strategist in Norway, created the diagram in Figure 7-3. She intentionally chose a circular form to show that success of this event planning app relies on repeat use. The form amplifies the message.

Table

Timeline

“Snakes and Ladders”

Spider

Wheel

Circles

Spatial Map

Tower

FIGURE 7-2. Consider alternative layouts for your diagram to enhance the storyline. Lay Out the Diagram  175

FIGURE 7-3. Make the shape of your diagram meaningful—for example, a circular diagram in this case reflects a desire for repeat use of an event planning app.

176  Chapter 7: Illustrate: Make It Visual

Displaying Chronology Chronological maps are simple for others to grasp but present a challenge: not all aspects of an experience may be sequential. Some events are ongoing, some have a variable order, and others may have different subflows. You’ll have to

overcome what I call “the chronology problem,” or showing irregularities in a strict timeline. Some tactics are shown in Figures 7-4a through 7-4d.

Actions Generate Leads (ongoing)

Demo Features

Respond to Questions

FIGURE 7-4a. REPEAT BEHAVIOR: Use arrows and circles to show repeating actions. For instance, during a sales call, the salesperson may alternate between showing a product and responding to customer questions.

FIGURE 7-4c. ONGOING ACTIVITY: Indicate the first time that an ongoing behavior occurs, and then show that it continues to avoid repetition. For instance, a salesperson may continually look for new leads throughout.

Actions

Close Sale Gather customer data

New?

Send Contract Email link to online contract

No

Yes Generate Leads Maintain Relationships

Maximize Reach

FIGURE 7-4b. VARIABLE ORDER: A cloudlike form can indicate that activities don’t happen sequentially. For instance, a salesperson may generate new leads, maintain existing relationships, and maximize reach all at the same time.

Fill out intake form

Confirm with customer

FIGURE 7-4d. ALTERNATE FLOWS: You may come across distinct subflows in the experience. Insert a decision point if needed, but keep this to a minimum to avoid overcomplication. For instance, a salesperson may have distinct activities based on the customer type.

Lay Out the Diagram  177

Compile the Content

Qualitative Information

At this stage in the overall process, your aim is to map the current state of an experience. Mapping future states and coming up with solutions come later, as outlined in Chapters 8 and 9.

A majority of information to describe experiences is qualitative—rich descriptions of the why and the how, rather than quantitative data about how many. Here are some guidelines for determining the primary qualitative elements to include:

Reduce the data you’ve gathered to the most salient points and find common patterns. Work both from the bottom up and from the top down, alternating between the two (Figure 7-5). Start by clustering and grouping findings repeatedly until you’ve reduced your research to just key insights. At the same time, work from the top down using your draft map to help direct your consolidation.

Create phases, categories, and divisions

Be prepared to shift things around. Your goal is first to create a prototype of the diagram, taking qualitative and quantitative information into account. Draft

Successive clustering Bottom-up and grouping

Top-down Predetermined categories Findings

FIGURE 7-5. Work iteratively from the bottom up and from the top down to consolidate your research findings.

178  Chapter 7: Illustrate: Make It Visual

Determine the major “joints” of the model you’re creating. In chronological maps, this means creating phases: e.g., Become Aware, Purchase, Use, Get Support. There are typically anywhere from 4 to 12 phases. For spatial maps and hierarchical diagrams you need to create categories. Try to find what feels natural for you and for stakeholders. Also keep in mind that the phase labels should be formulated from the perspective of the individual, not the organization. For instance, if you’re mapping the experience of getting a new job, the first phase should be Start Search (what the individual does), not Recruit (what the organization does). Describe the experience Decide what aspects to show to describe the experience. Core elements include actions, thoughts, and feelings. Consider ways to make the description as rich as possible. For instance, you can include direct quotes from customers or photos from your investigation. It’s up to you to determine what is most relevant for your given effort. The aim is to demonstrate what is valuable to both the individual and the organization through the condensed findings of your investigation.

Show touchpoints Describe the interfaces between the individual and organization for each phase. Think about the context of use. Remember, a touchpoint takes place within a given set of circumstances. Be sure that the information in the map surrounding the list of interfaces provides the context for those touchpoints. Include aspects of the organization Indicate which roles or departments are involved at each touchpoint. Other elements you can map are the goals of the organization, strategic imperatives, and even policies. Show what is valuable to the organization.

Format the content Formatting the content is one of the trickiest parts of mapping. After being steeped in data and research, you may want to include everything you’ve found. Resist this urge. Favor brevity. It takes practice to be able to express an experience in a compact form. Table 7-1 lists some of the guidelines to follow and shows two examples of the process of iteratively transforming research insights into concise content for a diagram. Notice how insights from research at the top of the table reduce down to concise statements. In this table, assume you are creating a customer journey map for a software company.

The top row of Table 7-1 starts with insights that might be found from research. This isn’t what gets included directly in the diagram. Instead, the aim is to compress the raw insight down to its essence by transforming it with the process suggested in the table. It’s also important to keep the same syntax for each type of information. A cohesive system of content will make the diagram more readable and more unified. You can come up with your own patterns, but make sure you stick to the system for consistency. Here are example formats I often use in mapping for some of the most common information types: • Actions: Start each with a verb; e.g., download software, call customer service. • Thoughts: Phrase as a question; e.g., Are there hidden fees? Who else do I need to involve? • Feelings: Use adjectives; e.g., nervous, unsure, relieved, delighted. • Pain points: Start each with a gerund; e.g., waiting for installation, paying invoice. • Touchpoints: Use nouns to describe the interface; e.g., email, customer hotline. • Opportunities: Begin each with a verb that shows change; e.g., increase the ease of installation, eliminate unnecessary steps.

Compile the Content  179

TABLE 7-1. Reduce raw observations into compact, well-formed statements by going through the process reflected in this table from the top to the bottom. Guideline

Description

Example 1

Example 2

Start with insights

Start with clusters of raw observations from your research.

Research cluster 1: People indicated they sometimes hesitate and reconsider during the customer acquisition phase because of our premium pricing model.

Research cluster 2: There is a clear pain point around deploying the solution, primarily due to lack of necessary technical knowledge.

Use natural language

Use language that reflects the individual’s experience in terms they would use.

People reconsider when making a purchase because they may be nervous or anxious about the high cost.

Users struggle to install the software for the first time if they don’t have the required technical skills.

Keep voice consistent

Rewrite the insights in either the first person or third person— pick one and don’t mix voice.

I reconsider when making a purchase because I’m anxious and nervous about the high cost.

I struggle to install the software for the first time because I don’t have the necessary technical skills.

Omit pronouns and articles

To save space, omit articles and pronouns, which are implied.

Reconsider when making a purchase due to anxiousness and nervousness over high cost.

Struggle to install software for first time without necessary technical skills.

Focus on the root cause

Reduce the information to reflect Feel anxious and nervous when making underlying motivations and a purchase due to high cost, and then emotions. reconsider.

Struggle during installation due to lack of necessary technical skills.

Be concise

Rewrite the descriptions to use as few words as possible. Use a thesaurus if needed.

Feel anxious during purchase about cost, and then reconsider.

Struggle due to lack of technical skills during installation.

Use abbreviations sparingly

Abbreviations can be OK if they are widely used and accepted.

Feel anxious during purchase about cost, and then reconsider.

Struggle due to lack of tech skills during installation.

Rely on context of map

Some information can be inferred from its position. Rely on the row and column headers if you have a table-like diagram.

Anxious about cost

Struggle due to lack of tech skills

(in the cell for the column for “purchase” and row for “feelings”)

OR

Reconsider

(assuming a column for “installation” and a row for “pain points”)

(in the cell for the column for “purchase” and row for “actions”)

180  Chapter 7: Illustrate: Make It Visual

Lack tech skills

Quantitative Information Including quantitative content adds validity to your diagram. Consider how to incorporate metrics, survey results, and other

data into the diagram. There are several ways to represent quantitative data, shown in Figures 7-6a through 7-6d.

+

1. Word of mouth (48%) 2. Web searches (26%) 3. Internet ads (19%) 4. TV ads (7%)

Satisfaction – FIGURE 7-6c. PLOT VALUES ON A GRAPH: A simple graph shows the rise and fall of a given measure across a diagram. For instance, you may have quantitative data for customer satisfaction at the end touchpoint in a journey.

800k

265k

127k

68k

23k

Frequency

Importance

Satisfaction

Frequency

Importance

Satisfaction

FIGURE 7-6a. SHOW NUMBERS AS TEXT: Include numbers and figures to show absolute values. For instance, you may have quantitative data on how people find your service.

FIGURE 7-6b. USE BARS TO SHOW AMOUNTS: Vertical bars show relative quantities. Absolute values can be included in text if needed.

FIGURE 7-6d. USE SIZE TO INDICATE QUANTITY: It’s also possible to show quantity with the size of a shape. For instance, this example could be used to indicate the number of customers that move through a typical purchase funnel.

Compile the Content  181

Design the Information

Typography

People like information that is rich in presentation. Content that is presented with color, texture, and style has relevance to our lives and our work. The visual presentation of a diagram influences how others understand the information.

Typography refers to the selection of letterforms and the general design of text. Since experience maps are mostly text, the typography of your diagram is paramount to facilitating its practical use.

Strive to create a consistent visual language that enhances your overall message. What insights should be highlighted? What are the key messages you wish to communicate? How can you make the diagram approachable, aesthetically pleasing, and more compelling?

Trypographical options can overwhelm. Let function and purpose guide your choice. When in doubt, favor legibility and intelligibility over flair and expression. Consider typeface, size and width, case, and bold and italic styling (Figures 7-7a through 7-7d).

Even if you are not a graphic designer, there are some basic decisions you can make to help the clarity of the diagram. Stay true to these principles:

Graphic Elements

• Simplify. Avoid frivolous and decorative graphics. Strive for efficiency in display. • Amplify. The design should intensify the goals of the project and expectations of the sponsors. • Clarify. Strive to be as clear as possible. • Unify. Use consistency to achieve a well-rounded appearance and cohesive visualization. The key aspects to pay attention to are typography, graphics, and visual hierarchy, as discussed in the following sections.

182  Chapter 7: Illustrate: Make It Visual

After you have compiled the content, consider how to represent it visually. Graphic elements play an important part; you may not be able to create the graphics yourself, but being aware of a few basics will help you plan and critique the outcome.

Show relationships with lines Lines are a principal means of showing visual alignment. They have four primary functions in alignment diagrams: dividing, containing, connecting, and showing paths. Be careful of unnecessary lines. If every cell in a table-like diagram has a line border, for instance, the overall diagram will become unnecessarily heavy in feel. As a general rule of thumb, use as few lines as possible, and only use lines that carry meaning to the diagram.

All caps: full sentence vs. short label

Serif The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Times New Roman The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Georgia The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Courier

CONTACT CUSTOMER SUPPORT FOR HELP BECOME AWARE

Sans Serif The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG

Arial Verdana Trebuchet

FIGURE 7-7a. SELECT A TYPEFACE: There are two major categories of typefaces, serif and sans serif. Typically, diagrams use a sans serif typeface for the bulk of the information, but you can find serif typefaces being used as well. It’s best to use only one or two different typefaces in a diagram.

Different font widths

DECIDE

FIGURE 7-7c. PAY ATTENTION TO CASE: Generally, longer texts are harder to read in capital letters than in mixed case. They will take up more space as well. Single words or short phrases, however, such as the title of a phase in a journey, may work well in uppercase. Use all caps sparingly to add emphasis or show differences.

Different font styles for emphasis

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Verdana The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Frutiger Frutiger Condensed

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Arial Arial Narrow

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Franklin Gothic Franklin Gothic Condensed

FIGURE 7-7b. CONSIDER FONT SIZE AND WIDTH: You will be motivated to use a small font size to get more information into the diagram. Avoid making the size so small it can’t be read. Instead, work with the content to reduce it to its most meaningful essence.

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Frutiger

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Frutiger Ultra Black The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Frutiger Light Italic

FIGURE 7-7d. EMPHASIZE WITH BOLD AND ITALIC STYLES: Use bold and italics to help distinguish different information types, but do so sparingly. Generally, the information will be more readable if you keep the same weight and style. A mix of bold and italics can get messy quickly. Legibility also changes with bold and italics. Making a text large and bold may not necessarily make it more readable. For instance, Frutiger Ultra Black draws attention but doesn’t make the text easier to read. Likewise, long texts in Frutiger Condensed italics are less legible.

Also, be aware of the overall width of the font you’re using. For instance, Verdana is a very wide font and not recommended. Instead, try a condensed or narrow font. Pair these with their regular versions for greater consistency.

Design the Information  183

Convey information with color Color is more than just decoration. It helps create a sense of priority and facilitates overall understanding. Two key uses of color in experience mapping are color-coding and showing background regions, as illustrated in Figure 7-8: • Color-coding allows viewers to see individual facets of information across the diagram. This is crucial for creating a sense of visual alignment. For instance, pain points or moments of truth may have a consistent color throughout the diagram. Even if they are not on the same line of sight, color will visually connect different facets of information throughout the diagram.

Phase 1

Phase 2

Note that color-blind viewers may not be able to distinguish colors well, and also that colors have different meanings in d ­ ifferent cultures. • Use color to create backgrounds within the diagram. This avoids unnecessary use of lines. For instance, the phases of a journey may each have a different color to distinguish them. You can also accomplish dividing and containing by using values of a single color, rather than introducing new colors. The use of too many colors can have diminishing returns. Use color purposefully for emphasis, and be sure to make it consistent.

Phase 3

Phase 4

!

! ! !

Pain points

Moments of delight FIGURE 7-8. Convey information with color.

184  Chapter 7: Illustrate: Make It Visual

Add icons for efficiency Icons not only communicate a great deal of information in a small amount of space, they also add visual interest. Typical icons found in maps of experiences include people, physical evidence of touchpoints, emotions, and moments of truth (see Figure 7-9). There are many directions you can take, with near endless variation (e.g., solid backgrounds versus outlines only, as seen

People

Physical Evidence

Emotions

Moments of Truth

in the first row of Figure 7-9). Come up with your own style for icons, and keep that consistent throughout the diagram. Keep in mind that not all information types can be represented as icons. If there’s a chance of ambiguity, create a key to explain the icons. Also keep in mind that if there are too many icons it will be difficult to comprehend the diagram: the reader will constantly have to refer back to the key to understand the information. Strive to represent the content of the diagram in such a way that it can be read without reference to a key or further explanation. Also note that icons can have different meanings in different cultures. Consider how you might express the thought or concept you’d like to iconize with as little bias and as few cultural implications as possible. The Noun Project (thenounproject.com) is a website that aggregates icons and symbols from contributors around the world. The images are readily accessible for use, either in the public domain or with a Creative Commons license. It’s a great resource for icons that can help you achieve consistency in your diagrams.

FIGURE 7-9. Add icons for efficiency.

Design the Information  185

Visual Hierarchy Not all information in a diagram is of equal importance. Create a visual hierarchy to direct how the eye perceives the experience you’re mapping. As illustrated and explained in

Figures 7-10a through 7-10d, techniques for this include good alignment, different visual weights for emphasis, layering, and avoiding chartjunk.

FIGURE 7-10a. ALIGN ELEMENTS: Visual alignment is critical to your diagram. A grid is an invisible structure of equally spaced lines to which elements are justified. This creates clear lines and guides readers’ line of sight vertically and horizontally. Strive for alignment even if you are using a spreadsheet or mapping sticky notes on a wall.

FIGURE 7-10b. CREATE EMPHASIS: The weight and size of both text and graphic elements provide focus and differentiation. For instance, in this image the phase headers (“RUN,” “FOLLOW-UP,” etc.) are larger than the rest of the text, providing a sense of hierarchy. There are also different sizes of arrows to show different aspects of the experience.

186  Chapter 7: Illustrate: Make It Visual

FIGURE 7-10c. LAYER INFORMATION: Make some elements stand out more than others by layering different sized texts and different shading. In this example, “uncertainty” is shown with background shading, and specific emotions are shown as positive or negative, all within a small space on the diagram.

PLAN months to a year Set Up Time & Date Agenda Budget & costs Format & location

Event team Success criteria

What does success look like?

!

Promote

RUN days Register

Prepare

Open

Create promo materials

Monitor Sign-ups, payments

Respond to inquiries

Monitor attendance

Reach widest audience

Gather attendee info

Check systems & venue

Welcome attendees

Track promo efforts

Cancel if necessary

Brief staff

Will anyone come?

Who is coming?

FOLLOW-UP days to weeks Present

Transition talks Attend to speakers Communicate w/ staff Monitor schedule

Set expectations

What could go wrong?

End Wrap up Thank attendees

Take breaks Network & socialize Use social media Gauge satisfaction

Kick off

Will everything go as planned?

Engage

Is everything on track?

Are attendees getting value?

Conclude Plan next steps Post, send materials Address open issues Launch survey

Debrief with staff

Analyze Survey Measure Success Identify Best Practices Update Materials

Celebrate

Was it a success?

Improve

What's left to do?

What could be better?

MOMENT OF TRUTH

Creative

Hopeful

Reassured

Eager

Excited

Confident

Focused

Relieved

Proud

Forward looking

Indecisive

Unsure

Worried

Frustrated

Panic

Overhelmed

Distracted

Exhausted

Critical

Discouraged

FIGURE 7-10d. AVOID CHARTJUNK: “Chartjunk,” a term coined by information design expert Edward Tufte, is anything unnecessary in an information display. Make every mark count. Design the Information  187

Example Diagramming Process Overall, the process of illustrating an experience in a single diagram is iterative. The insights you’ll map drive the visualization, and the visualization will impact the form of those insights.

Figure 7-11 shows an example draft diagram for organizing a conference event. It reflects a first pass at consolidating the research observations to include in the map. Thought has been given to the chronological phases, the wording and formatting of text, and the balance of content in general.

FIGURE 7-11. Before adding graphic detail, find the right layout and consolidate the insights from your investigation into a draft diagram.

188  Chapter 7: Illustrate: Make It Visual

FIGURE 7-12. Use visual design elements to tell a more compelling story and guide your audience through the experience. Design the Information  189

The next step is to add a more visually compelling narrative. Figure 7-12 shows an updated version of the draft diagram created by Hennie Farrow, VP of design and UX. Various aspects of design come together in Figure 7-12 to guide the audience through the experience in a more engaging and compelling way: Typography

Content There is a consistent use of syntax—for instance, verbs for the main phase and adjectives for feelings. The voice is consistent as well. Graphic elements Color is used to distinguish the different facets of information in the rows. The first column with the row labels has darker backgrounds, providing depth to the overall diagram and giving that information priority.

In addition to a regular font (Frutiger), this diagram also uses a condensed font (Frutiger Condensed) to make the best use of space. All capitals are used for row headers Icons are added for visual interest. Each information for emphasis and to set type also includes a unique them off from other element to help provide People like information that is rich in text. The text has even a sense of cohesion. For size and weighting for presentation. The visual presentation instance, the organizational the most part, with bold of a diagram influences how others goals have arrows to show and italics used sparingly the desired direction of the understand the information. for emphasis. outcome, pain points have a Hierarchy Horizontal and vertical alignment creates a sense of rows and columns across the diagram. Different background shadings set the row and column headers and the phases (“Plan,” “Run,” and “Follow-Up”) off from the main content of the map.

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square bullet, and key questions have a line. The moment of truth in this experience is indicated with a graphic element in the middle.

Showing Your Emotions Emotions play a critical role in the experiences we have. Some description of the individual’s emotive state of mind is necessary when mapping experiences, but emotions aren’t easy to represent in a diagram. The simplest approach is to indicate emotions with text. It’s also possible to show emotions using icons of facial expressions. Figure 7-13 shows a simple but highly effective diagram created by Craig Goebel for Intuit. Notice also how the emotional journey in Figure 7-13 is plotted on a line that moves up and down with the different states of feeling. This is a common approach that has emerged over the past few decades. Figure 7-14 is an early example from a 2004 report by Ed Thompson and Esteban Kolsky titled “How to Approach Customer Experience Management”; it’s an excerpt from a diagram assessing the experience of business passengers on a major US airline. One problem with the plotted-line approach is that it suggests some kind of quantification. However, rarely is this information

derived from quantitative investigation—typically, it’s estimated intuitively. Be careful what you communicate and how. What’s more, the plotted-line approach oversimplifies the emotions. It’s unusual for us to have just one emotion at a time. For example, when checking out of a hotel resort after a two-week vacation, you may be delighted with the service but sad to leave or even anxious about going back to work on Monday— all at the same time. An approach that I typically take focuses on a range of possible emotions by indicating the most prevalent positive and negative emotion at each phase of the experience. The “Feelings” row in Figure 7-12 is an example of this: notice that the curved line specifically reflects “uncertainty,” which drives a lot of the emotions uncovered during research. Understanding and representing emotions is a challenge. Consider the tradeoffs you’ll have to make and how best to characterize the emotional aspects of the experience you’re illustrating.

Design the Information  191

FIGURE 7-13. This journey map created by Craig Goebel consists primarily of emotional states shown with icons plotted on a curve.

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FIGURE 7-14. The idea of plotting emotional highs and lows is common in mapping and appeared as early as 2004.

Design the Information  193

Tools and Software There are a range of tools and software you can use to illustrate a diagram depending on your skills and need. For informal efforts, a simple whiteboard with sticky notes may suffice. In other cases a more polished diagram may be formally presented to clients and stakeholders. This section reviews various types of tools you can use for mapping.

Desktop Software

graphics editing environment directly through a browser. These programs require training and practice to use properly. Spreadsheets It’s also possible to create diagrams in programs like Microsoft Excel. The important thing to look for in alternative programs like this is the ability to work on a large, nearlimitless canvas. Presentation programs, such as PowerPoint or Keynote, generally don’t extend far enough in width or height to be able to accommodate a full alignment diagram.

There are a range of desktop tools available. These include: Diagramming tools Omnigraffle for Mac and Visio for Windows are often used to create workflow diagrams, flowcharts, and site maps. They have rich diagramming capabilities that can yield high-quality final diagrams. High-end graphics applications The programs from the Adobe Creative Suite—in particular, Illustrator (shown in Figure 7-15)—are widely used applications. Sketch is a more recent tool that has become very popular, and Figma offers a powerful online

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FIGURE 7-15. The experience map example in Figure 7-12 was created with Adobe Illustrator, a high-end graphics program.

Web-Based Mapping Tools Web-based tools for mapping are becoming more powerful. They have the benefit of easy sharing and high portability. If you’re working with people in different locations, an online tool can support remote collaboration. Here are some of the types of tools that are available: Touchpoint management programs Touchpoint Dashboard (touchpointdashboard.com) is a leading example of an online tool specifically for managing touchpoints (see Figure 7-16). This type of tool is best suited to tracking changes to touchpoints over time. Because it’s database-driven, it also allows for multiple views of information. For instance, you can filter and change views to see your data from multiple perspectives. This isn’t possible with graphics programs and other desktop software.

Online mapping tools UXPressia (uxpressia.com) is a leading for-purpose online mapping tool that offers many templates to get you started, as well as the ability to collaborate with colleagues directly in a map. Others include Smaply (smaply. com) and Canvanizer (canvanizer.com). Online diagramming tools Lucidchart (lucidchart.com) is an online diagramming tool akin to Omnigraffle or Visio. It has the advantage of being integrated directly into Google Drive. Online whiteboards Online whiteboards such as MURAL (mural.co) and other similar tools work well for all aspects of the mapping process. Their flexibility and large canvas area allow for the creation of detailed diagrams, all online. This opens up the process for active contributions from others on an ongoing basis. Figure 7-17 shows a mapping exercise I completed using MURAL. There are several things to note here. First, multiple activities can be included in one diagram: value chain mapping, personas, empathy maps, and experience maps. Second, the large virtual service allowed us to compare two different experiences—in this case, going to the supermarket by bicycle and by car. Finally, working online allows for the integration of images to make the description of an experience even richer. MURAL also allows for multiple people to collaborate in real time in the cloud.

FIGURE 7-16. Touchpoint Dashboard is an online tool used to manage touchpoints.

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FIGURE 7-17. MURAL allows for several mapping activities and a comparison of different experiences to be completed all in one place.

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Summary The goal at this stage in the process is to assemble the insights from your investigation into a single diagram. Mapping the experience not only captures a great deal of information in a compact space, but provides a compelling form of storytelling that stakeholders want to engage with.

It’s important to understand the basics of information design and the importance of visualization, even if you are not a graphic designer. Typography is critical since much of the body is text. Graphic elements add visual interest and efficiency. Lines, shapes, icons, and colors enhance comprehension.

The shape of your diagram conveys meaning. Typically, a chronological diagram will have a table-like or timeline layout. But there are alternatives as well, such as circular layouts, spider-like networks, and “snakes and ladders.” Consider how the form of the diagram amplifies the overall message.

Visual hierarchy also plays a role. Not all elements are of equal importance. Use layering and different sizes to bring some aspects to the foreground and to push others into the background. If you need to hire a graphic designer, you should be able to discuss some of these basics with them.

Getting the content to fit in a condensed format is challenging. This is an iterative process of clustering and grouping and clustering the groups. Your goal is to reduce the information to representative aggregate behavior for the target group. Thinking from the top down helps with this process. Use the form and structure of your diagram to guide you in compiling the content.

There are a variety of tools for illustrating a diagram. Using spreadsheets and diagramming tools provides an easy start and quick results. High-end graphic applications can produce polished maps, but require expert skills to operate. There are more and more online tools available, including for-purpose mapping solutions and multipurpose whiteboarding solutions.

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Further Reading Robert Bringhurst, The Elements of Typographic Style, 3rd ed. (Hartley & Marks, 2008) This is an attractive, extremely well-written book that is considered by many to be a “bible of typography.” The illustrations and examples included are impeccable and engaging. There is a wealth of practical information, including a review of selected font specimens and a thorough glossary. This volume is a timeless reference to own. Edward Tufte, Envisioning Information (Graphics Press, 1990) Edward Tufte, Visual Explanations (Graphics Press, 1997) Tufte is the leading thinker in information design. These two books are a few of his many tomes outlining fundamental principles of information design. Understanding these concepts helps greatly in creating alignment diagrams.

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by the Mad*Pow Strategy and Service Design Team: Jon Podolsky, Ebae Kim, Paul Kahn, and Samantha Louras Mad*Pow was approached by an international laboratory and diagnostics company to improve the patient’s lab test experience. Our process for creating compelling user experiences always starts with research. To improve a service, we need to understand that service from the customer’s point of view. We start by mapping out the current experience, using a combination of stakeholder and user interviews, along with direct exposure to the service, staff, and operations to produce the materials and insights.

From the research we build a narrative that describes how a customer interacts with the service. The narrative may be generic or may represent a scenario associated with a specific persona developed through the research. We organize the steps of the customer’s experience in a chronological sequence, and then group the steps into stages that identify meaningful transitions. For example, in this case our research showed that several stages precede scheduling the appointment. The first stage,

FIGURE 7-18. The first step is to map user journey stages and touchpoints. Case Study: Mapping the Lab Test Experience  199

CASE STUDY

Mapping the Lab Test Experience

CASE STUDY

Awareness of a Health Problem, is followed by Evaluation of Whether or Not to Seek Medical Help, when most users independently search for an evaluation of their symptoms. This approach produced a customer journey map showing the stages, steps, and patient touchpoints associated with each step (Figure 7-18). This allowed us to show our client how their service fit into their customer’s larger health care journey. The stages of the journey are also the structure for building individual customer scenarios. We can select a persona developed through the research (Figure 7-19) and build a scenario for that character, adding a layer of customer emotions to the journey. These emotional responses help us identify steps where the experience could be improved. The persona’s moments of concern, discomfort, and anxiety can be made visible through a combination of emotional symbols and quotes, bringing the customer’s experience to the forefront. In this example, we have encoded the persona’s emotions with a single color and variations of facial expressions. Color variation is used only to call attention to the two moments in the journey where changes could have a positive impact. We broke the anxiety-producing step of waiting for test results into three additional steps to emphasize the amount of negative activity and feeling the waiting period can produce for this persona (see Figure 7-20).

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FIGURE 7-19. In the second step, select a persona to build an individual journey.

This approach produces a highly readable and condensed customer journey map, with the option to add more complex service blueprint information as needed to illustrate current gaps and opportunities for changing the offering to produce the desired improvement.

FIGURE 7-20. Third, map the persona’s emotions at each step.

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CASE STUDY

In this scenario, the customer is interacting with staff at the offices of both the health care provider and the testing lab. By adding frontstage processes for both locations, then aligning these with backstage processes needed to support the customer’s touchpoints, the map can be expanded to include elements of a service blueprint (Figure 7-21).

CASE STUDY

FIGURE 7-21. Finally, add the frontstage and backstage processes.

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CASE STUDY Case Study: Mapping the Lab Test Experience  203

Diagram and Image Credits Figure 7-1: Customer journey diagram for Starbucks created by Eric Berkman, used with permission Figure 7-3: Diagram created by Sofia Hussain, appearing in her article “Designing Digital Strategies, Part 1: Cartography,” used with permission Figure 7-12: Experience map for organizing a conference created by Hennie Farrow with Jim Kalbach Figure 7-13: Journey map created by Craig Goebel ( linkedin.com/in/craiggoebel ), used with permission Figure 7-14: Excerpt from a diagram appearing in Ed Thompson and Esteban Kolsky’s Gartner research report “How to Approach Customer Experience Management,” used with permission Figure 7-16: Image of Touchpoint Dashboard from touchpointdashboard.com Figure 7-17: Screenshot of experience map by Jim Kalbach, created in MURAL Figures 7-18 to 7-21: Created by Jonathan Podolsky, Ebae Kim, Paul Kahn, and Samantha Louras at Mad*Pow, used with permission

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“Visualizations act as a campfire around which we gather to tell stories.” —Al Shalloway

IN THIS CHAPTER ■

Using diagrams to gain empathy

■

Envisioning possible solutions

■

Evaluating concepts and Presumptive Design

■

Case study: Presumptive Design aligns teams on the problem to be solved

■

Running an alignment workshop

■

Case study: Customer journey mapping game

CHAPTER 8

Alignment Workshops: Find the Right Problem to Solve I’m lucky: throughout the majority of my career I’ve had the fortune to come into direct contact with the customers of the companies I worked for. I’ve observed hundreds of people at their workplaces or in retail stores or in their homes, across many industries. I’ve observed what they experience in context.

engage others in your organization in a conversation. It’s your job to make that happen.

A broader picture is needed in order to connect the dots, or varying perspectives about the customer experience across the organization. Diagrams provide such a view. But creating a diagram is not the ultimate goal. Rather, it is a means to

An alignment workshop is an event that brings others together to focus on the experience from the outside in. The concepts you’ll envision will frame the problem to be solved, but will not necessarily be implementation-ready.

You have to take the story of what customers actually experience back to the organization. Consequently, your role switches from mapmaker to facilitator at this point in the process. Your aim is to get alignment on Ideally, everyone in an orgathe current situation and A diagram is a means to engage nization would get firsthand on how your organization others in a conversation. contact with customers. comprehends the notion of But for many this type of customer experience. If the exposure is limited. Even frontline personnel, such as customer team members don’t agree on where they currently are, how support center agents, may see only a few of the experiences can they agree on the best future direction? Your diagram will customers have. Anecdotes come in without context. help calibrate a common understanding.

207

This chapter outlines the four stages of the session, shown in Figure 8-1: • Empathize: Gain a shared understanding of the individual’s experience from an outside-in perspective. • Envision: Find opportunities and imagine future solutions. • Evaluate: Articulate ideas quickly and test them for immediate feedback. • In a final stage, you’ll plan experiments to test your hypotheses. In the next phase, discussed in the next chapter, you’ll run the experiments you plan and move into designing concrete solutions.

Empathize

Envision

Evaluate

Plan Experiments

FIGURE 8-1. The main parts of an alignment workshop are to empathize, envision, and evaluate, and then plan experiments around concrete solutions.

Empathize It’s not enough that you empathize with the experiences people have. You need to ensure that others gain that same deep understanding. Strive to spread empathy throughout the organization. The type of empathy I’m referring to here is one of understanding and comprehension. It’s about seeing the world through someone else’s eyes. More than that, strive to motivate others to turn their empathy into compassion by taking action to address issues and create an overall positive user experience. The goal is to develop an implicit sense of what an experience is like, what people value, and what emotions are involved. Diagrams allow you to walk through an experience in slow motion, bringing that type of compassion into your organization. The process begins by first understanding the current experiences. Then, assess how well you support those experiences before finally finding opportunities to create unique value. To kick off the workshop, review the findings from your investigation together as a group. Make the diagram the focal point. Complement it with other artifacts you’ve created, such as personas. You can also play video clips from interviews to highlight a specific state of mind or pain point, or have coresearchers tell stories from the field that bring the experience to life. Portray a rich description of the world as you’ve observed it in a way that is relevant to the organization. After setting the stage, have the participants engage with the diagram. Display it prominently so a group of people can

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stand around it (Figure 8-2). The aim is to immerse the team in the details of the experience by examining the map together. If there are many sections to the diagram, break the team up and have each group read through a different part. The workshop is not a presentation for passive consumption. Instead, participants are active contributors. There are several techniques you can use to engage them from the start: Mark up the diagram Invite people to comment on, correct, or add information directly to the diagram (Figure 8-3). Even if you have a polished graphic version of the map, keep it open for feedback. For instance, create empty rows for people to make additions from their own observations.

FIGURE 8-2. Display the diagrams prominently for others to gather around.

Foster discussion Prompt the group with directed thought exercises. For instance, have them identify moments of truth and discuss the relative importance of each touchpoint. Tell stories Have everyone in the group recount stories from the field research. What have they heard people saying at each stage in their experience? What evidence can they add? Role-play scenarios from the experience to bring them to life. Empathy doesn’t come from the diagram itself, but from the conversations that create a deeper understanding of an experience. As the facilitator, you have to ensure a meaningful dialogue happens. I have found it is usually not difficult to get people talking, and conversations happen naturally.

FIGURE 8-3. Invite everyone in the workshop to contribute to the diagram, whether in person or in a remote session. Empathize  209

Business Origami Business origami is a specific mapping technique to build empathy and understanding. It uses physical (paper) representations of journey map elements that participants can move around in a physical space. The aim is to map interactions between the various actors, objects, and other service components, as seen in Figure 8-4. Business origami was conceived at the Hitachi Design Centre and further developed by service design expert Jess McMullin around 2010. It’s a way to prototype a service experience that might otherwise be difficult to represent in a single interface or artifact. More importantly, it’s an engaging and participatory activity that promotes conversations and healthy debate.

Further Reading • Jess McMullin, “Business Origami,” Citizen Experience blog (Apr 2011) http://www.citizenexperience. org/2010/04/30/business-origami • Chenghan Ke, “Business Origami: A Method for Service Design,” Medium (Aug 2018) https://medium.com/@ hankkechenghan/business-origami-valuable-method-for-service-design-43a882880627

You can download a set of business origami shapes from http:// www.citizenexperience.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/ Business-Origami-Shapes1.pdf. For a similar technique that leverages physical objects on a board, see the case study at the end of this chapter by Christophe Tallec.

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FIGURE 8-4. Business origami uses paper objects to map out a service interaction in a workshop setting.

Identify Opportunities Maps of an experience tell a story in a way that helps you uncover opportunities for improvement and innovation. To do this, compare the organization’s actions to the individual’s experience at each step. Activities to engage a group in identifying opportunities include:

score and 6 being the worst. At one point the scores between breakout groups diverged: one group gave a 6, while the other gave a 3.

Identify moments of truth Collectively identify the points in the experience that are most important to individuals. Give everyone some colored dot stickers, and have them indicate the most critical moments. Discuss the areas that got the most votes. Vote on importance to the organization Look at what’s valuable to the organization. Use dot voting to find the most important points in the experience. Rate your own performance One of my favorite activities to run is to ask the workshop participants to rate how well their product or service supports customers at each stage. Using school grades provides a familiar scale that most can relate to, or you can devise a simple scoring system (one-to-five or similar). If you are working in multiple groups, compare the ratings after you come back together. Discuss the phases that got different scores across the groups. For instance, Figure 8-5 shows ratings from two separate groups working on the same section of a diagram in a workshop I once ran. The scale was 1 to 6, with 1 being the best

FIGURE 8-5. In this example, rating performance reveals a discrepancy between two workshop breakout groups. Empathize  211

It turned out that some of the members of the group that gave a lower rating were closer to actual customer feedback at that point. They had just recently uncovered major complaints and issues that the other group were unaware of. The ensuing conversation was enlightening for the whole group, building both consensus within the team and empathy for the customer.

• Competitors: Look at what other providers are doing at each step in the journey. Where are you underperforming? When do your competitors provide more satisfying experiences? Visualizing opportunities on top of the map allows the team to take a step back and consider them in the context of the organization’s offering. For example, you can add a star

These types of activities serve to align different views on the optimal points of intervention. Strive to make your opportunities explicit by highlighting some or all of the following aspects: • Weaknesses: Look for points of failure. How can you better support users? When are their needs least satisfied? • Gaps: Find where no support is offered. What pain points are not addressed? What moments of truth are potentially overlooked? • Effort: Identify the points where people have to expend the most energy to get to the next step. How can you increase or decrease the individual’s effort? What can be done to provide less friction?

FIGURE 8-6. A simple pattern emerged from an experience map for authors: their involvement decreased during the production phases.

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or other icon to the most impactful points of intervention. Broader patterns will typically emerge.

• Business context—Investigating the commercial aspects of the business and the business needs

For instance, I once consulted with a publisher to improve their relationship with their authors. We noticed a trend during the workshop: the publisher didn’t stay in close contact with authors after the manuscript was submitted.

• User perspective —Thoroughly understanding customer needs and experiences

Figure 8-6 shows this pattern overlaid on the map. The bars show our relative estimated level of involvement at each stage. The team then focused on ways to increase contact with authors throughout the journey. How could they make authors feel more connected? How could they create a sense of belonging?

• Problem reframing —Generating a clear and actionable problem statement

Exploring the problem space this way shifted our conversation away from attracting new authors and the editing process with existing authors to the phases after a manuscript was submitted—something the publisher had previously neglected. Mapping allows you to better frame and reframe the problem to be solved. Independent consultant and design sprint master Jay Melone leverages mapping in his problem framing method.* “Problem framing helps us validate there’s a problem worth solving,” says Melone. His approach has five steps: • Problem discovery—Identifying the key problem areas to refine in subsequent reframing exercises

• Business-to-user mapping —Aligning the business context and user perspective in a unified map

The exercises at each of these steps help teams dig deeper into understanding the challenges they face and their root causes. But the team has to be open to questioning: are you focused on the right problem to be solved? As the facilitator, carefully guide the discussion in a productive way to get consensus. Often this type of introspection leads to a new expression of the problem statement, also called a point of view. Melone recommends explicitly focusing on four elements to include in the reframed problem statement: • Who is having the problem? • What is the problem about? • When is it happening; aka what is the context? • Why is it important to solve; will users care? To then launch into brainstorming, rephrase the point of view as a question. If needed, break the problem up into smaller actionable pieces. Here are a few useful techniques to explore:

* See Melone’s four-part article on his approach to problem framing, “Problem Framing v2: (Parts 1-4),” on the New Haircut blog (Aug 2018). Empathize  213

How might we…?

Once you agree on the point of view, have people individually or in groups come up with specific ways to worsen the experience. Sharing these ideas with the group is engaging and generally leads to laughter. After you have a list of ideas, consider how the opposite of those effects could be achieved.

Seeding ideation with clear statements focuses the team on finding a specific solution. The language used is important: starting questions with “How might we…” provides a sense of safety for exploring a range of options together without fear of failing. It’s an admission that the team doesn’t have the Mapping in general, and answers from the outthe alignment workshop in Innovation often comes without epiphany. set but is committed to particular, ultimately helps Don’t expect to be able to recognize finding them together. frame the problem your an innovation as such immediately. For example, based on organization is trying to solve the pattern in Figure in a way that is aligned with 8-6, I asked workshop participants, “How might we betcustomer needs. The outcome is a shared point of view that ter involve authors during each phase of the publishing becomes a springboard to finding solutions that are grounded process after they submit their manuscript?” in real-world o ­ bservations. What if…? Asking “What if…” often focuses the ideation on a specific solution direction and can be used to limit brainstorming. For example, in the publishing scenario you might ask, “What if we focus only on face-to-face contact with authors?” The phrase can be used to shift attention as well, for example by asking, “What if we leverage alumni authors to help new authors?” Putting such constraints on the team’s focus encourages them to dig deeper. Make it worse first Another technique I’ve had success with is to spend some time considering how you might exacerbate the problem.

Envision In my experience, diagrams inspire ideas almost instantly. Typically, stakeholders are teeming with ways to enhance their offering. Ideas pour out after just an initial inspection of a diagram. It’s your job as the facilitator to direct their attention and focus this energy. At this point in the session, move from understanding the current experience to envisioning possible solutions. The process is one of “going wide” in terms of ideas and concepts. This mode of working is commonly called divergent thinking (Figure 8-7). The aim at this point isn’t to decide on a single solution or direction to follow, but to explore the art of the possible.

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Then, set the right expectations with the team. Ensure that the transition from empathizing to envisioning happens. Communicate the rules of divergent thinking: • Go for volume. Aim to cover a breadth of ideas. Keep the details to a minimum at first. Avoid filtering ideas as you go. • Withhold judgment. Create a safe place for people to be creative. Participants should be comfortable contributing ideas, even if they are not fully thought through. • Build on ideas. Get the group to say “Yes, and…” instead of “But…” to ideas as they emerge. Find the underlying value of ideas and build on that. • Find alternatives. Strive to come up with variations and alternatives to initial ideas. Don’t discard them too soon. • Encourage crazy ideas. Refrain from censoring yourself during ideation. There will be plenty of opportunities to prioritize and evaluate ideas later. • Be visual. Work on whiteboards and flipcharts to map out ideas as they come. Uncover new relationships and connections as you brainstorm. The intent is to protect ideas in their infancy. Create an environment that embraces a range of possibilities and that recombines ideas to arrive at innovative ones. After collecting initial ideas from the group, conduct directed exercises for more innovative concepts. Two specific

Diverge Empathize

Envision

Evaluate

Plan Experiments

FIGURE 8-7. Begin by exploring different directions and ideas with divergent thinking.

approaches I’ve had success with are removing barriers and challenging industry assumptions.

Remove Barriers A particularly good way to spot opportunities for innovation and improvement is to look at what’s holding people back in their current experience. Identify the obstacles to getting the jobs done at each stage in the diagram. Table 8-1 summarizes key types of barriers to overcome, with examples and tips on how to identify each type.* Be sure to consider emotional and social aspects as well. For instance, if you are looking at the experience of attending a conference, you may find that people fear embarrassment when asking a question of a speaker. How might you overcome this emotional and social barrier?

* This table is adapted from The Innovator’s Guide to Growth by Scott Anthony and colleagues. See this book for more on barriers to innovation. Envision  215

TABLE 8-1. Types of barriers that prevent individuals from getting value. Barrier

Example

How to identify

Access: Some experiences are limited to specific times or places, or they pose physical or cognitive barriers.

Mobile phones gave access to telephoning even on-the-go.

Look at the instances in which an individual is not able to consume a product or service at all. Are they locked out of getting value?

Skill: People may lack the ability to perform a necessary task.

Computing prior to 1970 was reserved for trained users until the graphic user interface and mouse came along in 1982.

Smartphones now give access to the internet and data from anywhere.

Photography in the late 19th century, before the Kodak camera simplified taking pictures, was a complex art. Time: Interacting with a product or service may simply be too time-consuming.

Prior to eBay, buying and selling collectibles was prohibitively time-consuming.

Having to take many steps in a process is a sign that skill may be a barrier. How can you make tasks simple enough for anyone to complete?

Look for high dropout rates within a process and assess if lack of time is the root cause. What can you do to shorten the process?

Money: People may lack the financial means Airline travel prior to 1970 was only for the to afford a product or service. wealthy.

Identify points where a service has high costs. Ask, how might you offer that same service for free?

Effort: Improvements come from looking at ways to reduce friction.

Look for ways to reduce the customer’s time to task completion and how to remove as much friction as possible from the overall experience.

Before Uber came along, getting a taxi was hit-or-miss, leaving riders standing in the cold or rain, and payment required people to fumble around through their wallets in the back seat of a car.

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Challenge Industry Assumptions Another source of meaningful change comes from breaking the rules. To help foster a disruptive mindset, identify the prevailing industry assumptions, or those unwritten rules that define an industry, and then challenge them.* First, generate industry assumption statements using this formula: Everyone in knows that …. Have everyone do this individually at first. Go for volume by using phases of the experience to uncover additional industry assumptions. Then vote on the assumption most relevant to your project or problem to be solved. Figure 8-8 shows an example of collecting and prioritizing industry assumptions during a workshop I once ran. After that, think of ways to change or overturn each by considering how you’d do the opposite. What can be turned upside down? What conventions and clichés can you break? What if a step or element was completely eliminated?

FIGURE 8-8. Challenge industry assumptions in a workshop.

* For more, see Luke Williams’s book Disrupt , which details a complete approach to challenging industry assumptions.

Envision  217

To illustrate, consider these examples of game-changing innovations and how they broke industry assumptions: • Everyone in the mop category knew that a mop was a one-time purchase, until P&G introduced disposable mops with the Swiffer. • Everyone in the airline industry knew passenger seats were preassigned, until Southwest made seat selection first come, first served.

Evaluate By this point in the alignment workshop, the team should have generated a lot of concepts. That’s just the first step. Don’t end there. Instead, integrate evaluation activities directly into the workshop. In other words, switch from divergent thinking to convergent thinking (Figure 8-9).

• Everyone in the car rental busiDiagrams don’t provide answers; ness knew you rented by the they foster conversations. day and had to complete a lot of paperwork in person, until Zipcar made it possible to book online and pay by the hour. • Everyone with minor health concerns knew they had to be seen by a doctor, until CVS’s MinuteClinics started treating a limited number of conditions that don’t require a doctor to diagnose. To change the game, you have to first know what game you’re in. The map provides a backdrop to uncover common industry assumptions from the individual’s point of view. Inverting or denying common conventions in a market forces the team to think outside the box.

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Empathize

Prioritize your ideas, articulate the details of each concept, and test them quickly for immediate feedback.

Envision

Converge Evaluate

Plan Experiments

FIGURE 8-9. After divergent thinking, converge ideas into concepts and prioritize them.

Prioritize Use the “feasibility versus value” matrix for an initial prioritization, as shown in Figure 8-10. On one axis, consider how easy an idea is to implement, or its feasibility. On the other, consider its impact on the individual’s experience. Use the map and your identification of opportunities to help assess impact.

Figure 8-11 shows an example of a prioritization matrix from a workshop I once conducted. We used a window for the matrix grid. We quickly identified five high-impact ideas that the engineering team could implement immediately—literally the next day—with no extra funding or resources.

The aim is to sort the output of ideation into these quadrants. Once sorted, you can then do subsequent prioritization within each quadrant. Additionally, when the feasibility of an idea is low (i.e., that concept is harder to implement), you can find ways to move it up the matrix by either changing it to be easier to implement, considering alternative ways to implement it, or both.

After finding the quick wins, move to the ideas that are of high value but are harder to implement. These generally take planning, design, and development effort. Select the concepts to develop further that have the most potential and that people feel passionate about. Have a product owner make these selections, or do dot voting to get group consensus.

High Feasibility

Consider doing third

Do first

Low Impact

High Impact

Do last or not at all

Do second

Low Feasibility FIGURE 8-10. A simple prioritization scheme looks at impact on the experience and feasibility to deliver.

FIGURE 8-11. Prioritization of ideas by feasibility and value to the customer can be done on a simple grid. Evaluate  219

Articulate

Draw a flowchart

Innovation often comes without epiphany. Don’t expect to be able to recognize an innovation as such immediately. You’ll have to first develop your ideas iteratively. Focus on lightweight artifacts that represent each concept, but leave them open to interpretation and learning. As quickly as possible, articulate the concept you want feedback on. Within just a few hours, you can create representations of your leading ideas for evaluation. The resulting artifacts help “debug” your thinking and can prove or disprove the value of an idea quickly. Here are a few techniques:

Quickly express your idea as steps in a flowchart. This will help you make connections and see all of the moving parts at once. Sketch ideas Quickly draw an image of the product or service to share with others. Wireframe solutions Create simple versions of screens that outline the proposed interaction (Figure 8-13).

Write scenarios Write out the details of a concept in prose. Be as detailed as possible in terms of the anticipated experience. Even the simplest of concepts can easily lead to multiple pages of text. Let others read and critique it. Create storyboards Represent the intended experience in a series of graphic panels. Then critique the idea as a group. Figure 8-12 shows an example of a simple storyboard created during a workshop. In this case, we decided to put one concept on hold based on this initial assessment. FIGURE 8-12. Storyboards represent ideas visually with fairly low effort to test concepts.

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Build a low-fidelity prototype With online tools such as InVision, it’s easy to create simple prototypes of software in a matter of hours. Show just enough to be able to get feedback on a key flow. Even physical products can be prototyped in a day-long workshop. For instance, in one workshop I conducted, we tested an idea for improving the shipping experience for a large ecommerce website. We went to the local postal supply store, bought a box with the approximate dimensions we needed, and mocked it up to look like we had envisioned it. This was then used to get immediate feedback from potential customers.

Concept Feedback Get feedback on your concepts as quickly as possible, even during the workshop. This will not be controlled, rigorous research, but instead serves as a quick way to understand your assumptions about an ideal solution. Does your concept address the problem in the right way? Are you moving in the right direction? To refine your evaluation with feedback from potential end users, try some of these lightweight techniques: “Hallway” testing Get feedback from people close by who are not part of the workshop. Colleagues in other departments, for instance, can provide quick initial reactions to your concepts. In remote settings, have colleagues who weren’t workshop participants give feedback on your concepts via teleconferencing. Online tests There are many online services that provide feedback on concepts and prototypes—for example, Usertesting.com. You’ll usually get results within a matter of hours.

FIGURE 8-13. Wireframes created during an alignment workshop quickly bring ideas to life.

Focus groups Recruit people in advance of the workshop to give direct feedback. Present the concepts to a small focus group of two or three people and watch how they react.

Evaluate  221

Think-aloud interviews Ask participants to think aloud in moderated sessions as they interact with your prototype or artifact. As with focus groups, you have to recruit participants in advance. Figure 8-14 shows a concept test during a workshop I once led. The tests were conducted in a separate room, viewable by the workshop team via video camera. Hold team discussions on the feedback you gather. Decide if changes are needed or if the concept needs to be discarded

entirely. Either way, be sure that you integrate the learning from the evaluation rounds into your thinking. The overall aim at this point is to first understand the problem you are solving, then—using the artifacts created in the workshop (storyboard, diagrams, concepts, etc.)—get rapid feedback on the concept you’ve come up with. You want to have confidence you’re solving the right problem before developing a full-fledged solution.

FIGURE 8-14. Test concepts during an alignment workshop for immediate feedback from potential solution users.

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by Leo Frishberg As a UX strategist, whether within product teams or as an outside consultant, I’ve observed organizations failing to drive problem validation with as much nuance and sophistication as they drive solution development. What if we could apply the same kinds of processes we use in executing our work (agile, iterative experiments) in our strategy and problem validation work? How might we “experiment” with strategy before we spend resources executing on it?

At the UXStrat 2015 conference in Athens, Georgia, Charles, Jim, and I had an opportunity to apply PrD in a paired workshop engagement (Figure 8-15). In Jim’s workshop on experience mapping, attendees created a map that embodied a presumed strategic problem: a hypothetical city’s tourism bureau believed revitalizing its website would improve its mission and outreach.

I and my coauthor Charles Lambdin wrote Presumptive Design: Design Provocations for Innovation to address those questions. Presumptive Design (PrD) is a design-based research method focused on validating problems, whether at the strategic or feature level. It starts with crafting artifacts that embody the problem (the creation session ). Teams then take those artifacts to users who (presumably) suffer from the problem. In these evaluation sessions, users attempt to address the problem using the artifact. Within a few sessions, the team learn what users’ real problems are and pivot, repeating the process until they are satisfied they’ve identified a problem worth solving.

FIGURE 8-15. UXStrat15 attendees evaluating a map to provide immediate feedback on a proposed concept.

Case Study: Presumptive Design Aligns Teams on the Problem to Be Solved  223

CASE STUDY

Presumptive Design Aligns Teams on the Problem to Be Solved

CASE STUDY

In our sister workshop immediately afterward, attendees offered their maps to potential travelers to evaluate with a simple prompt: “Please imagine you are taking a trip. Using the diagram, indicate the steps you would take to plan your trip.” Within the span of these two brief workshops, the tourism office got actionable feedback on its web revitalization strategy: don’t do it! The website wasn’t the problem. Instead, the bureau would better serve its mission by looking at other parts of the visitor’s experience. Overall, PrD is a twist on the usual user-centered design approach. Rather than starting your design process with a research effort, PrD begins by crafting artifacts for users to react to—whether a journey map, a sketch, or a model made from pipe cleaners. Those artifacts then become the focus on your experimental inquiry to validate the right problems to solve. PrD aligns teams on the right problem to solve by: 1. Engaging leadership and internal stakeholders in crafting “solutions” that embody their assumptions. In the UXStrat15 example, the tourism office assumed it needed to revamp its website. 2. Quickly getting the internal team’s presumptions (assumptions, problem statements, possible solutions) in front of stakeholders who matter (key customers or users). In the UXStrat15 example, actual travelers diverged from the teams’ maps in ways that showed the original strategy was flawed. 3. Reducing the impact of the HiPPO (highest paid person’s opinion) on problem validation. Even if the design team knows the proposed approach is wrong, PrD rapidly captures data the team needs to illustrate to what extent and in what ways it is wrong.

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4. Increasing the team’s understanding of the problem space (“unknown unknowns”) through a series of iterative experiments. Further Reading • Leo Frishberg and Charles Lambdin, Presumptive Design: Design Provocations for Innovation (Morgan Kaufmann, 2015)—Chapter 1 of the book is available online at https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2015/09/presumptive-design-design-provocations-for-innovation.php. • PresumptiveDesign.com —articles, discussion, discount code for the book. • Leo Frishberg and Charles Lambdin, “Presumptive Design: Design Research Through the Looking Glass,” UXmatters (Aug 2015), https://www.uxmatters.com/ mt/archives/2015/08/presumptive-design-design-research-through-the-looking-glass.php —a look at how Presumptive Design turns the process of research and design upside down. About the Contributor Leo Frishberg is a strategist, design manager, and thought leader with 20+ years of experience driving user-centered innovation for companies such as athenahealth, Intel, and The Home Depot. Presumptive Design, a book he coauthored with Charles Lambdin, describes a revolutionary method for reducing the risk of inventing the future.

Facilitating an Alignment ­Workshop Diagrams don’t provide answers; they foster conversations. As the facilitator of the workshop, it’s your job to make those conversations happen. Whether in person or working with a remote team, your role begins with careful preparation, then moves into moderating the session, and continues with a strong follow-up.

1. Prepare

In-person sessions can typically be scheduled for an entire day, or even span multiple days. For remote workshops, consider splitting the workshop into smaller chunks of time; for example, instead of one eight-hour session, schedule two four-hour sessions on consecutive days for better engagement. Plan for breaks, catering, and social activities. For instance, planning a lunch outside of the workshop room can refresh the group and help keep them focused in the second half. Good facilitation also involves having the right tools, materials, and workflow. Consider all the details that go into creating the workshop experience for participants.

Organize the alignment workshop well in advance. In many organizations, getting people to commit for a whole day or multiple days is difficult. Include the workshop in your initial proposal, and schedule the event early on—even before The alignment workshop is an you’ve started creating the diagram. The workshop is part inclusive activity, so plan to invite a of the mapping process. range of stakeholders with different

The alignment workshop is an inclusive activity, so plan to invite a range of stakeholders with different functions in your organization. The aim is to get An alignment workshop can functions in your organization. broad buy-in and input from be conducted in person or diverse perspectives, including with distributed participants. industry experts from outside I recommend avoiding a mix of remote and in-person particithe organization. From this standpoint, remote sessions are pation: it’s very difficult to balance the interaction in a hybrid advantageous because they typically open up participation to situation. Either all in person or all remote is best. colleagues who might not be able to travel. Groups of 6–12 participants work best, although larger groups are possible. Think about the environment you’re creating for the discussion. For in-person workshops, it’s preferable to secure a space outside of the normal workplace to avoid distractions. I prefer an oversized room to allow for a lot of movement. Facilitating an Alignment W ­ orkshop  225

Assign roles and clarify what’s expected from everyone up front. This is particularly important for remote sessions. Some key roles are: • Facilitator: This is the person moderating the workshop, who ideally is also the mapmaker, but may have cofacilitators helping guide the session. • Breakout-group leaders: If you plan to break out into smaller groups, enlist one person per group to keep the discussion moving and the team on task. • Decision makers: Include senior stakeholders to be able to make business decisions in terms of resources or funding, as well as to serve as a tiebreaker if needed. • Designers: Include designers and others that can help articulate the envisioned concepts. • Industry experts: Consider introducing outside voices into the workshop, and point out their role to everyone else in advance. • Test moderator: Also include someone who can moderate user tests, if needed. • Contributors: This encompasses everyone else in the group. Plan an agenda for the workshop to mirror the desired shape of the interaction, as outlined earlier in the chapter. It’s OK to improvise and go off schedule, but having an agenda will keep the session on track. When working with distributed teams, consider how you can have work done asynchronously

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both before and after the real-time session to maximize the efficiency of your time together. Keep the desired outcomes of the session in mind to guide the flow: understand the experience (empathize), explore solutions based on the insights you prioritize (envision), and select a direction to pursue moving forward (evaluate). The key is to move through all three modes of working during the session to ensure you’ll meet your goals. Figure 8-16 shows what a day-long workshop might look like at a high level. It’s also possible to run multi-day workshops, as shown in Figures 8-17 and 8-18. The intent is to move through the three modes of thinking—empathizing, envisioning, and evaluating—several times before deciding on which solutions to move forward with in experiments in the next phase. For remote groups, you might split a day-long workshop into two separate half-day sessions. When working with distributed teams, break these components up into smaller sessions, such as four two-hour sessions. Also try to assign more pre-work and post-work for remote workshops to make your real-time sessions more efficient I recommend holding a short call a week before the alignment workshop to kick off before the session begins. Distribute materials, introduce everyone to one another, and set expectations during the call to get some of the housekeeping out of the way in advance. Assign pre-work to accelerate the agenda of the main session and get people thinking about the topic before they show up.

DAY 1 9:00

Empathize

10:00

9:00

DAY 1

DAY 2

Empathize

Evaluate

9:00

DAY 1

DAY 2

DAY 3

Empathize

Envision

Evaluate

10:00

10:00 Empathize

11:00 12:00

Envision

Envision

12:00

1:00

1:00

2:00

2:00

Empathize

11:00

11:00

Evaluate 12:00

Envision Empathize

1:00 Envision

3:00 4:00

Evaluate

Plan Experiments

5:00 FIGURE 8-16. Example flow of a one-day workshop moves through the three phases of interactions, including the time to plan follow-up experiments.

Evaluate

3:00 4:00

2:00 3:00

Plan Experiments

5:00 FIGURE 8-17. A two-day workshop can move through the phases of an alignment workshop about two times before planning experiments at the end.

4:00

Evaluate Envision Envision Plan Experiments

5:00 FIGURE 8-18. In a three-day workshop, it’s possible to iterate multiple times through the cycle of empathize, envision, and evaluate before planning experiments.

Facilitating an Alignment W ­ orkshop  227

2. Run the Workshop Once assembled as a group, set expectations. Review the shape of the workshop again with the team and be sure to let them know that follow-up work will be required. The conversation does not end with this workshop—it’s ongoing. After a warm-up exercise, focus on the experience represented in your diagram. The map should be the centerpiece of the session. Then follow the format outlined above of moving from empathizing with the experience to exploring concepts to evaluating them: • Understand the current experience. Start with exercises that help people internalize, such as having them read through and assess the experiences people currently have. • Facilitate divergent thinking. Brainstorming is the principal way to generate new ideas. Use the diagram as a springboard for ideation with some of the techniques discussed in this chapter. • Create artifacts. Sketch, draw, and prototype your ideas quickly. The space you’re using should look more like a project war room than a boardroom. Alignment workshops are working sessions. • Select concepts. Focus on ideas that have high value to customers and to the organization. • Run tests. Quickly evaluate the leading concepts, outlined above.

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Additionally, plan social activities. In many cases, the group of people you bring together may never have worked together before. For in-person sessions, include a social event such as an evening dinner. When working remotely, schedule a team-building exercise into the agenda. It’s important for continued collaboration that people get to know one another on a personal level. This helps build trust and respect, which goes a long way toward the success of the effort.

3. Follow Up An alignment workshop is a creative endeavor that results in actionable outcomes. Alignment activities do not end with the workshop. Make sure that you keep the momentum going after the session has ended. Consider ways to continue working with the team, and share the results of your effort: • Get feedback on the session. Follow up with a brief survey on the effort itself. This can be done verbally at the end of the workshop or by a short online survey. The intent is to learn how you can improve this type of effort in the future. • Update the diagram. Take the feedback you get from the session and update the diagram. Include on it the additions and comments others made. You can also map other outcomes from the diagram. • Distribute materials. Collate the output of the workshop and distribute it to others who didn’t participate. Schedule a meeting to present the workshop results to a wider group of stakeholders.

• Make the diagrams visible. Create different forms of the diagram and make them visible. Print out large copies for the office space. Create flyers or handouts of the diagram that colleagues can keep by their desks. Integrate it into presentations and other documents internally. If working online, distribute a PDF of the diagram or link to your map throughout your communications with the team. You also need to ensure that the planned experiments are actually conducted, as discussed in the next chapter. Keep the momentum going with an action plan and assigned owners for each experiment. Hold weekly checkpoints to track progress if needed.

Summary A diagram is a means to an end—to get team alignment around the experience. But diagrams don’t provide the answers; instead, they spark conversations. They are like campfires that people gather around to share stories and to make sense of the experiences they create. In this stage of the process, your role switches from researcher and mapmaker to facilitator. The goal is twofold: align the internal perspective of the organization to the outside world, and use that insight to generate new ideas. In an alignment workshop you’ll alternate between three modes of activity: empathizing, envisioning, and evaluating.

Think of a diagram as a prototype of an experience. It allows team members to put themselves in the user’s shoes. In the alignment workshop, first read through the diagram together and assess your performance at each stage. Then find opportunities by looking at weaknesses, gaps, and redundancies, as well as where competitors perform well. Diagrams help you frame the right problems to solve. Envision possible solutions. Select ideas with the most potential and represent them in some way. This can be done quickly with scenarios, storyboards, and wireframes. Use these artifacts to get input from others. Evaluate the results, and iterate. Even within a single-day workshop you can run lightweight tests. Invite a few outsiders to critique storyboards and sketches, for instance. Iterate as many times as possible, and plan to continue iterating after the workshop. If you’re working with a remote group, break the sessions up into smaller chunks and do testing or get customer feedback in between your meeting times. Running a workshop is not an easy task—it requires a lot of planning. And alignment doesn’t stop with the diagram, or with the workshop. After you generate excitement, consider how to keep the momentum going. The next chapter discusses how to move into planning and eventually development.

Facilitating an Alignment W ­ orkshop  229

Further Reading Daniel Stillman, Good Talk (Management Impact Publishing, 2020) Stillman is a leader in facilitation techniques, and this work brings years of experience to fruition. Maps of an experience are essentially communication tools, and this book will help you design the best conversations to have around them. Stillman’s writing is light and accessible, and offers a wealth of practical advice. Mark Tippin and Jim Kalbach, The Definitive Guide to Facilitating Remote Workshops (MURAL, 2019) I coauthored this free ebook with my colleague at MURAL, Mark Tippin. This is a practical guide based on our work helping and observing dozens of teams working remotely. Even in a post-pandemic world, distributed team collaboration will be the standard way of working, demanding remote facilitation skills. Download the PDF for free: mural.co/ebook. Chris Ertel and Lisa Kay Solomon, Moments of Impact (Simon & Schuster, 2014) This book is about how to design effective meetings within organizations. The authors’ advice will help you shape your time with others. You will better understand the dynamics of real-time group collaboration and be able to run more effective workshops.

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Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, and James Macanufo, Gamestorming (O’Reilly, 2010) Gamestorming is an indispensable collection of activities for interactive workshops. There are detailed instructions and examples of each. The introduction provides a good overview for running workshops. Leo Frishberg and Charles Lambdin, Presumptive Design (Morgan Kaufmann, 2015). Presumptive Design is a design research method that reduces risk by quickly identifying opportunities for innovation and improvement. A twist on the usual user-centered design approach, Presumptive Design begins by rapidly crafting artifacts and learning from the reactions to them by customers and teammates alike. In this book, the authors detail a comprehensive approach for creation sessions.

by Christophe Tallec Working with multiple stakeholders is a challenge. They may each have a different vision of the world driven by their individual goals and perspectives, whether coming from engineering, business, or public policy backgrounds. We Design Services (WDS), a leading service innovation firm, developed the customer journey mapping game to facilitate communication in such complex environments. The game uses the customer journey as a catalyst for team interaction. While several configurations of the game are possible, a typical process has the following steps: 1. Prepare the game. Before the game session, create a blank journey worksheet with swim lanes for relevant touchpoints and information types. Then furnish a set of cards representing possible touchpoints. These will vary depending on the domain and situation involved. 2. Select personas. Start the game by having the participants choose a persona. Ask, “Whose journey are you going to map?” 3. Set goals. Define a goal for this persona. What is the overall need? What are they trying to get done?

4. Add touchpoints. Then, for the selected persona, place the touchpoints in the order they might experience them. Do this step as a team. 5. Reflect. Find patterns in the experience across the different touchpoints. Where are there gaps and problems? Where are the emotional highs and lows? Where are there opportunities for the organization? 6. Repeat. Select a different persona or change the goals, and repeat the process. How do the journeys differ? What are common patterns across them? How would extreme users experience the touchpoints? We piloted this technique for a major French city that wanted to gather stakeholders for a co-creation exercise. The goal was to reinvent urban transportation. This project was a challenge because of the widely different perspectives of the different people around the table (Figure 8-19). As well as users of the system, there were participants from car manufacturing companies, large commercial firms, public transit companies, and labor unions.

Case Study: Customer Journey Mapping Game  231

CASE STUDY

Customer Journey Mapping Game

CASE STUDY FIGURE 8-19. Playing the journey mapping game engages everyone in the workshop.

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CASE STUDY

FIGURE 8-20. A completed journey mapping game captures the input from across a team on top of the basic journey framework.

Case Study: Customer Journey Mapping Game  233

CASE STUDY

Introducing this new methodology allowed us to develop a common language shared by everyone and dominated by no one. This language helped identify shared value among the different stakeholders. This initial workshop confirmed that mapping the user journey as a group is an efficient way to visualize common touchpoints, interests, and ways to create value. It proved to be eye-opening for participants. In this case, participants reported an increased sense of team alignment and cross-functional collaboration, in general, after our workshops. Unfortunately, this technique is rarely used by local governments looking to reenergize their local ecosystems. The underlying problem is siloed thinking. The journey mapping game breaks down those departmental barriers and allows companies to think holistically and collaboratively. We tested our approach with other companies and have invariably found that aligning disparate points of view allows them to uncover new business opportunities.

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The customer journey mapping game was originally developed by Christophe Tallec and Paul Kahn. Figure 8-20 shows an example of a customer journey game board and its elements. Tallec and Kahn also created an online version of the journey game; you can access the template at http://prezi.com/1qu6lq4qucsm/customer-journey-mapping-game-transport. About the Contributor Christophe Tallec is a partner and managing director of Hello Tomorrow, a mission-driven consultancy seeking to solve some of our most pressing industrial, environmental, and societal challenges. He is passionate about design, science, technologies, and system thinking. Christophe previously founded We Design Services (WDS), a service innovation agency in France, where he worked with Airbus, the World Bank, and other global companies.

Diagram and Image Credits Figure 8-2: Photo of Nathan Lucy running an alignment workshop, used with permission Figure 8-3: Photo by Jim Kalbach Figure 8-4: Photo of a team using business origami by Jess McMullin, used with permission Figure 8-5: Photos of workshop diagrams by Jim Kalbach Figure 8-6: Author journey diagram by Jim Kalbach, created in Visio Figure 8-8: Photo of assumption challenging exercise by Jim Kalbach Figure 8-11: Photo of prioritization exercise by Jim Kalbach Figure 8-12: Example storyboard created during a workshop by Erik Hanson, used with permission Figure 8-13: Photo of wireframes created during a workshop by Jim Kalbach Figure 8-14: Photo of concept testing during a workshop by Jim Kalbach Figure 8-15: Photo of a Presumptive Design evaluation session by Leo Frishberg, used with permission Figures 8-19, 8-20: Photos by Christophe Tallec, used with permission

Facilitating an Alignment W ­ orkshop  235

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” —Lewis Carroll

IN THIS CHAPTER ■

Planning experiments

■

Design maps and user story maps

■

Business model canvas and value proposition canvas

■

Case study: Rapid online mapping and design workshop

CHAPTER 9

Envisioning Future Experiences: Build the Right Solution In the preface, I urged you to empathize with the people you serve. The way to do this is clear: view your offering from the outside in rather than the inside out. It’s also important to develop empathy before conceiving new solutions. Distinguish gaining empathy from applying empathy as an act of ­compassion. I’ve experienced this trap in the past. At a prior company I worked for, for example, a small team spent two months behind closed doors developing a new concept that helped people plan events. They had no contact with potential c­ ustomers. To anyone who already had close contact with our target users it was immediately clear this solution had serious flaws. It didn’t address actual users’ needs, and it didn’t match their mental model. Despite the team’s passion, their fully fledged product concept was doomed from the outset. They could have spent their time more wisely if they had better defined the problem to solve first. Note that I am not advocating big

up-front research. It need not take long, and mapping helps teams develop a common understanding of an individual’s experience and frame the problem. For this reason, this book has so far focused on current state visualizations—diagrams of the world as it exists today. But after gaining empathy and tying that to the right opportunities to target, you then have to design concrete solutions to implement. This is all part of your role as the mapmaker—it’s not just about doing the research and creating a diagram. You also have to plan for a strong follow-through into the solution space. This chapter discusses some ways to make mapping actionable. First, run the experiments that were planned at the end of the alignment workshop. Then, consider how to design future experiences with storylines, design maps, and user story mapping. Finally, devise ways to keep the mapping effort alive and ongoing—empathizing with customers should never end.

237

Run Experiments Creating new value brings uncertainty. Although you may already have gotten some initial feedback on your ideas during the alignment workshop, you still don’t know how the market will react to the proposed innovation in the proposed context of use. It’s important to set the right expectations with your team and stakeholders coming out of an alignment workshop. The results aren’t implementation-ready ideas, but instead hypotheses that need testing. There is still a lot of work needed to flesh out your leading concepts and prove their business viability with experiments. Start by creating explicit hypothesis statements for each of the concepts you’ve decided to move forward with. Structurally, there are three parts to these statements: We believe that providing [solution, service] for [individual, customer, user] will likely result in [desired outcome, assumed effect], and we will know this when we see [result, measurable impact]. Notice that the hypothesis is phrased as a belief. You won’t know the actual impact until you introduce it to the market. Also note that if there is not a measurable outcome, you don’t have a testable hypothesis. Be sure to include a metric.

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Next, create a plan of experiments to be conducted over the following weeks. Some specific approaches include the following: • Explanatory video. Create a video explaining your service and circulate it on the internet. Measure interest via traffic and response rates. • Landing page. Creating a landing page (sometimes called a “fake storefront”) announcing the fictitious launch of your proposed service. • Prototype testing. Simulate a functioning version of your concept. Test this with potential customers and measure concrete aspects such as task completion and satisfaction. • Concierge service. Start with a simulated version of your service. Invite a very limited set of potential customers to sign up, and then provide the service manually. • Limited product release. Create a version of your service with only one or two functioning features. Measure the success and appeal of those features. Combinations of the above are also possible. Those familiar with the current literature on “Lean” techniques will recognize some of these approaches. For more on defining and running market experiments, see Eric Ries’s Lean Startup, Ash Maurya’s Running Lean, and Lean UX by Jeff Gothelf and Joshua Seiden. The point is that you need to have prior commitment to follow through after the workshop. For instance, I once conducted a multi-day alignment workshop that started with an

exploration of an experience map. We easily generated dozens of ideas that we prioritized and narrowed down to a few that got further developed and tested quickly during the session. One of the participants of the workshop was a project manager, who focused on creating a project plan of experiments to be conducted. We also secured some time to continue working on the concepts afterward. So, instead of ending the workshop with only concepts and rough prototypes, we also had a plan to move forward with additional experimentation and the resources to do so.

From these touchpoints we were able to measure traffic to the website over a given period of time, the number of signups, and responses to our survey. We also spoke with selected individuals to better understand their motivations and what excited them about our value proposition. In the end, SnapSupport morphed into something different than it had started out as in the workshop.

For one of the leading concepts, the project team enlisted a professional graphic artist to create a storyboard. This was then made into a video with a voice-over audio track. In creating both the storyboard and the video, the original concept morphed and expanded. By simply fleshing it out, we learned a lot and made changes. Then we put the video on the landing page, where visitors could also sign up to be notified about a beta release (Figure 9-1). Those who signed up were presented with a short three-question survey. Some of the parts we’d thought would be most beneficial got a cool reception by visitors to the page, and other parts we hadn’t emphasized received more attention. We adjusted our priorities and modified the concept accordingly.

FIGURE 9-1. SnapSupport began as a concept video and landing page to test market reactions to the idea before a working prototype was even built. Run Experiments  239

Michael Schrage offers a formal method for proving business value through experiments he calls the 5x5 technique. The idea is to take five teams of five people each and give them five days to come up with a series of experiments. Then, each team gets $5,000 and five weeks to run their experiments.

The purpose of such experiments is not to launch a product, service, or feature, but to learn about which solutions address your problem best. Often, small tests can provide insights that have big impacts. So not only does your role switch from mapmaker to facilitator, but you also have to be responsible for making sure the right follow-through motions are in place.

Ideas Are Overrated

G

enerating ideas is fun—addictive, even. I should know: working as a design lead, I’ve facilitated many ideation sessions in my career. You could say I’m an ideaholic of sorts. You’ve probably experienced this, too: a team gets together for a few hours or days to brainstorm ideas. “Go for volume,” they’re instructed. In the end, there may be hundreds of ideas on the workshop room wall (Figure 9-2). And success is tacitly measured by the number of sticky notes used. But the volume of ideas is rarely the problem. I’ve never come across an organization that doesn’t have enough ideas. In fact, most are swimming in ideas they don’t know how to act on. Yet, we continue to engage in exercises that add more and more ideas to the pile.

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Part of the problem is an erroneous Darwinistic view of the idea lifecycle. We assume that the best concepts will simply rise to the surface on their merit. If you can just collect enough of them, so the logic goes, the chances of a few of them surviving will increase mathematically. But that’s not how most organizational decision making works. The best ideas don’t just emerge from the pile. Instead, natural forces within any organization act to keep ideas down, regardless of whether they’re good or not. Chief among these is uncertainty, a leading idea antibody within enterprises. Simply put, new concepts represent a gamble to risk managers, even if they are well expressed in a high-fidelity prototype. Many ideas seem great at the time we have them. “This is it! We’re going to save the company!” we think with confidence. But when hard decisions need to be made and those innocent ideas hit reality, even the best ones wither quickly.

Good ideas overpromise and underdeliver. They distract our energy away from the “ugly duckling” ideas that could turn into swans, if given the attention. Part of the problem is that it’s difficult (if not impossible) to recognize a great idea in its infancy. We assume there will be some “aha” moment when everything just feels right. But what does innovation feel like? How do you know you’re on to something big? The history of innovation shows that even the most profound, life-changing innovations often weren’t recognizable as such at first. As Scott Berkun reminds us in his book The Myths of Innovation, most innovations come without epiphanies. Take the Wright brothers’ first flight. There were only a handful of people watching the historic event, and it took them six years to even sell the first airplane. No one foresaw a multibillion-dollar industry stemming from their invention. We’re obsessed with the origin of ideas, but we need to consider where ideas end up in organizations as much as where they come from. We must be honest about the natural lifecycle of ideas and how the organization moves forward. FIGURE 9-2. It’s easy to generate a lot of ideas, but that shouldn’t be the end of your work.

Run Experiments  241

The point is that it’s up to you to set the right expectations. This starts with an admission that an idea on a sticky note is just the beginning of a long iterative process. You won’t go from sticky notes on the workshop room wall directly to implementation, and generating cash flow from your idea may take several years. Of course, organizations strive to shorten the long nose of innovation. But innovation is a process of continuous reinvention at all levels: conceptual, technical, and business development. Luckily, there are some fairly simple things you can do to keep the momentum going:

• Commit resources before you start. Get a commitment for continued experimentation in advance, even before you start generating ideas. Line up small teams who’ll have dedicated time to conduct experiments. Clarify the budget in advance as well. A cheap experiment may only take four to eight weeks to complete and require a budget of a few thousand dollars. • Conduct cheap tests. Be prepared to reinvent over and over again. After getting and acting on real-world feedback, your original idea may not even resemble the initial concept.

• Manage ideation as an ongoing project. Invite a project manager to your ideation or brainstorming session. After participating in the action, their primary function is then to break down the outcomes into actionable steps. Have them create a plan for the continued development of ideas as they emerge.

Long Live Ideas!

• Aim for experiments as outcomes. Make experiments the result of your alignment workshop. This takes some humility, but sets the right expectations.

The point is to keep in mind that the ideas themselves are overrated. Business decisions don’t get made based on a sketch. Instead, set realistic expectations and be prepared to prove your ideas from a business standpoint if you want a chance of succeeding.

• Make small bets. Avoid only aiming for breakthrough innovation. Sure, everybody wants to create the next iPod for their industry—but bigger isn’t always better. Instead, make a lot of small bets. You don’t know how big an idea will turn out to be.

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All of this is not to say you shouldn’t do any free-form brainstorming. Generating ideas is a healthy part of the employee experience, bringing people together and providing a safe forum to exercise creative muscles.

Design the New Experience with Maps Mapping is a key way to capture observations from the real world and represent them visually. But mapping can also be a generative technique to describe the experience of new solutions, particularly in more complex or overarching experiential contexts. Teams need to see the end-to-end experience so they can design products and services that fit in, even if they are not in control of all of the parts. There are several techniques that draw on a mapping mindset that you can apply to get a grasp of the overall experience. These include to-be mapping, storylines, design maps, and user story mapping.

To-Be Mapping, or Target State ­Blueprinting As mentioned, this book focuses on as-is maps: understanding an experience as it currently exists to provide empathy and understanding, which leads to identifying opportunities. At some point, however, you’ll want to consider to-be maps, also called future state maps or target state blueprints, among other terms. As the name suggests, the future state map outlines the experience of a solution that doesn’t yet exist. Unlike current state maps, future state maps aren’t based on research. Instead, they represent a vision of a potential experience and serve as

a communication tool for a team building a new service of some kind. There are a couple of ways to map future experiences. I often try to avoid creating a separate diagram. Instead, it’s frequently possible to include future experiences within the current state map—for example, at the bottom of a diagram (see Figure 9-3). This highlights the transition needed to move from the present to the future. Both cause and cure are captured in one place. Sometimes, however, the future state will represent a different flow of interactions, and the chronology of steps is different. For instance, a map of a taxi-riding experience would

Actions Thoughts Feelings

Current State

Future State

FIGURE 9-3. Mapping the current state to the future state shows the relationship between the two. Design the New Experience with Maps  243

have a different chronology than using Uber. With Uber, the payment method is determined before riding, the destination is given to the driver before the rider gets in the car, and tips are given much later. In this case, envisioning this future state would be best represented in a entirely separate diagram. IBM’s Enterprise Design Thinking toolkit includes a specific exercise to create a to-be scenario map. According to the website (https://www.ibm.com/services/business/design-thinking), it’s intended to be a draft of a vision of the user’s future experience to show how ideas address their current needs.

First, draw four rows and label them “Phases,” “Doing,” “Thinking,” and “Feeling.” Then, either individually or as a group, imagine an ideal experience by filling out the rows using sticky notes. Compare the idealized to-be state to the current state and find the highs and lows. Where are your opportunities? Where is the aha moment that might differentiate your solution? See the “magical moment” in Figure 9-4.

Storylines Storytelling is not only a means of communicating a vision—it helps make sense of complex problems. According to digital product strategist Donna Lichaw, author of The User’s Journey: Storymapping Products That People Love, you can use the principles of storytelling to guide the design of products and services. To do this, Lichaw uses a structure common to most stories called the narrative arc (Figure 9-5). This structure can be traced back to Aristotle. It is a timeless form used to tell stories over thousands of years and across cultures. The elements of the narrative arc are: • Exposition: Good stories establish the context and introduce the characters and situations at the beginning. • Inciting incident: This is the point where something goes wrong or there is some change to the situation.

FIGURE 9-4. IBM’s simple approach to to-be mapping includes identifying a target “magical moment” in the intended experience.

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• Rising action: A good story builds over time. Intensity and action increase as the story unfolds.

Climax Exposition

Rising Action

Crisis

Falling Action

Inciting Incident Resolution BEGINNING

MIDDLE

END

journey against the narrative. Then you design your product or service based on that flow. Figure 9-6 shows an example of using a narrative arc to plan the content of a digital service. The intent is to make the user’s journey into a dramatic, engaging story. The result is a strategy for content and features that engagingly meet audience needs.

Applying narrative arcs in design workshops is straightforward. Together with Lis Hubert, Lichaw describes the process in her article “Storymapping: A MacGyver Approach to Content Strategy”:

FIGURE 9-5. The archetypal narrative arc shows the rise in action before the resolution.

• Crisis: The story culminates at the point of maximum friction. This is the point of no return. • Climax/resolution: The climax is the most exciting part of the story and the point at which the audience realizes that all might be well again. This is when the problem that was surfaced by the inciting incident is resolved.

1. Hold a workshop with a broad set of stakeholders. 2. Draw the user’s journey as a narrative arc on a whiteboard.

• Falling action: But wait, there’s more! After the climax, the story comes back down in action and begins to end.

3. Map individual pieces of content users would need at each stage.

• End: This is the very end of the narrative. Typically, there is a return back to the original state.

4. Below that, record existing content.

The point of storylines is not storytelling, but rather building products and services as if you are crafting a story. In other words, apply the narrative arc to the design process itself. To do this, Lichaw recommends first mapping out an ideal

5. Identify gaps and weaknesses in the existing content. 6. Prioritize and plan a broader content strategy. Following these steps results in a content strategy with focus and meaning. It aligns teams to a common purpose and yields more engaging services in general. Design the New Experience with Maps  245

FIGURE 9-6. An example of a narrative arc and envisioned content from a workshop shows the rise of action and the resolution.

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Aspire to Transform Products and services that merely connect, delight, and provide positive experiences don’t go far enough. What’s needed is a better way to envision users as they may act. Enter “The Ask,” a single question outlined by MIT professor Michael Schrage in his book Who Do You Want Your Customers to Become? Successful innovations, Schrage contends, don’t merely ask users to do something different: they ask them to become someone different. For example, George Eastman didn’t just invent an affordable, easy-to-use automatic camera at the end of the 19th century; he created photographers. His innovation allowed everyone to do something only trained professionals could previously do. Through the lens of The Ask, Google is not just a sophisticated search algorithm. It lets everyone become expert researchers. Or consider eBay. The popular trading platform has created a new breed of entrepreneurs. However, innovations that ask people to become something they don’t want to become typically fail. Take the Segway. What does it ask us to become? A mad, helmeted scientist racing down the sidewalk? Or an authority figure (e.g., a police officer) extending a few feet above other pedestrians? Or maybe just a weirdo on a scooter (Figure 9-7)?

McDonald’s “super size” campaign is another example. From a business standpoint it was very effective. For a few extra cents in cost to the organization, customers got what appeared to be a good deal. But it asked them to become unhealthy. That ended up hurting the reputation of the company. Table 9-1 summarizes the preceding examples. It shows the transformative effects these products and services had on people, both positive and ­negative.

FIGURE 9-7. The Segway asks us to become someone we don’t want to.

TABLE 9-1. A summary of the transformations selected innovative products and services had on people, both positive and negative. Kodak

= Camera

> Photographers

Google

= Search engine

> Expert researchers

eBay

= Trading platform

> Entrepreneurs

Segway

= New vehicle

> Weirdos on scooters

Super size

= Value for money

> Unhealthy people

but…

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Here is how to apply The Ask to alignment diagrams: • At each major division in the diagram pose the question, “Who do we want our customers to become?” • Collect potential answers and decide which is best. • Continue for each major division of the diagram.

The Ask opens the door for truly aspirational thinking and transformative innovation. It starts with the outcome, not the solution. Brainstorming around outcomes generally yields new ideas that stand out from previous exercises in the alignment workshop.

• Finally, brainstorm solutions. For example, Figure 9-8 shows the service blueprint from the previous chapter, created by Brandon Schauer. Overlaid on top of it are hypothetical answers to The Ask at each phase in the journey.

Explorer

Citizen

Documentary Filmmaker

Activist

Reporter

FIGURE 9-8. An example of a service blueprint shows possible responses to The Ask at each phase.

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Design Maps Design maps are simple diagrams of an ideal experience created by a team. The technique is described by Tamara Adlin and Holly Jamesen Carr in Chapter 10 of the book The Persona Lifecycle. Creating a design map is a simple practice that requires only sticky notes and a whiteboard. The result is a map of an ideal future experience. There are four basic elements in the map, each with a different color note: • Steps: Blue notes denote the steps a given persona takes in a process. • Comments: Green notes provide more details about each action, including thoughts, feelings, and pain points.

• Questions: Yellow notes capture questions a team has about the experience. They highlight gaps in knowledge and assumptions about the proposed experience. • Ideas: Pink notes are used to capture ideas on how to provide a better service. Figure 9-9 shows an example of a design map for a fictitious app. The steps, in blue, form the basis of the chronology across the top of the map. Comments, questions, and ideas appear below each step, forming an interlocking grid of sticky notes. Adlin and Carr recommended using design maps asynchronously. The idea is to place a map in a common office area and invite colleagues to contribute to it individually. Over the

FIGURE 9-9. An example of a design map, modeled after the technique outlined in The Persona Lifecycle. Design the New Experience with Maps  249

course of days or weeks, team members can add questions and ideas as they come to mind. The map thus grows organically over time. Design maps can also be used in workshops to envision a future experience. For instance, I once used this technique in an alignment workshop with three breakout groups. First, each group created an ideal flow of steps for one of the three experiences we were targeting. They also added comments to describe the steps in greater detail.

Figure 9-10 shows part of one whiteboard used for this exercise. Note that the color-coding of the sticky notes varied from what Adlin and Carr set out—we used yellow notes for steps, blue for comments, pink for questions, and green for ideas— but the process for creating the design map was the same.

Then, I rotated the groups so that they were each working with another group’s design map. They read the steps and comments on the new design map and posed questions about each step on different-colored sticky notes. Finally, I rotated the groups once more. After they had read all of the steps, comments, and questions of the preceding groups, their task was to brainstorm new ideas at the bottom of the map. They also sketched the best ones as wireframes. Each group engaged with all three diagrams and got to build on their colleagues’ thoughts.

FIGURE 9-10. A section of a design map created in a workshop shows the various types of information on different-colored sticky notes.

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User Story Mapping My childhood neighbor had a Mr. Potato Head toy. If you’re not familiar with this toy, it’s a featureless plastic head to which you add various facial features. The resulting combinations can be humorous—e.g., Groucho Marx glasses with big red lips. Producers of software typically want to avoid creating products that look like Mr. Potato Head. But without a common vision of what you are building, it’s possible to unknowingly combine elements that don’t go well together. Agile development—the leading approach for software development—strives to break the product down into small chunks, called user stories. These are short descriptions of a feature told from the user’s perspective. User stories typically have a common format: As a , I want so that . While utilizing user stories makes development more manageable, it can also cause teams to lose the big picture of what they are building. Focusing on individual features gives a team tunnel vision, making it hard for them to keep the overall end goal in mind. To avoid the Mr. Potato Head effect in software development, Agile coach Jeff Patton came up with a technique called user story mapping. He advises development teams to not assume

everyone has the same view of the final product. In his book User Story Mapping, Patton describes this phenomenon and how to overcome it: If I have an idea in my head and I describe it in writing, when you read that document, you might quite possibly imagine something different. … However, if we get together and talk, you can tell me what you think and I can ask questions. The talking goes better if we can externalize our thinking by drawing pictures or organizing our ideas using index cards or sticky notes. If we give each other time to explain our thoughts with words and pictures, we build shared understanding. A strength of user story maps is that they are simple to comprehend. Figure 9-11 shows an example created by Steve Rogalsky, an expert Agile coach with the company Protegra. You can see the alignment of user activities (in orange and blue sticky notes) to planned features (in yellow). User story mapping has its roots in task modeling, as pioneered by Larry and Lucy Constantine.* The technique is flexible, with different ways to approach creating a map. The main elements that most user story maps include are as follows: • User types. A brief description of the different roles the system is designed for. These are typically listed at the top or on the side (not shown in Figure 9-11).

* See, for example, Larry Constantine, “Essential Modeling: Use Cases for User Interfaces,” ACM Interactions (Apr 1995). Design the New Experience with Maps  251

Organize Email

Search Email

Manage Email

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CreateDone Open and send basic basic email email

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FIGURE 9-11. Story maps align development tasks with the intended user experience.

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Delete Contact

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Release 3

• Backbone. A sequence of user activities, listed across the top of the diagram. Frequently, a more granular description of user tasks that form a flow across the phases accompanies them; these are listed horizontally just below the phases of the backbone. • User stories. The body of the map contains stories needed to achieve the desired outcomes. These are typically prioritized and separated into releases. The backbone is similar to the chronology in an experience map. A user story map, however, tends to lack much of the detail and context of an experience map, such as thoughts and feelings. Instead, it focuses on software product development. The process of user story mapping requires team participation from the very beginning. Follow these steps to involve everyone in the map’s creation: Frame the idea As a team, discuss why you are building the product. Identify and record the benefits and problems it solves. Also decide on who you are building the product for. Write your responses down at the top of the map. Map the big picture Illustrate the flow of the solution chronologically, including details about specific actions. If possible, include the pains and joys users have today to inform your development decisions.

Explore Use the map to facilitate conversations about desired outcomes and the intended experience. Describe the features to support users and record them as stories on the map. Sketch solutions as needed, and go back and interview customers as well. Create a release strategy Break the user stories into different releases, starting with the minimum that’s necessary to reach the desired outcome. Build, measure, learn As development progresses, track the team’s learning against the user story map. Keep it in a visible place and refer back to it often. A user story map illustrates how user stories relate to one another in an overarching model. This allows teams to grasp the entirety of the system. More importantly, they align planning and development with actual user experiences. Ultimately, it’s about developing a shared understanding of software a team intends to build to guide decisions, improve efficiency, and result in better outcomes. Typically, the exercise is done offline, using sticky notes and a whiteboard. Figure 9-12 shows an example created in a team workshop. It’s also possible to map stories visually online using software such as MURAL. I once facilitated a user story mapping for a

Design the New Experience with Maps  253

FIGURE 9-12. This example of a user story map created by a team in a face-to-face workshop reveals the prioritization of efforts into releases.

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FIGURE 9-13. User story mapping can be done easily online with remote teams to get aligned even when you’re not in the same location.

large publisher with people spread out geographically from Chicago, Illinois, to Dublin, Ireland. We used conferencing software to establish an audio and video connection for the conversation and then used the MURAL virtual whiteboard to map the user stories (Figure 9-13). The bottom line is this: don’t assume that everyone has the same mental image of what a project or effort is about. To highlight the importance of making the process visual, Jeff Patton uses to the image in Figure 9-14 in his book and ­elsewhere. Visualizations—whether maps of the current state or some to-be scenario—go a long way toward establishing a shared reality and getting teams aligned and on the same page. FIGURE 9-14. Don’t assume everyone has the same picture of the solution in their minds. Design the New Experience with Maps  255

Design Sprints Design sprints are a popular format for bringing teams through a structured series of activities to design a specific solution. Once you have a direction to follow from the alignment workshop, outlined in the previous chapter, run a design sprint to maximize agreement on a solution in a short amount of time.

The authors of Design Sprints, Richard Banfield, Todd Lombardo, and Trace Wax, also highlight the function of maps in the sprint process. They write: “[Mapping] will add context to your project and highlight opportunities you may have otherwise missed.”

The use of the word sprint borrows from Agile methods, which organize development work into short one- to fourweek units of time. Design sprints then focus on solving conceptual challenges before development begins.

But where the focus of an alignment workshop is to get agreement on the right problem to solve, a design sprint aims to produce a concrete solution. Sprints may use a map of the experience as a starting point to set the context, but quickly move into specific design activities. Alignment workshops and design sprints complement each other, representing different modes of thinking.

There are a lot of similarities between multi-day alignment workshops and design sprints. For instance, a map of the user journey is a core part of design sprints, as outlined in Jake Knapp’s bestselling book Sprint. Figure 9-15 shows the basic flow of a design sprint.

Summary Most of the techniques described throughout this book have focused primarily on current state mapping, or visualizing an experience as it can currently be observed. Future state mapping seeks to diagram an intended experience as it is to be created. First, plan experiments to validate assumptions about a future state experience. These can be lightweight tests to gain feedback from simulated scenarios, relying on Lean techniques.

FIGURE 9-15. Design sprints typically begin with a map of the experience to understand the context of the solutions a team will devise within the next week.

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Then, map out the desired future experience. In many cases, a separate diagram may not be needed: the future state can be appended to an existing map. If necessary, however, an additional map can be created to allow a team to reflect on

the target experience. Techniques for illustrating an intended experience include storylines, design maps, and user story mapping. A design sprint is a concentrated format to solve specific design challenges and emerge with solutions to move forward into implementation.

Jeff Patton, User Story Mapping (O’Reilly, 2014)

Overall, visualizing the experience—whether the as-is state or the to-be state—helps align teams by forming a common understanding and instilling collective empathy.

John Pruitt and Tamara Adlin, The Persona Lifecycle (Morgan Kaufmann, 2006)

Further Reading Michael Schrage, Who Do You Want Your Customers to Become? (Harvard Business Review Press, 2012) This is a short ebook with a powerful message. Rather than looking at who your current customers are and trying to delight them, strive to transform them: enable them to become somebody or something they currently are not. The simple question, “Who do you want your customer to become?” reframes your focus to go beyond providing incrementally better services. Donna Lichaw, The User’s Journey (Rosenfeld Media, 2016) Lichaw regularly writes and teaches about storylines. This is a complete volume of the techniques she’s developed over the years. You can find more information online, including a pair of articles on UXmatters (uxmatters.com).

Patton pioneered the technique of user story maps and details the approach in this book. It is well written and gets to the key points quickly. Later chapters include details on validation through Lean processes.

This full-length book on personas is a key reference source on the topic. At nearly seven hundred pages it is thorough and comprehensive. Jake Knapp, Sprint (Simon & Schuster, 2016) This is the book that started the design sprint trend and continues to stand as the original source of information on the technique. See also Design Sprint by Richard Banfield, C. Todd Lombardo, and Trace Wax (O’Reilly, 2015). John Vetan, Dana Vetan, Codruta Lucuta, and Jim Kalbach, Design Sprint Facilitator’s Guide V3.0 (Design Sprint Academy, 2020) This guide is very accessible and offers a range of hands-on advice and recommendations from experts in the field with years of experience. I was fortunate to be able to collaborate with the Design Sprint Academy on this practical guide to running design sprints—particularly the parts on mapping.

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CASE STUDY

Rapid Online Mapping and Design Workshop by Jim Kalbach MURAL ( mural.co ) is a leading virtual whiteboard for design collaboration. It’s a cloud-based service that lets you work visually online, from wherever you are. I joined the MURAL team in March 2015. We used our product to examine the onboarding experience at MURAL and make improvements. To do this, we held a oneand-a-half-day workshop in Buenos Aires with a group of eight people with different roles. The workshop had three parts.

Part 1: Empathize The aim was to first understand the user’s experience. To do this, I mapped out elements of the experience using MURAL in advance of the session (Figure 9-16). There were three main sections to the mural I created: • Value chain. To understand the flow of value, I mapped the customer value chain (upper left). This provides an overview of the actors involved and their relationships to one another. • Proto-personas. In the upper right of Figure 9-16 you’ll see three proto-personas. These were based on the actors in the value chain diagram. Sofia, the design lead, was our primary persona for this exercise.

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• Experience map. In the middle was an experience map, based on prior research I’d conducted on team collaboration as well as recent customer interviews. The circular shapes represent repeat behavior. A space was left below these for the results of the second part of the workshop. As a group, we discussed each of these elements to understand the broader experience. The digital format of the diagram allowed us to add and update it on the fly. For instance, we added details to the proto-personas as we discussed them.

Part 2: Envision We then brainstormed about barriers to consumption. We asked, “What is keeping the primary persona from using our service repeatedly?” With a large virtual area to work on, it was easy to record answers right below the experience map. These were clustered and prioritized using the dot voting feature built into MURAL. We then conducted an exercise to find solutions, called a design studio. For each barrier we identified, participants individually sketched possible solutions. The sketches were photographed and uploaded to another mural for everyone in the workshop to see (Figure 9-17).

CASE STUDY FIGURE 9-16. A combination of value chain, proto-personas, and experience map fit in one mural, as well as the results of an initial brainstorming session. Case Study: Rapid Online Mapping and Design Workshop  259

CASE STUDY

Part 3: Evaluate

Conclusion

After lunch, the team broke into two groups. Each focused on consolidating the sketches into a single solution. Our aim was to create testable artifacts by the end of the day.

This rapid approach allowed us to go from understanding the experience to prototyping to testing in less than two days. There were no written proposals, reports, or other documents.

Using Usertesting.com, an online unmoderated remote testing service, we quickly got feedback on our proposed solutions. The tests ran overnight, and by the next morning we had initial results.

Experience mapping does not have to be a lengthy process. Using an online tool like MURAL makes the process even quicker. More than that, working online enables different elements to be combined in one place for a better overview. It also makes it easy to loop in others later who were not present at the workshop. Creating the experience map online makes the process an ongoing one rather than a static, one-time event, regardless of where people are.

Some of our assumptions were validated, while others were disproven. We took the test feedback and iterated on the proposed designs. In a final step, we created a concrete plan for implementation over the next few months.

FIGURE 9-17. The design studio technique allows a team to come to a final solution together (in this case, online in MURAL).

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Diagram and Image Credits Figure 9-2: Image from workshop by Jim Kalbach

Figure 9-12: Image of user story map by Steve Rogalsky, used with permission

Figure 9-4: Example of a to-be map from the IBM Enterprise Design Thinking toolkit ( ibm.com/design )

Figure 9-13: Example of a user story map by Jim Kalbach, created in MURAL Figure 9-14: Illustration from Jeff Patton’s book User Story Mapping

Figure 9-6: Photo of storyline exercise by Donna Lichaw, used with permission Figure 9-7: Photo by Scott Merrill ( https://skippy.net ), used with permission

Figure 9-15: Design sprint schedule from Sprint by Jake Knapp, used with permission

Figure 9-8: Service blueprint created by Brandon Schauer of Adaptive Path, used with permission

Figure 9-16: Journey map and team brainstorming session by Jim Kalbach, created in MURAL

Figure 9-9: Example design map created by Jim Kalbach using MURAL

Figure 9-17: Example of a design studio by Jim Kalbach, created in MURAL

Figure 9-10: Image of design map by Jim Kalbach Figure 9-11: User story map created by Steve Rogalsky of Protegra ( protegra.com ), used with permission

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Service Blueprint Template

Expressive service blueprint for opthalmologist visit

Seek

Choose

Give

Get

Use Fix

Love Leave

PART 3 Primary Diagram Types in Detail

Part 3 discusses the most commonly used diagram types in detail. Related techniques are introduced and discussed alongside each of these archetypes to provide a broad context to mapping. • Service blueprints are one of the oldest formal techniques and set the tone for other diagrams. Chapter 10 looks at service blueprints and ways they’ve been extended. • Customer journey maps are perhaps the most popular type of diagram. Chapter 11 details the current practice of customer journey mapping and related techniques. • Experience maps resemble service blueprints and customer journey maps closely, but with some important differences, discussed in Chapter 12.

• Mental model diagramming is a unique technique created by Indi Young. I encourage you to read her book, Mental Models, but Chapter 13 summarizes key aspects of this method and related approaches. • Chapter 14 focuses on ecosystem models, or diagrams that provide a big-picture view of an overall system and how its parts relate to each other and permit or inhibit the flow of value between entities. Mapping experiences isn’t a single method; it’s a way of telling the story of value alignment. There are many ways that can be done. This book is thus about possibilities, not a specific technique. Understanding these basic tools and their variants is core to knowing which map to use in which situation.

IN THIS CHAPTER ■

Background and history of visualizing services

■

Lean techniques and diagrams

■

Extending service blueprinting

■

Elements of a service blueprint

■

Case study: Facilitating collaborative sessions with practical service blueprinting

CHAPTER 10

Service Blueprints In my first book, Designing Web Navigation, I discuss the principle of transitional volatility. First described by David Danielson in 2003, transitional volatility is the degree of reorientation a person experiences when moving from page to page on a website. If there is too much volatility, they get lost in hyperspace.

We see a similar effect on a larger scale when individuals interact with an organization. Instead of page to page, they move from touchpoint to touchpoint. At each interaction there is a reorientation period, even if brief. If there is too much reorientation at each touchpoint, the experience feels disjointed.

Figure 10-1 shows this pattern of interaction. It’s a sequence of becoming accustomed to one location (habituate), forming an expectation about the next point (predict), and then adjusting to a new position (reorient). The pattern then repeats.

A high degree of transitional volatility arises from an inconsistency in touchpoints. You’ve probably experienced this yourself. For instance, I once had an unpleasant incident with my credit card. The card issuer and the bank backing it seemed to disagree about who was responsible for my problem. Each blamed the other, and I got caught in the middle going back and forth.

Predict Habituate

Reorient

FIGURE 10-1. The pattern of transitional volatility across points of interaction.

My experience spanned months and used various means of communication. For some things I used their website; for others I had to call. There were emails, regular mail, and even a fax. The degree of reorientation at each point was high. Apparently, it was my job to figure it all out. Needless to say, they no longer have my business.

265

Or, more recently I had a bad experience with a recorded music publishing platform. Their online business is separate from their pressed CD business, even though there are shared resources, such as file uploads. Trying to sort out issues across the two meant repeating myself a lot and restarting conversations with each. The burden was on me, costing hours of my time. The advice is clear: don’t force people to bridge gaps of your offering. That’s your job. Mapping experiences allows you to locate transitional volatility within a broader system of interactions and find innovative solutions to address it. This is not to say, however, that you must design every touchpoint. In many situations, aspects will be beyond your control. However, understanding multiple factors that make up an experience allows you to determine which parts to focus on as well as how to avoid negative experiences, even if beyond your control. What’s more, the aim isn’t for uniformity across the board. Rather, strive for coherency in the conception and design of the overall system. Create a balanced perception of your organization, but still give people control to shape their own experiences. Although we live in a service-based economy, good service design remains elusive. Part of the challenge is that, unlike physical goods, the transitions between touchpoints in a service are intangible. They unfold in real time, and then those moments are gone.

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Service design is a growing field that seeks to prevent unintentional service experiences. The objective of service design is to take deliberate actions that create, deliver, and sustain positive service experiences over time, consistently and repeatedly. Mapping out the experience in a service blueprint is a primary activity in the field. This chapter provides an overview and historical background to service blueprints. It also touches on related and extended techniques, such as Lean consumption and expressive service blueprinting.

Visualizing Services Service design is not new. It can be traced back to the writings of G. Lynn Shostack in the early ‘80s. A cornerstone of service design is a map of the service process. Shostack refers to these as service blueprints in her original articles. Figure 10-2 shows an early example from Shostack’s 1984 article “Designing Services That Deliver.” This blueprint is rather plain and resembles a flow diagram. Yet it yields valuable insight into the experience of dealing with a discount broker. For instance, there are about a dozen steps that are required just to “prepare and mail statements.” Shostack also includes an indication of potential fail points (noted with an “F” in a black circle). These are critical points where the service may show issues of inconsistency or break down completely.

Shostack stresses the overall importance of mapping activities in service design. She writes: The root of most service problems is, in fact, lack of systematic design and control. The use of a blueprint can help a service developer not only to identify problems ahead of time but also to see the potential for new market opportunities. ... A blueprint encourages creativity, preemptive problem solving, and controlled implementation. It can reduce the potential for failure and enhance management’s ability to think effectively about new services. The blueprint principle helps cut down the time and inefficiency of random service development and gives a higher level view of service management prerogatives.

FIGURE 10-2. An early example of a service blueprint by G. Lynn Shostack shows the complexity of providing a service.

Since then, service blueprints have become widely used. For instance, the British Standard Institution provides general guidelines for service design in BS 7000-3: 1994. This gives direction on the management of the design of service across industries from the customers’ perspective. The intent of blueprinting is to isolate fail points—steps where the service may go awry—and address these ­accordingly.

Visualizing Services  267

Blueprint for Overnight Hotel Stay Service

Physical Evidence

Ad/Website

Hotel exterior Parking

Cart for bags Employee dress

Desk Paperwork Lobby Key

Elevators Hallways Room

Cart for bags Employee dress

Menu

Delivery tray Food appearance

Food

Room Amenities Bathroom

Bill Lobby Hotel exterior Parking

Customer Actions

Make reservation

Arrive at hotel

Give bags to bellperson

Check in

Go to room

Receive bags

Call room service

Receive food Sign/tip

Eat

Sleep/shower

Check out and leave

Line of Interaction

Onstage/ Visible Contact Employee Actions Backstage/ Invisible Contact Employee Actions

Support Processes

Greet and take bags

Process registration

Deliver bags

Deliver food

Process checkout

Line of Visibility

Make reservation for guest

Take bags to room

Take food order

Line of Internal Interaction

Reservation system

Registration system

Prepare food

FIGURE 10-3. This service blueprint of a hotel service created by Bitner et al. represents a standard way of creating the diagrams.

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Registration system

FIGURE 10-4. An example of a service blueprint for a conference attendee visually aligns frontstage and backstage activities.

Visualizing Services  269

Mary Jo Bitner and colleagues developed a more structured and normalized approach to service blueprinting. Figure 10-3 shows an example of a blueprint for a hotel, created by Bitner and her team. The separate rows of information and color-coding make this map easier to read than Shostack’s example. It borrows from swim lane diagrams found in business process modeling. In doing so, this arrangement also makes both the service experience and the service provision more comprehensible, better revealing the opportunities for improvement. Specifically, this arrangement highlights the separation of frontstage interactions, which are what the individual experiences, and backstage interactions, the processes necessary to provide a service. The notion of frontstage and backstage is found throughout service design literature, and it reflects the basic principles of value alignment presented in this book. The metaphor recalls a theater, where the audience sees only what’s on the stage. Everything backstage is invisible to them and goes into supporting the frontstage experience. Modern versions of service blueprints follow the pattern set out by Bitner and colleagues. Figure 10-4 shows a service blueprint created by Brandon Schauer, previously a strategist with Adaptive Path, a leading user experience design group, and now Senior VP at Rare, a climate change advocacy group. It depicts the experience of a conference attendee.

Extending Service Blueprinting Service blueprinting techniques continue to evolve. For instance, Thomas Wreiner and colleagues modified Bitner et al.’s standard format by adding multiple providers, as outlined in their 2009 article “Exploring Service Blueprints for Multiple Actors.” Figure 10-5 shows interactions between three actors in a public parking lot: the motorist, the operator, and the owner of the lot. Their approach shows that although on the surface a parking service may look trivial, underneath is a more complex structure, as visualized in their diagram. As services become more and more complex, with a blend of offline and online touchpoints, diagram techniques that reveal intricate behindthe-scenes relationships (like that in Figure 10-5) will become more and more relevant. Erik Flowers and Megan Miller, founders of the Practical Service Design community, have also modified the standard service blueprinting technique. Their approach seeks to coordinate frontstage and backstage actions, but with a broader range of aspects to consider. Additionally, their model gets away from a strict swim-lane approach in favor of color-coded stacks. This saves space and makes for easier viewing online, in particular. The stacks are arranged in columns and can be of varying heights. The definition of the step or stage in the service interaction goes at the top of the stack, followed by the touchpoint description. This can be a screenshot or photo, if available.

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Blueprint 3 Empty parking space

Physical Evidence

Motorist

Customer Action Onstage

Drive in

Open car park

Find empty space

Parking ticket

Park

Place ticket in car

Adapt car park after laws and regulations

Operator Contacts owner

Surveillance

Maintenance of signs/parking space /price

Inspector schedule

Cleaning schedule

Backstage

Drive home

Ticket inspector

Ticket machine service

Backstage

Supporting processes

Find car

Ticket machine

Cleaning

Operator

Onstage

Pay fee

Fine

Meeting

Surveillance schedule

Communicating with subcontractor (e.g., securitas)

Statistics

Payment

Signs contract

Receive feedback

Contract negotiation

Owner

Customer Action

Contacted by operator

Physical Evidence

Offer (offert)

Reviews offers

Meeting

Signs contract

Leasing of parking spots

Supervise property

Contract

Give feedback

Money

FIGURE 10-5. An extended approach to service blueprinting maps multiple stakeholders in one diagram.

Extending Service Blueprinting  271

Below that come descriptions of the actors and systems involved. In most cases, there is some piece of information to indicate for these top four layers. The next elements are optional and may vary in number; they include details on relevant policies and rules, observations and facts, metrics and data, and critical moments. To engage others, you can also record open questions from the team and even start generating ideas to solve the identified oppor-

tunities. Figure 10-6 shows the basic practical service blueprint template. The approach is flexible and free of dogmatic “thou-shaltnots.” It can be adapted and extended to different situations. You can see a completed example and learn more about this approach—including how to facilitate practical blueprinting sessions—in the case study at the end of the chapter.

Service Blueprint Template

FIGURE 10-6. An alternative approach to service blueprinting—the practical service blueprint— presents different aspects of a service encounter in color-coded stacks rather than using swim lanes.

272  Chapter 10: Service Blueprints

Expressive Service Blueprinting A common criticism of service blueprints is that they don’t explicitly include information about the individual’s emotional state. To address this gap, Susan Spraragen and Carrie Chan added the dimension of feelings to service blueprints, in an approach they call “expressive service blueprinting.” Figure 10-7 shows an example (also seen in Chapter 1, Figure 1-4) of a patient’s visit to the ophthalmologist. The key components of an expressive service blueprint that are distinct from a traditional service blueprint are as follows: • Emotive responses. Consumer emotions are clearly stated and graphically shown either through icons, photographs, graphs, or other elements. • Layout. More space is allocated to the onstage customer journey than the backstage activities, as this stage of the blueprinting and design process emphasizes the consumer’s perspective. • Provider identity. The roles of the service participants are stated in terms of their function relative to the service domain. So, rather than using generic terms like provider and consumer, use terms that will resonate with actual team members in the provider organization. A fundamental challenge illustrated here is one of prescription compliance. In this example, the patient is left confused about their prescription and concerned about the cost of the medicine. The expressive blueprint illustrates the source of the confusion by tracking two emotive states: distraction and

anxiety, aspects which might have been overlooked using traditional blueprinting techniques.

Related Approaches “Lean” is a broad term that gets used in a variety of ways. All of the uses, however, have one thing in common: the notion of reducing waste. James Womack and Daniel Jones, pioneers in the Lean movement, outline the fundamental principles in their landmark book Lean Thinking. The steps they recommend taking are: 1. Specify the value. State what value you are creating from the customer’s perspective. Define this in terms of the whole experience, not just individual interactions. 2. Identify the value chain. The value chain is all of the actions and processes needed for an organization to deliver that value. In Lean, the goal is to eliminate steps that do not add value. 3. Optimize flow. Lean is about increasing the efficiency of production. This means optimizing the backstage service processes. 4. Create customer pull. After flow is established, let the customer pull value upstream. Start with the customer demand or need, and align your offering to that. Diagrams are an inherent part of Lean practices. Value stream mapping is a specific technique for illustrating the value chain—see point #2. These graphs focus solely on the backstage processes needed to deliver value to the customer, as seen in Figure 10-8. Related Approaches  273

Expressive service blueprint for opthalmologist visit

FIGURE 10-7. An expressive service blueprint integrates emotive response into the diagram for a more experiential view of the interaction.

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This diagram resembles the bottom half of a typical service blueprint. And while it doesn’t appear particularly customer-centric in nature, the intent of a value stream map is to understand how value is delivered. Authors Karen Martin and Mike Osterling explain the benefit of this tool in their book Value Stream Mapping: In most organizations, no one person can describe the complete series of events required to transform a customer request into a good or service. … This gap

in understanding is the kind of problem that leads to making improvements in one functional area only to create new problems in another area. … It’s the kind of problem that propels well-meaning companies to implement experience technology “solutions” that do little to address the true problem or improve the customer experience.

FIGURE 10-8. This example of a value stream map reveals a focus on time and efficiency. Related Approaches  275

Being Lean is being aligned. Alignment diagrams, then, not only fit into the Lean canon, but they potentially extend it by including a rich description of customer experience.

Lean Consumption

Figure 10-9 shows precise timings for a service encounter Shostack offers as an example—in this case, getting a corner shoeshine. Since service encounters happen in real time, service designers should establish a standard and acceptable timeline, indicated directly on the blueprint.

One goal of value-centered design is reducing complexity on behalf of the customer. To illustrate this, G. Lynn Shostack examined the specific timings of each interaction in her original mapping studies in the 1980s.

James Womack and Daniel Jones coined the term “lean consumption” in their 2005 article of the same name. In it, they describe the potential for positive business returns and increased value creation for both sides of the equation:

FIGURE 10-9. This simple blueprint for a shoeshine includes timings down to the second.

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Companies may think that they save time and money by off-loading work to customers, making it the customer’s problem to get the computer up and running, and wasting the customer’s time. In fact, however, the opposite is true. By streamlining the systems for providing goods and services, and making it easier for

customers to buy and use them, a growing number of companies are actually lowering costs while saving everyone’s time. In the process, these businesses are learning more about their customers, strengthening consumer loyalty, and attracting new customers who defect from less user-friendly competitors.

FIGURE 10-10. BEFORE—inspecting and registering a vehicle takes the customer 210 minutes across two service providers. Related Approaches  277

To visualize lean consumption, the authors recommend creating a map of the steps customers go through to consume products and services. They call these diagrams lean consumption maps. Figures 10-10 and 10-11 show lean consumption maps created by Pete Abilla, a service design and business consultant. Compare the before (Figure 10-10) and after (Figure 10-11) states of a service encounter for a yearly car inspection and registration in the US.

The bar chart shows that the process takes the customer a total of 210 minutes, with touchpoints across two providers: the auto mechanic and the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV). After combining inspection and registration at Jiffy Lube, a national chain of service stations in the US, the process is reduced to just 65 minutes. From the lean consumption perspective, the imperative for service providers is clear: don’t waste the customer’s time. Making their experience as lean as possible improves satisfaction and loyalty. This ultimately gets reflected in the bottom line of the business.

FIGURE 10-11. AFTER—a redesign of the service reduces the time investment for the customer to just 65 minutes.

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Elements of a Service Blueprint

TABLE 10-1. Defining aspects of service blueprints. Point of view

Individual as the recipient of a service.

Structure

Chronological.

Scope

Examples typically illustrate a discrete service encounter, but also include overviews of a whole service ecosystem.

Focus

Focus on service provision processes in a service encounter with emphasis on backstage actions and touchpoints. Extensions of service blueprinting add emotive information.

• Onstage touchpoints. These are the actions of the provider that are visible to the customer. The line of visibility separates onstage touchpoints from backstage actions.

Uses

Used for diagnosis, improvement, and management of existing service systems.

• Backstage actions. These are the internal service provision mechanisms of the organization that are not visible to the customer, but that directly impact the customer experience.

Strengths

Service blueprints consist of several layers of information. It’s the interaction between these layers that provides a systems view of the service experience. A service blueprint has five key components, shown arranged in Figure 10-12: • Physical evidence. These are the manifestations of the touchpoints that customers interact with. They can include physical devices, electronic software, and face-toface interactions. • Customer actions. These are the main steps a customer takes to interact with an organization’s service.

• Support processes. These are internal processes that indirectly impact the customer experience. Support processes can include interactions between the organization and partners or third-party suppliers. Table 10-1 summarizes the main aspects that define service blueprints using the framework outlined in Chapter 2.

Typically centered on a single actor, but may also include multiple actors when examining an entire service ecology.

Good for analyzing specific timings of service interactions, down to the minute in some cases. Simple, predefined structure with a clear focus of attention. Relatively light research and investigation needed. Suitable for cocreation with teams and stakeholders. Easy for others to understand from a single page. Weaknesses

Lack many of the contextual, environmental cues of an experience (e.g., “noisy setting” or “great-tasting food”). The metaphor of a blueprint is a misnomer: they are more like flow diagrams than architectural blueprints.

Elements of a Service Blueprint  279

Physical Evidence Customer Action Line of interaction Onstage Contact Employee Actions

Line of visibility

Backstage Contact Employee Actions

Line of internal interaction Support Processes

FIGURE 10-12. The basic elements and structure of a service blueprint align standard elements into rows.

280  Chapter 10: Service Blueprints

Further Reading Erik Flowers and Megan Miller, “Practical Service Design” [website]. http://www.practicalservicedesign.com Flowers and Miller have put together an extremely useful collection of content and resources, including templates for their practical service blueprinting approach. Fans of blueprinting online, they have a whole tutorial on how to create diagrams using MURAL. Join the conversation in the active community on Slack. Marc Stickdorn and Jakob Schneider, This is Service Design Thinking (Wiley, 2012) Marc Stickdorn, Markus Edgar Hormess, Adam Lawrence, and Jakob Schneider, This is Service Design Doing (O’Reilly, 2018) These two books have become standard references for service design. The former focuses on some of the underlying theory, but is also infused with a great deal of practical knowledge and presents various mapping techniques. The latter is a handbook of methods and techniques, accompanied by an extensive online library of templates and exercises. Mary Jo Bitner, Amy L. Ostrom, and Felicia N. Morgan, “Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation,” Working Paper, Center for Leadership Services, Arizona State University (2007) This academic article contains a wealth of practical information, including detailed instructions on creat-

ing a service blueprint. There are also numerous case studies of its use. It’s an excellent overview of service blueprinting in general. Andy Polaine, Lavrans Løvlie, and Ben Reason, Service Design (Rosenfeld Media, 2013) This is one of the best resources available for a complete understanding of service design in general. The book is thorough and presents a cohesive argument for the growing field. Chapter 5 focuses specifically on diagrams as a part of the service design discipline. G. Lynn Shostack, “How to Design a Service,” European Journal of Marketing (Jan 1982) G. Lynn Shostak, “Designing Services That Deliver,” Harvard Business Review (Jan 1984) These two articles are frequently pointed to as the impetus for the service design movement, and are recommended reading. Although decades old, Shostak’s observations and advice are wholly relevant today. James Womack and Daniel Jones, “Lean Consumption,” Harvard Business Review (Mar 2005) Womack was a pioneer in the Lean movement. In this landmark article, he shifts attention from Lean processes within an organization to the customer experience. He and Jones make a compelling case and present evidence for following the path of lean consumption. Elements of a Service Blueprint  281

CASE STUDY

Facilitating Collaborative Sessions with ­Practical Service Blueprinting by Erik Flowers and Megan Miller Service blueprints provide an all-at-once view of how a company actually works, resulting in actionable insights that build consensus and empathy. We found traditional blueprints tended to focus on individual interactions, often missing the big picture. That’s why we set out to evolve the blueprinting format into a more practical application that provides a better overview.  We see it like the difference between trying to build a house using an artist’s watercolor rendering (traditional blueprints) and an architect’s actual blueprint (practical service blueprints). They both tell a story, but only one really lets you take action. Our blueprinting format borrows its DNA from many other sources, including aspects of the classic service blueprint, customer journey maps, and empathy maps, as well as elements from storytelling. The approach evolved while we were solving real-world problems with customers, so its applicability was validated as we iterated on the approach. The practical service blueprint is rooted in the ethos of taking elements of what is around us and combining them into something greater, leveraging input from thousands of people around the world.  We’ve helped banks, health care providers, technology companies, video-streaming companies, and even governments learn to use the format, as well as develop workspace facilitation

282  Chapter 10: Service Blueprints

techniques. The key, we’ve found, is to ensure that insights are actionable in the moment—during the session, as a part of the facilitation itself. Don’t walk away from a practical blueprinting session without action items for tangible change. It’s not a workshop, it’s work. Overall, there are six steps to practical service blueprinting that will guide you through the process:  • Explore the opportunity space. First, define the opportunity you want to work on. This can be a known issue or stem from a desire to fill a gap that may span channels, team, and contexts.  • Choose the scenarios. Choose a collection of important or particularly painful scenarios to blueprint.  • Blueprint the scenarios. Using our blueprinting technique, map the end-to-end view of the service experience. • Collect critical moments and ideas. Potential service improvements come from the interpretation of the insights that your team has together.  • Identify themes. Cluster the critical moments into themes that apply across scenarios for a view into longer-term holistic improvements. 

Figure 10-13 shows an example of a completed practical service blueprint created by a cross-functional team at Intuit using the preceding process. You can see a critical moment indicated in the middle of the diagram, as well as several arrows and circles highlighting key points in the service experience to address. When people get together to build a practical service blueprint, there are two constants. The first is that there is some cohort of people who are initially resistant to the activity and grumble about how they’ve done things like this before. The second is that when those same people thank the facilitators, they gush about how different this process is, how much insight it uncovered that was previously untapped, and how wrong they were.  We’ve personally witnessed multibillion-dollar companies pivot to take action and make meaningful changes to their systems, processes, and experiences on the same day of the activity. Practical service blueprinting is the opposite of theory or a laboratory experiment; it’s a practical, proven tactic designed to advance and take ground.  The uptake of practical service blueprinting by practitioners has been enormous. People from major companies, universities, and governments on every continent have used our approach. At the same time, startups and small companies use the format as a way to hone in on what could make their offering better. The broad use and appeal is a testament to the technique’s underlying value.  Toby Wilcock, CEO at Cloudwerx, a cloud services company in Australia, said of Practical Service Design: “Your courses have been great for

Cloudwerx. We’ve massively leveraged blueprinting in the Salesforce ecosystem. It’s the backbone of our business. Erik and Megan smash it!” Practical service blueprinting is an open source technique. We’re not an agency and we don’t do this commercially. Instead, we shepherd collective wisdom back into the format. We believe this is what has made it so successful. In the end, the real kudos go to the people who took the process and format of the blueprint and applied it in real-world situations. The outcomes speak for themselves.

About the Contributors Erik Flowers is cofounder of Practical Service Design and principal customer experience designer at Intuit, with over 20 years of experience. Through the lens of modern service design, he is re-envisioning customer experiences across Intuit’s diverse ecosystem, building the capability throughout the company to look at experiences from end to end and surface to core. Twitter: @erik_flowers  Megan Miller is cofounder of Practical Service Design and director of service design at Stanford University, where she works to design seamless, quality client experiences for the campus community. Megan has a broad range of design experience, including brand, communications, identity, visual, user experience, product, and service design.  Twitter: @meganerinmiller

Case Study: F acilitating Collaborative Sessions with P­ ractical Service Blueprinting  283

CASE STUDY

• Take action. Create a service improvement roadmap that includes tactical fixes you can implement immediately along with strategic innovations that may unfold over time. 

CASE STUDY FIGURE 10-13. This example of a completed practical service blueprint shows layers of analysis and conversations, as well as ideas that reflect concrete follow-up actions.*

* For more on the creation of this service blueprint example, see the case study on digital mapping at Intuit with MURAL: https://mural.co/cases/intuit .

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Diagram and Image Credits Part 3, bottom-left diagram: Customer journey map created by Adam Richardson, originally appearing in “Using Customer Journey Maps to Improve Customer Experience,” used with permission Figure 10-2: Service blueprint by G. Lynn Shostack from her article “Designing Services That Deliver,” used with permission Figure 10-3: Service blueprint from Mary Jo Bitner, Amy L. Ostrom, and Felicia N. Morgan’s article “Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation,” used with permission Figure 10-4: Modern example of a service blueprint created by Brandon Schauer, used with permission Figure 10-5: Service blueprint from Thomas Wreiner et al.’s article “Exploring Service Blueprints for Multiple Actors,” used with permission

Figure 10-7: Expressive service blueprint created by Susan Spraragen and Carrie Chan, used with permission Figure 10-8: Value stream map from Wikipedia, uploaded by Daniel Penfield, CC BY-SA 3.0 Figure 10-9: Blueprint for getting a corner shoeshine by G. Lynn Shostack from her article “Designing Services That Deliver,” used with permission Figure 10-10 and Figure 10-11: Diagrams from Pete Abilla’s blog post “Lean Service: Customer Value and Don’t Waste the Customer’s Time,” used with permission Figure 10-13: Example of a completed practical service blueprint by Erik Flowers, Jim Kalbach, and the team at Intuit, created in MURAL

Figure 10-6: Practical service blueprint template developed by Erik Flowers and Megan Miller, created in MURAL, used with permission

Elements of a Service Blueprint  285

IN THIS CHAPTER ■

Background to customer journey maps

■

Decision making and the conversion funnel

■

Value story mapping

■

Elements of customer journey maps

■

Case study: Value story mapping—an alternative view to CJMs

CHAPTER 11

Customer Journey Maps The exact origin of the term customer journey map (CJM ) is unclear. The basic idea of looking across touchpoints seems to have its roots in Jan Carlzon’s concept of moments of truth.* Carlzon advocated an ecological view of the customer experience, but he never explicitly talked about a map of the customer journey as such.

In 2002, customer experience pioneer Colin Shaw introduced the concept of what he calls moment mapping, recalling Carlzon.‡ The resulting diagram (Figure 11-1) uses an arrow to map the phases of the customer experience.

It wasn’t until the field of customer experience management came into focus just before the turn of the century that journey mapping emerged. For instance, in a seminal article appearing in Marketing Management in 1994, authors Lewis Carbone and Stephan Haeckel speak of an experience blueprint, which they define as “a pictorial representation of the experience clues to be engineered, along with specification that describes them and their individual functions.”†

The contemporary style of CJMs seems to have come about in the mid-2000s. Bruce Temkin, a central figure in customer experience, is one of the early advocates for CJMs and greatly promoted their use in the US. In a 2010 Forrester report titled “Mapping the Customer Journey,” Temkin defines CJMs as “documents that visually illustrate customers’ processes, needs, and perceptions throughout their relationships with a company.”

From this, analysis opportunities for creating a positive customer experience can be derived, shown in Figure 11-2.

* See Jan Carlzon, Moments of Truth (Reed Business, 1987). † Lewis P. Carbone and Stephan H. Haeckel, “Engineering Customer Experiences,” Marketing Management (Winter 1994).

‡ Colin Shaw and John Ivens, Building Great Customer Experiences (Palgrave Macmillan, 2002).

287

Temkin also highlights the significance of CJMs in his blog post “It’s All About Your Customer’s Journey”: Companies need to use tools and processes that reinforce an understanding of actual customer needs. One of the key tools in this area is something called a customer journey map. … Used appropriately, these maps can shift a company’s perspective from inside-out to outside-in.

Figure 11-3 shows an example of a customer journey map, in this case for a broadband provider. This CJM was created by Effective UI, a leading digital experience consultancy. It includes a very prominent emotional curve in the center. This suggests that many factors come into play, chief among these the emotional experience.

FIGURE 11-1. Colin Shaw’s 2002 description of the elements of a moment map resembles a contemporary CJM.

288  Chapter 11: Customer Journey Maps

CJMs are organization-centric, viewing individuals as consumers of the organization’s products and services. They tell the story of how a company goes to market. As a result, three key elements define CJMs as such.

Step

Booking

Expectation

White space

First is an initial phase where the individual becomes aware of the service or brand. Phase labels such as “Become Aware,” “Discover,” or “Inquiry” (as seen in Figure 11-3) are common to mark the beginning point in the journey.

Travel

Arrive at car park

Enter restaurant

Place order

I’ll get through Nothing is going quickly and they’ll to happen until I have availability get to the restaurant on the night

I am not going to be offered any form of directions

The parking will be easy

I will be greeted with a smile and they will be friendly —take me to my table

There will be sufficient choice—it will be presented in a friendly way

Threat

They are fully booked

Nothing does happen—lost opportunity

Customer doesn’t know where it is

There are no parking spaces when customer arrives

Customer is ignored because all the staff are busy

There is nothing on the menu that the customer likes—restaurant runs out of an advertised choice

Opportunity to exceed physical expectations

Wow—when I made the booking they realized I had been before and what I had eaten!

Wow—I have just received a letter confirming my reservation together with a copy of the menu

Wow—the restaurant has sent me a map!

Wow—they have Wow—they were reserved me a waiting to greet us space! as we walked through the door!

Wow—waiter gives you his personal recommendation about what is good

Opportunity to exceed emotional expectations

They recognize you and can remember when I dined last time

The letter is personalized to me and suggests some dishes I may like. This makes me happy

I’m reading the menu; it sounds great!

There is a sign outside the restaurant saying welcome to me!

We are greeted like long lost family

They remember what I had last time which shows they care

Emotion evoked

Surprise, anticipation

Surprise and anticipation

They care

I’m special

I’m with my friends

They care

FIGURE 11-2. A moment map table from Colin Shaw and John Ivens’s book Building Great Customer Experiences includes emotional aspects of a customer journey.

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FIGURE 11-3. This example of a CJM for a broadband provider, created by Effective UI, focuses on the emotional aspects of a journey.

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FIGURE 11-4. The customer journey canvas created by Marc Stickdorn and Jakob Schneider is a variation of the typical CJM.

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Next there is a decision point, typically around a purchase. It’s common to have a phase labeled “Buy,” “Select,” or “Acquire” in the middle of the journey. In the previous example (Figure 11-3), there is a clear phase marked “Purchase.” Finally, CJMs need to show why a customer would stay loyal and continue to use the service. This is often indicated simply with a phase called “Use” or similar, but there may be additional interactions such as “Get Support,” “Renew,” or even “Advocate,” all of which reflect how individuals get value from the solution. CJMs help answer such questions as: How can an organization better engage customers? How can it provide value that keeps them coming back? How can it make services more relevant? The answers to these questions show that creating great experiences is not about individual touchpoint optimization but rather how touchpoints come together into a unified whole. CJMs are a strategic tool to visualize touchpoints to manage them more effectively. The customer journey canvas (Figure 11-4) is a variation of a CJM that is particularly good for getting input from the entire team. The open canvas arrangement invites others to contribute. The customer journey canvas was created by service design experts Marc Stickdorn and Jakob Schneider for their influential book This is Service Design Thinking. The canvas-style template allows teams to audit their customer’s journey together.

The basic format of the customer journey canvas reveals both frontstage and backstage components to the service experience. It aligns such things as pre-service actions of the provider to customer expectations, as well as how the provider will manage customer relationships over time after a service encounter. But CJMs don’t have as many hard-and-fast rules of formatting and formulation as a traditional service blueprint (as outlined in the previous chapter). The approach is versatile. It’s easy to find examples that represent exceptions.

Customer Lifecycle Maps Some practitioners also make a distinction between CJMs and customer lifecycle maps.* The latter are broader still and deal with the lifetime relationship between a customer and an organization. Customer lifecycles typically include slightly more abstract phases that reflect an overall relationship rather than a specific journey. The history of customer lifecycle planning can be traced back to the early 1960s. For instance, in 1961 Russell Colley developed a framework for evaluating advertising success in a book titled Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results (the technique is referred to as DAGMAR for short). Colley’s model had several phases of interaction, from

* See, for example, Lavrans Løvlie, “Customer Journeys and Customer Lifecycles,” Livework blog (Dec 2013).

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FIGURE 11-5. John Jenkins’s model of the customer lifecycle (1972) represents perhaps the earliest example of a journey map.

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awareness to action. His contemporaries Robert Lavidge and Gary Steiner offered a similar model that same year.* From these models and others formed during the 1960s, John Jenkins developed one of the earliest comprehensive lifecycle diagrams in his 1972 book Marketing and Customer Behaviour. Figure 11-5 shows his original model, which he calls the market continuum model. Customer experience leader and author Kerry Bodine offers a modern format for customer lifecycle maps. Her proposed structure looks at stages from recognizing an initial need to selection to use to advocating or leaving. Figure 11-6 illustrates these phases with arrows to show an approximate overall experiential motion. At first there is a divergent motion of seeking that resolves in a convergent selection, reflected in the arrows on the diamond on the left. Use of a solution (as well as fixes) is ongoing and circular, reflected in the circle Seek Choose on the right.

I see the distinction between customer lifecycle maps and CJMs as one of hierarchy. If we include service blueprints in the comparison, there is a laddering effect between the three. Lifecycle maps look at the overall relationship of an individual to a brand over time. CJMs look at acquiring a specific solution in more detail. Service blueprints detail specific interactions within the customer journey, most often after a service is acquired. Figure 11-7 illustrates the approximate relationship between customer lifecycles, CJMs, and service blueprints, in this case for the experience of buying and owning a car. Other interpretations of these diagram types exist in practice. This represents just one way to view the relationship between them.

Give

Get

Use Fix

Love Leave

FIGURE 11-6. This modern version of a customer lifecycle map created by Kerry Bodine illustrates an overall experience that consumers might have with a solution or brand.

* Robert Lavidge and Gary Steiner, “A Model for Predictive Measurements of Advertising Effectiveness,” Journal of Marketing (Oct 1961).

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Customer Lifecycle (brand experience)

Customer Journey Map (engagement)

Service Blueprint (service encounter)

Unaware

Recognize need

Enter dealership

Aware

Consideration

Learn & compare

Greet dealer

Purchase

Decide

Test drive

Support

Buy

Discuss price

Advocacy

Reconsideration

Use

Make downpayment

Make payments

Sign paperwork

Wait for car

Departure

Return

Recommend to others

Drive off lot

FIGURE 11-7. Customer lifecycles look at the overall relationship with a brand. Customer journey maps look at a particular type of engagement. Service blueprints typically analyze specific types of service encounters.

Knowledge

Persuasion

Decision

Implementation

Confirmation

FIGURE 11-8. The innovation–decision process, first described by Everett Rogers, is an early model upon which CJMs are based.

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Related Models Outside of commercial settings, Everett Rogers uncovered the complexity of adoption of new products. In his landmark book Diffusion of Innovations, Rogers outlines his innovation– decision process, based on decades of research (Figure 11-8). Though dating back to the 1960s, this process resembles the typical structure of modern CJMs. The key identifying phases are present in both flows: there’s a phase around awareness at the beginning, a decision point in the middle, and then phases to confirm the decision and stay loyal to adopting an innovation. There’s no doubt that Rogers’s process has the same underlying framework as a modern CJM. In fact, John Jenkins cites Rogers’s model as a direct influence on the early map shown in Figure 11-5. The attitude of the individual during the Persuasion phase, in particular, is critical. Rogers was able to narrow down predictors of decision making in this phase to a set of five basic principles. These are the questions decision makers ultimately ask before adopting a new product or service: • Relative advantage —Is it better than existing alternatives? • Compatibility—Is it appropriate? Does it fit into my beliefs and values? • Complexity—Is it easy to comprehend and use? • Trialability—Can it be tested without penalty? • Observability—Can it be observed and understood?

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If most are answered affirmatively, the chance of adoption is higher. In other words, these are the key factors that influence the decision-making process. Keep in mind that these are perceived characteristics. That is, the perception of value is in the mind of the customer, not an absolute property of a product or service. Similarly, CJMs seek to understand how an offering is actually perceived by customers, from their vantage point.

The Conversion Funnel The decision to make a purchase is typically seen as a funnel (Figure 11-9). The exact phases or steps along the way can vary, depending on how the funnel is conceived. The metaphor suggests that people enter into a wide opening and get funneled into making a purchase. But at various points decisions to leave the process can be made, thereby reducing the number of people that continue all the way to conversion. Market researchers at McKinsey and Company suggest a new model, which they call the consumer decision journey.* Figure 11-10 reflects their updated decision-making model. The circular arrangement of this model reflects a need to reevaluate how consumers go through the decision-making process. In this age of empowered consumers, the process * See David Court et al., “The Consumer Decision Journey,” McKinsey Quarterly (Jun 2009), and David C. Edelman, “Branding in the Digital Age: You’re Spending Your Money in All the Wrong Places,” Harvard Business Review (Dec 2010).

is more circular. One person’s experiences after purchase become the next person’s evaluation criteria. With this model, there is no more “top of the funnel” where consumers enter en masse.

What’s more, the authors believe consumers are increasingly changing the way they research and buy products and services. They do much more up-front research and comparison than ever before, particularly online. Traditionally, there are three main touchpoint types in commerce situations:

Awareness

Consideration

• Stimulus—The very first time customers become aware of a given product or service • First moment of truth —The decision to buy a product or service • Second moment of truth —The first experience customers have using a product or service

Intent

Purchase

Loyalty

Advocacy FIGURE 11-9. A typical marketing funnel showing progression through the customer journey.

More and more, consumers read reviews from other consumers. They look at sites like Amazon to inform their decisions, or they ask Twitter followers for opinions. They look at who’s behind a service as well, researching profiles on LinkedIn and even Facebook. Regardless of industry or sector, customers are far more informed today than just a decade ago. In addition to the first and second moments of truth, market researchers at Google have identified a new critical touchpoint: the “Zero Moment of Truth,” or ZMOT for short.† It falls between the stimulus and the decision to buy (Figure 11-11). Content is critical at the ZMOT. But it can’t come across as marketing fluff: information at the ZMOT touchpoint must be meaningful and valuable. Successful companies converse with

† See Jim Lecinski, ZMOT: Winning the Zero Moment of Truth (Google, 2011). Related Models  297

2 Consumers add or subtract brands as they evaluate what they want. 1

3

The consumer considers an initial set of brands, based on brand perceptions and exposure to recent touch points.

Ultimately, the consumer selects a brand at the moment of purchase.

4 After purchasing a product or service, the consumer builds expectations based on experience to inform the next decision journey. FIGURE 11-10. The consumer decision journey, as visualized by consultants at McKinsey, changes the basic notion of a funnel.

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of content available and the speed at which consumers can access it. Now, it’s expected that a customer researches various aspects of your business before even coming in direct contact with you or your offerings. In any event, the various parts of a product or service experience are now much more interrelated than they were just a decade ago. A holistic mindset is needed to connect moments of truth and design meaningful experiences for people.

Elements of CJMs FIGURE 11-11. The Zero Moment of Truth, a new phase in consumer behavior, was introduced by researchers at Google.

their markets and engage in a dialogue. They position themselves not as “buy me!” banners, but as trusted advisors. Notice that product recommendations feeding into the ZMOT come after someone has already used a product. The usage experience is now relevant before the purchase decision. More importantly, people increasingly find meaning in the products and services they buy during the ZMOT. They want to know about the company and the people behind an offering. They want to know how it fits into their value system and how it will define them personally. You may rightfully point out that people have always engaged in conversations with brands. Markets are conversations, indeed. What’s different now is a combination of the breadth

CJMs aren’t mere inventories of touchpoints. They include deeper insight into the motivations and attitudes of customers. What makes them purchase? What keeps them satisfied? These are the types of questions a CJM needs to address. CJMs are decidedly less formulaic than service blueprints. They can include several different elements and information types. The creator of a CJM should include aspects appropriate to an organization’s needs. Some typical elements of CJMs include actions, goals, emotions, pain points, moments of truth, touchpoints, brand perception, satisfaction, and opportunities. Figure 11-12 shows a CJM template created at Heart of the Customer (heartofthecustomer.com), a prominent CX and journey mapping consultancy. It includes additional elements related to a journey map, including a persona, customer profiling, and importance and satisfaction metrics. Table 11-1 summarizes the main aspects that define customer journey maps using the framework outlined in Chapter 2. Elements of CJMs  299

FIGURE 11-12. Customer journey maps can incorporate a range of information and data to make a richer description of the experience.

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TABLE 11-1. Defining aspects of customer journey maps. Point of view

Individual as a consumer.

Structure

Chronological.

Scope

End-to-end experience, from recognizing a need to ending the relationship. Often centered on a single person’s journey, but can also show a holistic, aggregate map across personas and touchpoints.

Focus

Focus primarily on the consumer experience, with very little emphasis on backstage processes.

Uses

Used for touchpoint analysis and optimization. Helpful in strategic planning for customer experience management, marketing, and branding initiatives.

Strengths

Simple to understand. Widespread use. Suitable for cocreation with teams and stakeholders.

Weaknesses

Typically view individuals as consumers. Often leave out internal processes and actors.

Further Reading Jim Tincher and Nicole Newton, How Hard Is It to Be Your Customer? (Paramount, 2019) This book shows how journey mapping can be used to drive customer-focused change across an organization. The authors make a broader case for mapping, not as an isolated activity but as a way to take action and effect culture changes. They bring years of experience to this volume and include a wealth of practical advice and examples from the field. David Court, Dave Elzinga, Susan Mulder, and Ole Jørgen Vetvik, “The Consumer Decision Journey,” McKinsey Quarterly (Jun 2009) Consultants at McKinsey did extensive research around the world to arrive at a new model for consumer purchasing decisions. This supersedes the traditional funnel model with a circular model of decision making. See also the in-depth article by McKinsey principal David Edelman, “Branding in the Digital Age: You’re Spending Your Money in All the Wrong Places,” Harvard Business Review (Dec 2010).

Elements of CJMs  301

Joel Flom, “The Value of Customer Journey Maps: A UX Designer’s Personal Journey,” UXmatters (Sep 2011) This is a case study on the use of customer journey maps at Boeing, including a good illustration of a map with an interesting layout and form. Read this article if you need some arguments for convincing others. Flom himself was first skeptical of their use, but concludes: “By producing journey maps that illustrate an optimal customer experience, we enable stakeholders and executives to identify, prioritize, and maintain focus on the changes that matter.” Tim Ogilvie and Jeanne Liedtka, “Journey Mapping,” in Designing for Growth (Columbia University Press, 2011) This book is fundamentally about design thinking and its relevance to business. The authors outline an end-to-end process for customer-centered design with many methods, the first of which is customer journey mapping. This fourth chapter deals exclusively with mapping and includes a step-by-step method for creating them.

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Everett Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, 5th ed. (Free House, 2003) Considered the bible of innovation adoption, this lengthy book is based on decades of research in a variety of fields. Though the book first appeared in 1962, the fifth edition was written in 2003 and includes a section on the internet. Despite its age, the principles and discussions in this landmark book are wholly relevant to discussions of decision-making processes and innovation adoption today. Rogers is perhaps better known for his model of innovation adopter types, including coining terms such as “early adopters.” Bruce Temkin, “Mapping the Customer Journey,” Forrester Reports (Feb 2010) Bruce Temkin was an early advocate of customer journey maps and did a great deal to increase their use and profile. Writing for Forrester, he produced several key reports on the topic that were influential. This is one of the first; see also other writings from Temkin on the subject.

by Michael Dennis Moore Traditional customer journey maps are naturally transaction-oriented. They show a series of events over a period of time, and even the customer’s thoughts and feelings are usually associated with those discrete events. But, like any good story, a customer journey actually has two storylines. The first is the plot line of events, which I call the “transactional storyline.” The second is a character arc about a hero (the customer, not you) who faces some challenges, makes some pivotal decisions, and ultimately changes who they are and how they relate to others (even if only in some small way). They become a brand lover, a brand hater, or something in between. They actively recommend, actively trash, or just don’t bother to mention your products or services to others. For most companies, a positive customer transformation is the ultimate strategic CX/UX goal. Fortunately, that business goal also aligns nicely with the deepest inner goal of most customers: to be the hero in a story full of wise choices, with a happy ending.

When you first review a newly constructed customer journey map, you’re likely to find some low-hanging fruit in the form of obvious friction points. It can be tempting to immediately start brainstorming tactical improvements to smooth out the customer’s experience. But jumping directly into tactical thinking often has the unintended effect of prematurely drawing team members back into that familiar comfort zone of an insider’s perspective. This can be a slippery slope as the initial surge of customer empathy fades and the holistic, value-centric story becomes just a series of discrete transactions. Quick tactical fixes may be what’s needed in the short term. But to get the most out of your customer journey maps, you need a strategic framework to focus your thinking. Value story mapping is a way to overlay a transformational storyline on top of the transactional storyline by inserting key pivotal decisions into a journey map (if not already there). The process has three steps.

Case Study: Value Story Mapping—An Alternative View to CJMs  303

CASE STUDY

Value Story Mapping—An Alternative View to CJMs

CASE STUDY FIGURE 11-13. The phases of a value story map represent the transformation an individual goes through by using a given solution, not the transactional steps of acquiring it.

1. Frame the Journey as a Value Story Figure 11-13 shows the basic value story journey, broken up into four phases with pivot points. Note that these labels are different from the business-centric stages you may be used to using, such as Awareness, Consideration, Purchase, Retention, and Advocacy.

2. Build a Sensemaking Hypothesis Next, pick one of the four phases to drill into and use your qualitative customer research to answer the following questions about the pivotal decision at the end of that phase: 1. What are the driving forces that play into this decision? Here are the four categories of driving forces to consider: – Functional goals – Rational approach – Social influences – Emotional drivers 2. How does your archetype customer filter and prioritize these forces into a sensemaking story that motivates and justifies?

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If you ask customers directly why they made a certain decision, they will tend to give you an explicit sensemaking story that justifies their decision based on their functional goals and rational approach. However, there is almost always a deeper, implicit sensemaking story that motivates their decision. This often includes social influences and emotional drives that the customer may not be willing to share (or may not be aware of themselves). Unless your customers are unusually candid, you will have to make an educated guess about the implicit story based on themes you find in your qualitative research.

3. Evaluate Your Story Roles Finally, it’s time to evaluate how each of the touchpoints in your focus phase contribute to (or detract from) a positive pivotal— decision.

Some of the roles are universal: Expert, Provider, and Enabler. But to stand out from the competition and transform more prospects into loyal brand advocates you can add some phase-specific roles that build on each other, as seen in Figure 11-14:

• Empathizer (begin the trust-based relationship) • Storyteller (envision the hero’s payoff) • Guide (ensure the full value of the outcome and experience) • Partner (prove you are consistently trustworthy) Framing a customer journey as a value story map has many benefits, but two are especially important.

FIGURE 11-14. The value story mapping approach overlays different stages of transformation.

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CASE STUDY

Be careful here. Once you start looking at the design and execution of touchpoints, it’s easy to get sucked back into your insider perspective. Instead, approach your evaluation using a customer value–centric question: what roles do we play in the customer’s sensemaking stories?

CASE STUDY FIGURE 11-15. A completed value story map details the steps of transformation from an inciting incident through to integration.

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Second, instead of simply tracking the ups and downs of customer sentiment from one transaction to the next, it frames those thoughts and feelings in terms of a pivotal decision outcome. In other words, it goes beyond the who, what, where, when, and how of a transactional journey and drills into the most important question of all: why? After all, it’s the moments that take place in the mind of the customer that ultimately matter the most.

About the Contributor Michael Dennis Moore is the principal consultant at Likewhys and creator of the value story mapping process. His previous value-centric experiences include small business owner, product manager at several companies including Apple, and manager of the Experience Design Group at Xerox. He can be reached at [email protected].

Figure 11-15 shows a completed example of a value story map, in this case using the example of Slack, a group communication solution for companies.

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CASE STUDY

First, it helps team members stay focused on the strategic goal of a customer transformation, even while pursuing quick tactical wins. Yes, marketers will still mostly focus on the early phases while designers and service managers will focus on later ones. But everyone can also easily see how they are contributing to the brand’s longterm success.

Diagram and Image Credits Figure 11-1 and Figure 11-2: Moment map diagram and table from Colin Shaw and John Ivens’s book Building Great Customer Experiences , used with permission Figure 11-3: Example of a CJM for a broadband provider created by Effective UI, used with permission Figure 11-4: The customer journey canvas created by Marc Stickdorn and Jakob Schneider, from This is Service Design Thinking , CC BY-SA 3.0 Figure 11-5: Model of the customer lifecycle by John Jenkins from his book Marketing and Customer Behaviour Figure 11-6: Customer journey model by Kerry Bodine, used with permission Figure 11-10: Image from David Court et al.’s article “The Consumer Decision Journey,” used with permission Figure 11-12: Template of a customer journey map from Heart of the Customer, used with permission Figure 11-15: Value story map framework by Michael Dennis Moore, used with permission

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IN THIS CHAPTER ■

■

Overview of experience maps Related models: day-in-the-life diagrams, workflow diagrams, and job maps

■

Elements of an experience map

■

Case study: Mapping the domestic violence journey

CHAPTER 12

Experience Maps We tend to consider a map of an experience in relation to the use of a product or service, as seen with service blueprints and customer journey maps. For sure, much of this book focuses on mapping commercially oriented experiences. But that need not be the case. It’s also possible to map experiences independent of a given product or service. In particular, experience maps (as defined in this book) look at the broader context of human activity, beyond the offerings of just one organization. They show the connections between people, places, and things, and they aid in the design of ­ecosystems. In other words, experience maps as defined here have a completely different point of view than, say, customer journey maps. Rather than seeing the individual as a consumer of a brand or offering, you can instead focus on their objectives and goals regardless of the solution. For instance, consider the diagram in Figure 12-1, created by Sarah Brooks, chief design officer at the US Department

of Veteran Affairs.* This is a map of a military veteran’s life experiences, reflecting a wide range of disparate goals and objectives over time. There is no “Awareness” or “Purchase” phase here because the map takes a different point of view from a classic customer journey map. This diagram tells a story of experiences, not a story of transactions. It’s quite literally the life story of a military service member. Consider also the map shown in Figure 12-2, created by design strategist Diego S. Bernardo. His aim was to illustrate the ups and downs of growing food in the city. Negative experiences (in red) indicate reasons why someone might stop the activity. Dropout points are indicated with red lines pointing down. The positive experiences (in blue) show the good things about growing food in the city. This diagram reminds us to look not only for pain points, struggles, and fears in an experience,

* Read more about Sarah’s work in Kyla Fullenwinder’s article “How Citizen-Centered Design Is Changing the Ways the Government Serves the People,” Fast Company (Jul 2016).

311

FIGURE 12-1. An experience map shows experiences independent of solutions, or in this case across a range of provider types.

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FIGURE 12-2. An experience map for growing food in Chicago focuses on positive and negative factors.

  313

FIGURE 12-3. An experience map can compare several personas mapped to the same timeline in one overview.

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Hybrid Experience Maps but also aspects that motivate and encourage. The loops in the diagram indicate positive feedback loops and increased engagement throughout the experience. Overall, the diagram in Figure 12-2 tells the story of an individual’s relationship to an activity—urban gardening—not the relationship to a product, service, or brand. Importantly, looking at the experience in this way points to opportunities. Rather than illustrating how individuals consume a product, experience maps allow organizations to ask the question, “How do we fit into the lives of individuals?” The answers often lead to new opportunities for growth. It’s also possible for a single experience map to show the experiences of multiple actors. The example in Figure 12-3 was created by Tarun Upaday, cofounder and CEO of Gallop.ai ( gallop.ai), an AI-powered travel assistance service. It aligns three separate personas to a common timeline, in this case for traveling. To enable comparison across the different traveler types, each row has the same types of descriptive information: goals, pain points, and forces (or motivating factors that drive behavior).

But be warned: although I have a fairly strict definition of an experience map, as outlined above, in many cases the use of the term experience map overlaps significantly with customer journey map. In practice, the two terms are often used interchangeably. You may even find a mashup of terminology, with phrases such as “customer experience maps” and “experience journeys.” Commercially oriented experience maps combine a view of the individual’s fundamental experience with a specific solution. For instance, one of the earliest examples of an experience map comes from Gene Smith and Trevor von Gorp of nForm, a leading experience design agency in Canada. Figure 12-4 shows their map for a video game enthusiast. This map includes a clear “Purchase” phase, signaling that it’s a consumer journey, although the purchase is not the focus of the diagram. Smith describes how their motivation was to understand the context of gaming in greater depth in his blog post titled “Experience Maps: Understanding Cross-Channel Experiences for Gamers.” He writes: The solution we came up with was an experience map—a diagram that combines a persona with an abstracted story about the gamer’s journey from researching games to purchasing, playing to sharing experiences about that game. The story includes the details on the different channels where gamers get their information along with supporting quotes from our research. Hybrid Experience Maps  315

FIGURE 12-4. This experience map for social gamers shows a clear chronology from left to right.

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Hybrid Experience Maps  317

FIGURE 12-5. This map captures visitors’ experiences visiting the Exploratorium in a single overview.

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Experience maps fundamentally recognize that people interact with many products and services from a multitude of providers in many situations. These experiences shape their behaviors and their relationship with any one organization. Examining this broader context will become increasingly crucial as products and services become connected. Figure 12-5 shows another example of an experience map—in this case, visiting a museum called the Exploratorium—created by Brandon Schauer and designers at Adaptive Path. There is no purchase decision phase in this diagram, as would be expected in a customer journey map. Rather, it seeks to illustrate the actions and thoughts of museum goers, both inside and outside of the museum. Though much of this map could apply to visiting any museum, it centers on an experience with a specific one, the Exploratorium. Hence, I call this a hybrid map. Experience maps—whether hybrid or not—help provide an outside-in view of your organization. For instance, working through the diagramming process had a positive impact on the Exploratorium team, as Schauer indicates: What we found impressive was how quickly this diverse group aligned by using the maps on a small set of opportunities that could yield the most impact on the visitor experience.*

Related Models Experience maps are concerned with how the provider’s offering fits into a person’s experience, not the other way around. They provide a view of a given domain from the user’s perspective. Related types of diagrams also take this point of view, including day-in-the-life-diagrams, workflow diagrams, and job maps.

Day-in-the-Life Diagrams One common way to map the experiences an individual has is to create a so-called day-in-the-life diagram. As the name implies, these maps illustrate a typical day or “average” of typical days. Figure 12-6 shows an example of a day-in-the-life diagram created by Stuart Karten of Karten Design. It highlights the different modes of thinking an individual goes through during a day, indicated by the different colors. For this reason, Karten calls this approach “mode mapping.” For instance, in Figure 12-6, information seeking is indicated in light blue and communicating with others is in dark purple. The line of modes extending across the diagram moves up or down to reflect positive or negative emotional states, respectively.

With maps as a centerpiece for the conversation, the team was able to find consensus and alignment.

* Brandon Schauer, “Exploratorium: Mapping the Experience of Experiments,” Adaptive Path blog (Apr 2013). Related Models  319

FIGURE 12-6. A day-in-the-life diagram can reflect the different physical, cognitive, and emotional modes a person goes through in a day.

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Related Models  321

In the second edition of their book Contextual Design, Karen Holtzblatt and Hugh Beyer recommend using day-in-the-life models to show how people complete an activity in the real world. They suggest building up the diagram over time as you conduct research. In this sense, a day-in-the-life diagram is also a type of data-gathering mechanism. For example, if you’re investigating how people commute to work, Holtzblatt and Beyer suggest setting up a simple framework like the one shown in Figure 12-7. As insights emerge, U01 Day in the life Home

Work

Commute

In the world coffee shop store soccer practice etc.

Commute

FIGURE 12-7. Holtzblatt and Beyer recommend capturing real-world insights about an individual’s day-in-the-life story with a simple framework as you conduct research.

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you can add them to the chart until a full story emerges and you can consolidate the information into a single model, such as the one in this figure. “Capture little life stories—real instances not abstractions,” they recommend. Day-in-the life diagrams can easily be combined with personas to help gain empathy. They typically include struggles and challenges that the individual has to overcome but can’t. The aim is to show types of work and tasks, their frequency, and how they interlock during a typical day. Insights can be gained about context switching and other workflow patterns that can be optimized. I’ve found that when interviewing people about a typical day, you’ll very often get the answer: “I don’t have a typical day.” In that case, ask what they did yesterday and then compare that to previous days until a pattern emerges. Alternatively, to get around the difficulty of discussing a single typical day, you can map out a typical week. This gives a broader view of how activities interlock to form an overall workflow. Figure 12-8 shows a typical work week diagram for litigation lawyers in France, created while I was working at LexisNexis on a project described more fully later in this chapter. Despite hearing frequently that there is no “typical day,” some overarching patterns emerged. The people in our study tended to be away at court in the mornings, saw clients in the afternoon, and worked after hours to catch up on client matter work and research.

FIGURE 12-8. To avoid having to find a typical day to map—something participants are often unable to describe—consider a typical work week. Related Models  323

FIGURE 12-9. The experience map shows a one-year journey of a person playing a health behavior change game.

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Unlike customer journey maps, which break an experience into phases that may be of varying lengths and even have repeated or ongoing interactions, day-in-the-life diagrams or week-in-the-life diagrams appear in a strict chronology measured by specific units of time. In Figures 12-6 and 12-8, the unit is hours of a day. Think of these diagrams as portraying a specific scenario in a mini-storyboard fashion.

the steps of an interaction between a user and different parts of a system in a very mechanical way. The columns or rows of the diagram—depending on its orientation—make up the “swim lanes.” This aids in seeing different actors and components in an interaction. Figure 12-10 shows a typical swim lane diagram with parallel actions with a system—in this case, for the workflow of placing a purchase order with a sales agent.

You can also extend the chronology to tell a story Experience maps allow organizations across a broader period of It’s clear that this diagram to ask the question, “How do we time. Consider the perspecdoes not explicitly include fit into the lives of individuals?” tive taken in the diagram in contextual information or Figure 12-9, created by Jamie details about customer emoThomson of Mad*Pow, which illustrates the experience of tions. Instead, swim lane diagrams focus on the flow of tasks, reducing cholesterol over the course of a year. There is a clear, materials, and information chronologically. Often, a workflow linear journey of equal units of time, measured in months in diagram may accompany an experience map to show detailed this case. Though not a day-in-the-life diagram by definition interactions of a specific phase within a broader context. (i.e., it’s not a day), this diagram has a similar narrative extendSwim lane diagrams can be expanded to include information ed over a year. about an individual’s experience. Figure 12-11 shows an example diagram created by Yvonne Shek of nForm that includes a graphic storyboard and details about the person involved in Related to experience maps, workflow diagrams break down the interaction. This approach extends the swim lane techthe steps taken to achieve a goal. These diagrams focus on nique by adding experiential context. how a sequence of tasks fits together, often among multiple While employed at LexisNexis, a provider of legal news and actors. They are more akin to service blueprints than customer business information, I led an effort to map the workflow of journey maps. lawyers in five international markets—France, Australia, New A swim lane diagram is a specific type of document that is Zealand, Germany, and Austria. widely used to show workflow. Typically, these diagrams show

Workflow Diagrams

Related Models  325

The approach in each country was to follow the lifecycle of a client matter from the perspective of the lawyer. We wanted to understand the complex series of actions lawyers take to complete a client matter, from beginning to end. This was strategically relevant for the business at the time.

After reviewing existing research and speaking with business stakeholders in each country, I conducted many interviews with customers in our market. From this investigation, I was able to create detailed workflow diagrams for each region.

Approvals Customer

Sales

Contracts

Customer Submits PO

Rep Logs PO, Enters Order

Contracts Agent Reviews Order

No

Legal

Fulfillment

Standard Terms? Yes

Agent Approves Order Attorney Marks it OK, Returns to Agent Yes

Agent Requests Approval

Changes acceptable?

Pick Order Log Shipment

No

Attorney Marks it No, Returns to Agent Agent Cancels Order

Rep Is Notified

Order Is Not Shipped

Order Is Shipped

FIGURE 12-10. An example of a typical swim lane diagram separates activities into discrete columns.

326  Chapter 12: Experience Maps

The diagrams included three different types of actors simultaneously: lawyers, secretaries, and all other actors in the workflow. As a result, they consisted of many rows of information, seen labeled on the left side of Figure 12-12. This diagram represents only a small portion of the overall workflow, which was about 20 times this excerpt in length. Pain points and goals are also included, as well as notes on state of mind and emotion. Personas, typical workweek charts (like the one in Figure 12-8), and org charts accompanied the diagrams for a complete description of the lawyer’s experience. I led several workshops to review the diagrams in detail with each country’s business unit leads. Together, we found new opportunities for improvement and growth. Overall, the workflow mapping efforts in each country provided a deep view into the daily experience of lawyers.

FIGURE 12-11. Swim lane diagrams can be expanded to be rich in context of the user experience.

Related Models  327

3. GO TO COURT The time elapsed from the moment a court date is set and the trial itself depends on the court and the urgency of the matter. It can be 3 months, but also as much as 18–24 months.

Input Supplier Preparation Anticident BUILD CASE

LAWYER reviews entire matter and primary legal arguments

LAWYER Action Behavior Task Step

SECRETARY Action Behavior Task Step

OTHER Action Behavior Task Step

During legal research in previous phases, LAWYERS may not print documents found. Instead, if they have to return to a document, they must search for it again by citation or similar.

LAWYER does follow-up research and/or checks for anything new (seldom)

LAWYER contracts expert or appraiser before hearing, if involved (Gutachter)

LAWYER learns about JUDGE, if possible (informally)

Can LAWYER make court date?

SECRETARY records all dates

COURT sets the date for the hearing

OUTPUT Result Consequence

Concise summary of legal argument and details

Multiple calendars to enter info

BARRIER

LAWYERS tend to handle hearings themselves unless it’s much further away. Sending another LAWYER happens infrequently, but it does happen.

Prepare for Court

Trial date on calendar

Confirmation of final strategy and approach to case

Goals

FIGURE 12-12. One page from a 20-page workflow diagram illustrates a detailed experience.

328  Chapter 12: Experience Maps

• Increase knowledge of JUDGE • Increase knowledge of how JUDGE might decide • Improve ability to use appropriate communication style

No

Jobs Maps The concept of jobs to be done provides a lens through which to understand value creation. The framework looks at customer motivations in business settings. The term was made popular by business leader Clayton Christensen in his book The Innovator’s Solution, the follow-up to his landmark work The Innovator’s Dilemma. It’s a straightforward principle: people “hire” products and services to get a job done. For instance, you might hire a new suit to make you look good at a job interview. Or, you hire Facebook to stay in touch with friends daily. You could also hire a chocolate bar to relieve stress. These are all jobs to be done.

Define

Execute

Locate

Monitor

From this perspective, people are seen as goal-driven individuals seeking to achieve some desired outcome. ­Supporting those outcomes is ultimately the value that organizations ­create. Tony Ulwick has done some of the most advanced work in applying “jobs to be done” theory in practice. His company, Strategyn, bases its consulting offering on jobs to be done. Together with his colleague Lance Bettencourt, Ulwick proposes a model for understanding jobs to be done as a sequence of steps. They call these job maps.* A person’s job to be done can be seen as a process, which according to Ulwick and Bettencourt has universal stages (shown in Figure 12-13):

Prepare

Modify

Confirm

Conclude

FIGURE 12-13. The job map, as proposed by Bettencourt and Ulwick, has eight universal phases, which can be customized to specific situations.

* Lance Bettencourt and Anthony Ulwick, “The Customer-Centered Innovation Map,” Harvard Business Review (May 2008). Related Models  329

1. Define: This step includes determining objectives and planning the approach to getting the job done. 2. Locate: Before beginning, people must locate inputs, gather items, and find information needed to do the job. 3. Prepare: In this step, people set up the environment and organize materials. 4. Confirm: Here, individuals make sure the materials and the environment are properly prepared. 5. Execute: In this step, individuals perform the job as planned. From their perspective, this is the most critical step in the job map. 6. Monitor: People evaluate the success of the job as it is being executed. 7. Modify: Modifications, alterations, and iterations may be necessary to complete a job. 8. Conclude: This step refers to all of the actions taken to complete and wrap up the job. These stages are not necessarily meant to be labels in a job map diagram, but rather categories of steps that might be included. Think of the universal job map categories as a kind of reminder to cover the entire process, from beginning to end.

With a job map in hand, organizations can better create products and services that people actually need. 330  Chapter 12: Experience Maps

With a job map in hand, organizations can better create products and services that people actually need. Bettencourt and Ulwick urge teams to use job maps collaboratively to identify opportunities: With a job map in hand, you can begin to look systematically for opportunities to create value. … A great way to begin is to consider the biggest drawbacks of current solutions at each step in the map—in particular, drawbacks related to speed of execution, variability, and the quality of output. To increase the effectiveness of this approach, invite a diverse team of experts—marketing, design, engineering, and even some lead customers—to participate in this discussion. Innovation opportunities can come at any step in the job map. Consider these examples: • WW (Weight Watchers) streamlines the “Define” stage with a system that does not require calorie counting. • To gather items during the “Locate” step while moving house, U-Haul provides customers with kits that include different types of boxes that may be needed. • Nike helps joggers evaluate the success of the job in the “Monitor” step with a sensor in the running shoe that provides feedback about time, distance, pace, and calories burned via a connection to an iPhone or Apple Watch. • Browser-based SaaS software updates automatically so users don’t have to install new versions, thereby reducing complexity in the “Modify” step.

Figure 12-14 shows an example of a job map for the main job of retrieving scientific information. Notice that there are no emotional or aspirational elements. Job maps focus solely on the steps of getting a job done. Desired outcomes, emotional jobs, and social jobs—while critical to understand—are gathered elsewhere and handled separately. A job map is the bare-bones process described in the preceding steps.

Because both job maps and experience maps are based on a chronology that is independent of any technology or solution, you can use the former as the basis of the latter. That is, create a simple job map with the bare-bones steps, as seen in Figure 12-14. Then, arrange it in a swim-lane fashion on the page and add rows below or above that chronology to include more experiential and emotional aspects of a journey.

Job map: retrieve scientific information Formulate questions

Ask a question

Receive answers

Start

Define the information need

Identify information resources

Receive answers from the information system

Formulate questions to ask

Determine whether to search an information source

Select an information source to query

Prepare to use an information system

Formulate a query

Determine what to do next

Search an information source

Modify the query

Synthesize an answer

End (successful)

End (unsuccessful)

FIGURE 12-14. This job map for finding scientific information online illustrates the process of getting a job done, from preparing to perform the job to executing it and wrapping it up. Related Models  331

Elements of Experience Maps The elements of experience maps are very similar to those of a customer journey map, although experience maps tend to be even more free-form, with facets of information included or not depending on the story being told. Conventions are emerging, however. Typical elements of experience maps include some or all of the following:

TABLE 12-1. Defining aspects of experience maps. Point of view

Individual as goal-driven, operating within a broad system or domain and interacting with potentially many services.

Organization

Chronological.

Scope

Holistic process of a defined experience, from end to end, including actions, thoughts, and feelings.

• Phases of behavior • Actions and steps taken

May be limited to a single individual or aggregate behavior across actors.

• Jobs to be done, goals, or needs • Thoughts and questions

Focus

Focus primarily on the human experience, often including few or no explicit backstage processes.

Uses

Used for analysis of ecosystem relationships and the design of solutions.

• Emotions and state of mind • Pain points • Physical artifacts and devices • Opportunities Experience maps tend to break away from a focus on the purchasing decision—a key distinguishing factor of customer journey maps. Although a purchase may be part of the experience, the focus of an experience map is not necessarily making a decision. Table 12-1 summarizes the main aspects that define experience maps using the framework outlined in Chapter 2.

332  Chapter 12: Experience Maps

Inform strategic planning and innovation. Strengths

Offer a fresh, outward perspective that helps build empathy. Provide insight beyond the relationship with a single organization or brand.

Weaknesses

Can be viewed as too abstract by some stakeholders. Detailed diagrams can lead to overanalysis and “mapping overload.”

Further Reading Peter Szabo, User Experience Mapping (Packt, 2017) This full-length volume focuses on mapping for Agile software design and development purposes. Geared for UX designers and product managers, the book includes tips on creating maps in programs such as Adobe Illustrator. Szabo covers topics such as stakeholder maps, behavioral change maps, and “Kaizen mapping,” or techniques for continuous user experience improvement. Sarah Gibbons, “Journey Mapping 101,” NN/g blog (Dec 2019) This short article breaks down mapping into its core components particularly well. There is a brief discussion of the differences between mapping approaches, including clear, relevant examples. See also other articles from the Nielsen Norman Group on mapping (https://www.nngroup.com/articles).

Chris Risdon, “The Anatomy of an Experience Map,” Adaptive Path blog (Nov 2011) This excellent article breaks down the technique of experience mapping into its constituent components. Risdon is a leader in the field of experience mapping and has done some of the most extensive work outlining methods for the technique. Gene Smith, “Experience Maps: Understanding Cross-Channel Experiences for Gamers,” nForm blog (Feb 2010) In this short blog post, Smith graciously shares several experience maps. These are some of the first examples in the category and have served as a model for subsequent experience mapping.

Elements of Experience Maps  333

CASE STUDY

Mapping the Domestic Violence Journey by Dr. Karen Wood Domestic violence is a widespread problem that causes suffering throughout Canada, where I’m from, and indeed around the world. Approximately two-thirds of the Canadian population either have personally experienced or know at least one woman who has experienced physical or sexual abuse. And 70% of children who have witnessed spousal violence saw or heard assaults against their mothers. In the worst cases, victims are murdered—at a rate of one woman every six days in Canada.

The domestic violence system is multifaceted, with multiple entry points and multiple factors that play a role throughout the journey. For instance, it’s very common for rural women not to leave their homes. There is also a multitude of support services available, from government agencies to nonprofit providers. Navigating this system alone is a challenge for victims.

In the majority of these cases, the perpetrator is male and is either known to or directly related to the victim. There is a widely held belief that the Domestic Violence Service System (DVSS), responsible for keeping women safe, is failing to adequately protect them. However, research shows that the majority of domestic violence incidents are never reported. Quantitative data thus does not tell the whole story. The circumstances around any one domestic violence case are complex, involving decisions, failures, and errors that unfold over time. Together with a team of psychologists, the DVSS saw an opportunity to better understand and fight domestic violence using mapping techniques. We wanted to investigate the broader system of interactions, decisions, and emotions that typically lead up to critical events, as well as understand what happens afterward.

334  Chapter 12: Experience Maps

FIGURE 12-15. Mapping the domestic violence journey made use of a preformatted grid, colored pens, and sticky notes to illustrate individual experiences.

Note that the process we took was well controlled with trained domestic violence experts and psychologists leading the effort. When mapping traumatic and emotional events, it’s critical your participants and your team are safe and feel safe. Do not try this on your own! We invited seven women to our sessions. These were held in safe rooms that were guarded and had an escape exit separate from the entrance where they came in. A clinical psychologist led the interviews, and I guided the mapping activity. To make it simple, we laid out a grid in advance that was presented to each woman in the study. Participants began at the start of their journeys, indicating steps, needs, expected actions, stress levels, and their thoughts and emotions at each point (Figure 12-15). We continued to build the journey map as we talked through their experience with domestic violence as it unfolded.

Findings One of the biggest surprises of this project was the number of services the women interacted with—a combined total of 61 services and supports were identified. On average, women experiencing domestic violence interacted with 22 different services or supports.

We found three typical domestic violence journey stages across all participants: • Journey type I: Living with the perpetrator. At this point, victims need basic safety information, as well as validation by others to address their fears. • Journey type II: Living away from the perpetrator. Victims need help navigating the system and access to resources after they’ve left the home of the perpetrator. They are driven by a desire for personal change and empowerment. • Journey type III: Perpetrator removed from home. In latter stages of the journey, victims need financial and emotional support. They seek compassion and understanding from others. We mapped these types to various service interactions and aspects of the domestic violence ecosystem, as shown in Figure 12-16. Each service category has a separate code in this diagram, allowing the research team to gain a relative sense of perceived value. Overall, the research showed that the system was fairly robust and offered honesty, but the victims ultimately wanted more compassion. One very important unintended outcome of the mapping sessions was that victims indicated that the mapping process was empowering. We left them alone with their illustrated journeys so they could each make better sense of their own journey. Many of the women thanked us for helping them understand the buildup to a catastrophic event and how to move forward after it happened. Overall, the study was a success. Experience mapping proved to be an effective tool, enabling us to rank service effectiveness

Case Study: Mapping the Domestic Violence Journey  335

CASE STUDY

So how do victims make sense of it all? What identifiable patterns can we learn from to help prevent domestic violence in general? We set off to explore these deep waters in context through journey mapping. It was clear that we could no longer afford to focus our evaluation efforts only on the individual parts of the system, but needed to have an end-to-end overview. We wanted to know, what does it feel like to travel through the domestic violence system, focusing on the interaction with support services?

CASE STUDY

across the journey rather than on an individual basis. This gave the research team a more holistic view of the victims’ experiences. As Donella Meadows, author of the book Thinking in Systems, has said: “The behavior of a system cannot be known just by knowing the elements of which the system is made.” For more information, see the full report, available online at https://wcsleadershipnetwork.com/portfolio/domestic-violence-ux-journey-maps.

About the Contributor Dr. Karen Wood is a researcher and practitioner in Saskatchewan, with roots in both Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. Incorporating feminist analysis with an interdisciplinary background in social work, education, and health, her research explores the complexities related to violence and abuse with a particular focus on intimate partner violence, family violence, and child sexual abuse.

FIGURE 12-16. Mapping perceived value of services across three domestic journey types reveals opportunities for improvement.

336  Chapter 12: Experience Maps

Diagram and Image Credits Figure 12-1: Experience map of the veteran experience by Sarah Brown, used with permission Figure 12-2: Experience map created by Diego S. Bernardo, taken from his blog post “Agitation and Elation [in the User Experience],” used with permission Figure 12-3: Multi-persona experience map created by Tarun Upaday, cofounder and CEO of Gallop.AI ( gallop.ai ), used with permission Figure 12-4: Experience map created by Gene Smith and Trevor von Gorp of nForm, taken from Smith’s blog post “Experience Maps: Understanding Cross-Channel Experiences for Gamers,” used with permission Figure 12-5: Experience map for the Exploratorium from a case study by Brandon Schauer, taken from “Exploratorium: Mapping the Experience of Experiments,” used with permission Figure 12:6: Mode model diagram created by Stuart Karten of Karten Design, used with permission Figure 12-7: Framework for capturing a day-in-the-life story, adapted from Contextual Design by Karen Holtzblatt and Hugh Beyer

Figure 12-8: Typical week diagram created by Jim Kalbach in Visio Figure 12-9: Customer journey map created by Jamie Thomson (Mad*Pow), originally appearing in Megan Grocki’s article “How to Create a Customer Journey Map,” used with permission. Figure 12-10: Swim lane diagram from Wikipedia, public domain Figure 12-11: Swim lane diagram with storyboard by Yvonne Shek of nForm, used with permission Figure 12-12: Workflow diagrams by Jim Kalbach in Visio, used with permission from LexisNexis Figure 12-14: Job map of retrieving scientific information, adapted by Jim Kalbach in MURAL Figure 12-15: Photo of mapping domestic violence by Karen Wood, used with permission Figure 12-16: Map of domestic violence services per journey type from a study conducted by Karen Wood, used with permission

Elements of Experience Maps  337

IN THIS CHAPTER ■

Background and overview of mental models

■

Rapid mental model diagrams

■

Deriving structure

■

Elements of mental model diagrams

■

Case study: A mental model for a forward-thinking insurance company

CHAPTER 13

Mental Model Diagrams The term mental model has its roots in psychology. It refers to someone’s thought process about how the world works— their frame of reality. Mental models allow us to predict how things work. They are cognitive constructs built on beliefs, assumptions, and past experiences. But a person’s mental model is a perception of how a system functions, not necessarily how it actually may work.

The lesson for providers of products or services is profound: your understanding of the systems you create differs from the users’ understanding. You have far more knowledge about how the system actually works than others do. 70

50

For instance, say you come into your house in the US on a cold day. To get warmed up quickly, you turn the thermostat way up. Your assumption is that the higher the thermostat setting is, the more heat will come out. But an American thermostat does not work like a faucet valve. It’s more like a switch: the heat goes on or off depending on whether the set temperature has been reached (see Figure 13-1). In this scenario, your mental model of how the system works is wrong. The room won’t get warmer faster if you turn the temperature setting up. Instead, the heater will simply stay on longer, until the house reaches the desired temperature.

90

Thermostat

70

50

On 90

Off Thermostat FIGURE 13-1. Thermostats in the US are more like switches than faucets.

339

The difference in mental models is a key point Don Norman makes in his landmark book The Design of Everyday Things. Figure 13-2 shows his now-iconic graphic of three different models at play: the model the designer has of the system, the actual system model, and the mental model the user has of the system. The goal of design is to understand the mental model of the people you are designing for. To do this, you need a feedback loop, indicated by the two arrows on the right side of Figure 13-2. It requires the ability to put your perspective to the side

Design model

User’s model

Designer

User

System System image FIGURE 13-2. Don Norman’s well-known diagram illustrates that the designer’s model is not the same as the user’s mental model.

340  Chapter 13: Mental Model Diagrams

and to view the system as a user might. In a word, designing requires empathy. The diagrams explored in this book help you understand the feedback loop between the user and the system. The mental model the user has of the system is framed by that system. If you explore the mental model of a person who is trying to achieve a purpose, rather than a user of your system, then you can break out of the system frame. You can discover aspects of how a person thinks that have nothing to do with the system, but everything to do with how that person accomplishes their intent. Mapping is a key way to understand mental models and make them visible to your organization. In practice, mapping experiences is effectively mapping someone’s mental model. The approach discussed in this chapter focuses on a specific technique developed by Indi Young, called the mental model diagram.

Diagramming Mental Models In 2008, Indi Young published a formal method for visualizing mental models in her book of the same name. Figure 13-3 shows an example of a mental model used in the book. This instance examines “movie going.” Mental model diagrams are typically very long documents and can extend 10–15 feet across a wall when printed. The diagram in Figure 13-3 has been broken into two parts to fit on the page. The top half of the diagram describes the mental model patterns across a set of people. There are three basic levels of information in this portion of the diagram (Figure 13-4): Boxes These are the basic building blocks, shown as small squares. The boxes contain a person’s thoughts, reactions, and guiding principles. (Originally, Young referred to these as “tasks,” but she has since moved away from that language to avoid confusion with physical actions only.) Towers Boxes form groups based on affinity, called towers. These are the areas with colored backgrounds in the diagram. Mental spaces Towers, in turn, form affinity clusters called mental spaces. These are delineated with dark vertical lines and

A dark horizontal line in the center of the diagram separates the mental model from “support”—all of the products and services that address the thought process within a tower. From this arrangement, we see the basic principles of alignment at work. Overall, this approach of describing mental models focuses on people, not tools. For instance, instead of writing “Filter image colors in Photoshop,” focus on the root task, which might be “Alter image colors” or “Improve image color.” The diagrams also don’t reflect personal preference or opinion. Instead, you should strive to focus on what goes through a person’s mind—their internal voice—and capture that in your diagram. As a result, of all the diagrams covered in this book, the top half of a mental model diagram is the most person-focused in nature. This provides an advantage in terms of flexibility: these diagrams can be applied to any domain or situation. Mental model diagrams also enjoy longevity: once completed, a mental model will change only slowly, often remaining relevant for years. One risk with mental model diagrams is that they may overwhelm others with detail. I have seen business leaders ask for a simpler model. However, that detail is also a strength for those looking to deeply understand people’s state of mind.

labeled above the towers. Diagramming Mental Models  341

Movie Goer Alignment Diagram Research Conducted by Indi Young June 2004

Go to the Theater

Encounter a Film I Haven’t Heard Of

Decide to Watch a Film

Watch a Film at Home

Eat Dinner

FIGURE 13-3. This example of a mental model diagram from Indi Young’s book shows the overall experience of movie going.

342  Chapter 13: Mental Model Diagrams

Choose Film

Attend a Film Even

Choose Film

Attend a Film Event

Learn More about a Film

Watch the Film

Choose a Theater

Identify with a Film

Choose a Time

Interact with People about the Film

Follow the Industry

Diagramming Mental Models  343

Mental space

Towers

Individual’s mental model

Boxes

Support from organization

FIGURE 13-4. The three basic elements in a mental model diagram are boxes, towers, and mental spaces.

344  Chapter 13: Mental Model Diagrams

Combing the Transcripts The process for creating mental model diagrams is similar to the steps outlined in Chapters 5–8 of this book. One main difference is the normalization of research findings into a standard format. This normalization makes the process of finding affinities between items much easier. You begin the analysis by combing interview transcripts for relevant information. The time spent combing gives the researcher a much stronger understanding of what each participant meant. This process stands at the heart of the mental model technique. For every element in the diagram, follow a similar format: 1. Start with a verb, to focus on the thinking, rather than the goal. 2. Use the first person to put yourself in the participant’s shoes. 3. Add one idea per box, for simplicity and clarity. Each element comes from the thinking you hear from participants. If you record the listening session and get a transcript, you can draw each element from the transcript as a quote. To make it easier to find affinities between the elements, write a summary of each quote using this form: [I (optional)] [verb] [noun] [qualifiers]

This strict uniformity allows for the arrangement of elements hierarchically: boxes are grouped into towers, towers are grouped into mental spaces. The process begins with distilling elements from the transcripts. The aim is to get the essence of people’s mental models into the prescribed format. Formatting tasks takes practice. It’s not merely a process of copying phrases from the raw texts gathered during research. To illustrate, Table 13-1 shows some hypothetical quotes about drinking coffee. On the right are example summaries in the prescribed format that you might derive from this data. TABLE 13-1. Examples of summaries (right) in a normalized format derived from raw research texts (left). Direct quotes from research

Summary

“When I get up, my body is just saying ‘get some coffee!’ It’s like I can’t function without it. So the first thing I do pretty much every morning is make coffee—it’s almost automatic. I think I can almost do that in my sleep. I’ll then enjoy a cup with breakfast or while reading the newspaper.”

Feel nonfunctional until I get coffee

“My wife and I both really like drinking coffee in the morning. It’s a good way to wake up—it gets you going. Actually, I don’t quite feel right until I’ve had my first cup.”

Enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning

Feel compelled to make ­coffee in the morning Enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning

Crave coffee in the morning Feel not-quite-right until after my first cup of coffee

Diagramming Mental Models  345

Rapid Mental Model Method Creating a mental model diagram can take a lot of effort. Formal projects with 20–30 participants take weeks or months to complete. It’s a valuable up-front investment, but some organizations don’t want to take the time. After Mental Models was published, Young developed a method for creating diagrams quickly—within days. She describes this approach in a blog post titled “Try the ‘Lightning Quick’ Method.” It centers on a single workshop with stakeholders. Here is a summary of Young’s rapid approach to gathering data and finding affinities: 1. Solicit stories in advance. Collect short stories about a particular topic from your target audience a week in advance. This can be done through email or short listening sessions, as well as via social media and other online sources. The stories are accounts of how people reason their way toward a purpose, captured on one to two pages. If you need to, rewrite these stories using the first person so all of the texts have a similar perspective. 2. Comb and summarize. Read through the stories aloud in the workshop. Using large sticky notes or working in a shared document, have different team members record summaries as you read. Within a few hours, you should be able to produce one hundred discrete summaries.

346  Chapter 13: Mental Model Diagrams

3. Group by patterns. Once the summaries begin to accumulate, start grouping them by the intent of the story writer. Many of these first groups will change as you add summaries. As you get further in, you can begin to organize the towers into mental spaces. You should be able to create a provisional structure within an afternoon. 4. Brainstorm. Use the remainder of the workshop to brainstorm solutions. Where are the gaps between how people are reasoning and how your organization supports that reasoning? What opportunities do you see? The rapid method is ideal for teams that need to act on results quickly. The result is a first-generation diagram that reflects what you have collected at this point. It may need further validation. But since people’s stories are collected up front, this diagram is nonetheless grounded in reality.

From Construct to Structure The hierarchical nature of mental model diagrams makes them particularly relevant to the practice of information architecture. The process can be described as grounded: a bottom-up approach starting with summaries of how people describe their reasoning, reactions, and guiding principles as they accomplish a purpose larger than your offering. Then, it’s a matter of successively grouping information into higher-level categories (Figure 13-5).

The result is a categorization that matches the actual mental model of the people you serve and reflects the vocabulary that people have used in interviews. App and web designers, for example, can then use this scheme as the basis for navigation. This greatly improves the usability of the navigation and ensures its longevity as well.

Category 1

Category 2

Mental Space 1

Tower 1

Thought

Tower 2

Mental Space 2

Tower 3

Reaction

Guiding principle Reaction

Thought Thought

Category n

Mental Space 3

Tower 4

Thought Reaction

Young describes the process of deriving structure and mapping it to navigation in detail. Figure 13-6 is an example of the process outlined in her book. It shows how mental spaces can be grouped into categories that then serve as the main navigation for a website.

Mental Space n

Tower 5

Guiding principle Thought

Tower 6

Thought

Tower n

Guiding principle

Guiding principle

Guiding principle Reaction

Real-world insights

FIGURE 13-5. Deriving structure from mental model diagrams is a bottom-up process grounded in real-world insights.

Diagramming Mental Models  347

Related Approaches The origins of investigation into mental models date back to the work of Kenneth Craik in his 1943 book The Nature of Explanation. He offers a concise, simple-to-understand definition of mental models: The mind constructs small-scale models of reality to anticipate events, to reason, and to underlie explanation. Later, Philip Johnson-Laird did some of the most significant research on the subject, resulting in the publication of a fulllength book titled Mental Models in 1983. Early attempts at representing mental models visually reflect a hierarchical arrangement of information. For instance, Johnson-Laird’s approach looked at how a meaningful story builds up across events and episodes. His approach was grounded in textual analysis, which he then visualized (Figure 13-7). Broadly speaking, this represents the technique of laddering: showing layers of causality from granular evidence to high-level conclusions. Mental model diagrams are also based on a type of laddering.

FIGURE 13-6. Cluster mental spaces to come up with top-level categories that can be used for website navigation, for instance.

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Consider the laddering in the goals-means framework, shown in Figure 13-8. This shows a hierarchy of goals and means for pregnancy, created by designer Beth Kyle. At the top is the primary goal of having a healthy child and mother. The means of achieving that are listed on the next level. The process iterates until specific solutions and features are determined at the lowest level.

FIGURE 13-7. An example of a diagram by Philip Johnson-Laird reflects the hierarchical nature of mental model analysis.

In another example, Figure 13-9 shows the new business activities of an architectural firm. This is a diagram I created during a previous project, modified to conceal the identities of both the firm and our client.

Because new business activities can happen in any order, using a hierarchical representation made sense in this case. It allowed me to show relationships between actions without putting them on a timeline. Through laddering, higher-level goals and needs can then be identified.

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FIGURE 13-8. A goals-means framework connects solutions with underlying goals.

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FIGURE 13-9. A hierarchical map reflects the business development activities for an architecture firm.

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Elements of Mental Model ­Diagrams Of the types presented in Part 3 of this book, mental model diagrams represent an archetype for hierarchical illustrations. Indi Young’s book provides a step-by-step guide to creating these diagrams, as well as tips on ways to use them in practice. Broadly speaking, mental model diagrams reflect the concept of laddering—a grounded, bottom-up approach to creating models of human experiences based on observations. Table 13-2 summarizes the main aspects that define mental model diagrams using the framework outlined in Chapter 2.

TABLE 13-2. Defining aspects of mental model diagrams. Point of view

Thoughts, emotions, and guiding principles that go through a person’s mind in a given context as they achieve a purpose.

Structure

Hierarchical.

Scope

Very broad and inclusive of multiple perspectives across individuals.

Focus

Behavior, reasoning, beliefs, and philosophies of individuals. The support organizations offer.

Uses

To develop empathy by understanding what goes through people’s minds. To find opportunities for innovation based on a deep understanding of human behavior. To derive navigation and high-level information architecture. To guide the flow of your offering so that it supports the thinking captured in the diagram.

Strengths

Normalized formats provide consistent results. Deep insight into human thinking with respect to the scope of the purpose the person is trying to achieve.

Weaknesses

Final diagrams can be overwhelming in detail. Lack of chronological flow.

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Further Reading Thomas Reynolds and Jonathan Gutman, “Laddering Theory, Method, Analysis, and Interpretation,” Journal of Advertising Research (Feb–Mar 1988) This is an older article from two of the primary originators of the laddering approach, based on Gutman’s means-end approach outlined a few years earlier. It provides a detailed description of the technique with many examples. In general, laddering grounds conclusions you make in evidence.

Indi Young, “Try the ‘Lightning Quick’ Method” (Mar 2010) In this blog post, Young describes a modified process for creating and using mental model diagrams that can be completed in a matter of days. It offers a quick alternative to the full-blown method outlined in her book.

Indi Young, Mental Models (Rosenfeld Media, 2008) Young pioneered a specific technique for illustrating mental models in the early 2000s. This is a meticulously detailed book with step-by-step instructions, essential reading for anyone interested in completing a mental model diagramming project.

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CASE STUDY

A Mental Model for a Forward-Thinking Insurance Company by Indi Young This particular case study represents a common scenario where a product or service already exists, and the organization is seeking a way to make incremental improvements. The example organization is an insurance company.* The company offers auto insurance and home insurance. There is a group within the company, separate from any of these businesses, tasked with strategic direction and new products. The group was created two years ago by a few of the executives in response to discussions in the boardroom about competition and innovation; they wanted to experiment with something beyond traditional industrial methods. This group has conducted a few person-focused studies, one of which was about what goes through people’s minds during and immediately after an auto accident. Because of what they discovered, the group suspects there might be something to learn from thinking patterns during near misses. They want to conduct another study as a twin to the accident study, so they have a stronger foundation from which to develop their potential ideas for new directions. The group hopes to use the discoveries to guide the way the company provides services to the individuals it insures. * Because it’s difficult to get legal permission to use genuine studies and transcripts, the insurance company case study is fake. The 24 participant stories that were collected are true, but the ideas that emerged from the findings were invented based on a foundation of two decades’ experience.

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The scope of their subsequent study is: What was on your mind during and after a memorable near-miss accident? This scope is not restricted by the type or location of the incident. The team will hear stories from people who have nearly had accidents in the kitchen or on the road, by themselves or in a crowd, where someone is at fault or no one is at fault. Because this is person-focused research, the accident does not have to relate to the product—home and auto insurance—that the company provides. The goal is to gather information on ways of thinking and manners of decision making during a near miss, whether or not it has to do with automobiles. The patterns of thinking can then be used as a framework for new ideas about auto insurance.

Near-Miss Accidents The team began by conducting listening sessions with 24 people. They began each session with the question, “What was on your mind during and after a memorable near-miss accident?” Then they let the participant take the conversation wherever they wanted, within that scope. Here is the first part of one of the stories. The listener digs into various things that were mentioned so as to better understand the reasoning and reactions that went through the participant’s mind at the time.

Listener: I’m looking for stories that will help me understand what goes through people’s minds in near accidents or injuries. Do you have any near accidents or near injuries that you remember? Speaker: I guess this counts as a near accident, because it was an actual accident, but it could have been much worse. So I think it counts as both. It wasn’t recent—it must have been when my daughter was four or five. These don’t have to be car things, right? Listener: Right. Speaker: This is one of those things when you’re driving on the freeway, and you’re going 65 miles per hour. I was right behind a fencing company truck. An aluminum bracket tumbled off the little storage cabinet above the truck. I wasn’t even that close behind it—just a normal distance. I was driving my Honda Odyssey, and the bracket struck the windshield right in front of my face. Instant spiderweb! It was one of those things that happen in a flash. I had all this adrenaline. So, I’m going to pull up to this other car and tell them to pull over. So I get in the other lane and I pull up next to them. I look over and it is four men, and three of them are asleep! I’ve got to stop them to get their insurance. I was gesticulating at them. There was another some sort of a service car, or some sort of county-related government car. I tried to flag them down, and they just looked confused. Finally, I drove home and looked at it. Boy, am I glad for tempered glass.

If this had happened 50 years ago, I would be dead. And my daughter was in the car seat in the back going, “What’s going on, mom?”

Listener: Wow! Yes, thank goodness for tempered glass. That’s so scary to think about! You said the word “adrenaline.” What do you mean? Speaker: That’s the part where you kind of panic a little bit. Everything’s happening fast but sort of slow at the same time. Your heart’s beating fast, and you’re not quite sure what the right thing to do is, but you have to do something. You have a smidgeon of common sense to not veer off the road. But this sort of thing has never happened before, so some of the adrenaline is from being in unfamiliar water. I wasn’t sure what to do next. Maybe I should get the name of the company. I tried to get the license plate. I remember looking them up on the internet when I got home. I was thinking, “Can I just call them and tell them, ‘You guys did this to my car’?” I was upset. Listener: You were upset? Speaker: It’s a good $500 when something happens to your car! But the adrenaline was also knowing it could have been worse. You just get scared. Everything on that truck should have been packed up and strapped down. This stuff happens all the time, though, which is what’s scary. In a perfect world, nothing would ever happen like this. So it was adrenaline to do something: fight or flee. Or a little of both. [laughs]

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CASE STUDY

17: Bracket Fell Off the Work Truck—Transcript

CASE STUDY

Listener: You say you looked them up on the internet when you got home? Speaker: I looked them up to make sure it was a company. I thought about calling them, but what would I have said? How can I prove that anything happened? It happened on a freeway going 65 miles per hour. There were no witnesses. All I have is a car that needs a new windshield and is undrivable. I decided I guess there’s nothing I can do about this, except chalk it up to one of life’s experiences. Try to learn from it. Never drive behind a work truck like that. Tell my teenagers never to drive behind a truck. There are all sorts of scary scenarios; you can drive yourself crazy with it. When my husband got home he said I got lucky. He said, “That was in a really bad spot. You could have really gotten hurt.” Listener: What was going through your mind when he told you that? Speaker: That I completely agree, “Yeah, you’re right.” “Oh yeah, it wasn’t just my imagination.” It was a validation. I am as lucky as I think I am.

Writing Summaries After collecting the stories, the team sat down to go over the details in the written transcripts. Making sense of what a person said from the transcript provided them double the depth of understanding than simply listening. It involved corralling messy, meandering dialog, picking out certain quotes to put with other parts of this person’s dialogue, and forging a better idea of what they meant to convey. This work allowed the team to absorb participants’ thoughts, reactions, and philosophies. The team developed deep cognitive empathy with the participants. Here are some example quotes the team worked through. They strung together several quotes from one transcript that represented the same concept, jotted down whether it was reasoning/thinking, a reaction, or a guiding principle, tried out a few verbs that could possibly star as the first scintillating word of the summary, and then wrote the summary for that concept.

Maybe I should get the name of the company. … get the license plate. … if that happened to someone else, and they were telling me about it, I’d ask, “Who did it?” … to get information about them … I remember looking them up on the internet when I got home. … I looked them up to make sure it was a company. (thinking)

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Patterns Found in Transcript Summaries for Near-Miss Accidents

Summary: Identify who made this accident happen, by the name of the company or the license place, because I want to know who did it.

1. Recognize I am in a dangerous situation a. Feel shocked to suddenly be in a situation that could be dangerous

Finally, I drove home. … I decided I guess there’s nothing I can do about this, except chalk it up to one of life’s experiences.

b. Feel terrified that I’m about to have an accident (or get hurt)

(thinking)

c. Figure out if this is a dangerous situation

Verbs: Drive, Decide, Think, Chalk, Realize, Conclude…

2. Get safe again a. Behave in a smart way so I can get out of this dangerous situation safely, despite the adrenaline

Summary: Decide to drive home because there was nothing I could do

b. Reach out mentally to others for help to get out of the situation

Finding Patterns

3. Find out if anyone was hurt a. Worry I might have hurt someone

After summarizing all the concepts in all 24 transcripts, the team looked for patterns across the summaries. As patterns started to form, they found surprises, as well as things they expected. Both the surprises and the nonsurprises became extremely useful later for reframing their thinking.

b. Feel relieved I was/others were not hurt c. Reassure people I am not hurt 4. Feel relieved it’s over

When the team was finished, they went through all the piles a second time to see if they could organize the items into bigger groups. Here is a list of all the piles they labeled (the indented a, b, c level) and the groups they formed based on these piles (the 1, 2, 3 level).

a. Feel grateful to the person who helped me get out of the dangerous situation b. Feel relieved the danger is over c. Spend some time getting the adrenaline out of my system d. Feel surprised I reacted this way

Case Study: A Mental Model for a Forward-Thinking Insurance Company  357

CASE STUDY

Verbs: Get, Find, Look, Identify…

CASE STUDY

5. Feel angry at the other person involved.

9. Spend time thinking about what happened

a. Feel angry at the person who could have avoided causing this

b. Think about what could have happened

b. Confront the other person (or not) so they know they put me out

c. Feel amazed how such a minor thing caused such big repercussions

c. Confront the person so they won’t do it again to anyone else

d. Feel grateful for emotional support from people after the incident

d. Try to defuse the tension between me and the other person involved

e. Figure the accident could have been worse, which qualifies it as a near miss

e. Wonder what the other person involved was thinking 6. Feel upset that the person who did this probably wasn’t paying attention, doesn’t care a. Feel upset with myself b. Feel upset with myself about my role in the incident (being partially to blame) c. Feel embarrassed at my reaction, lack of skill

a. Try to figure out what just happened/how

10. Try to prevent this from happening again/to others a. Report the incident (or not) to authorities so they know what happened b. Convince someone in charge to do something to prevent this from happening again c. Change my actions so this doesn’t happen again d. Prevent an accident by following safe habits

7. Return home/to what I was doing a. Carry on with what I was doing (or not) b. Get back home 8. Follow the insurance process a. Exchange insurance information with the other person because there was some minor damage b. Feel compelled to do things I don’t think need to be done because of the insurance process

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The Mental Model Diagram The labels from the piles the team put together are the titles of the towers in the mental model diagram. The boxes within each tower are the summaries themselves. The affinity groups that formed are the mental spaces for the diagram (Figure 13-10).

• Feel upset with myself about my role in the incident (being partially to blame)

The team found quite a few patterns in the summaries. Their next step was to bring attention to some of the behaviors related to priorities articulated in this year’s business goals. These are the business goals:

• Feel embarrassed at my reaction, lack of skill • Spend some time getting the adrenaline out of my system • Report the incident (or not) to authorities so they know what happened

• Increase membership—attract more insurance customers (a perennial goal)

• Convince someone in charge to do something to prevent this from happening again

• Reduce claims (a perennial goal)

• Change my actions so this doesn’t happen again

• Leverage the company’s social capital (has been a goal for four years)

• Feel compelled to do things I don’t think need to be done because of the insurance process

• Offer more services via mobile apps, phone or tablet—to help people “on the scene” (has been a goal for the past two years)

• Prevent an accident by following safe habits • Figure the accident could have been worse, which qualifies it as a near miss

• Increase employee pride in what the company does (new this year) With these organization-wide goals in mind, the team went through the list of patterns and chose those of most interest. These are the patterns that the team thinks might be able to affect some of the goals.

Patterns that Seem Associated with Yearly Goals • Reassure people I am not hurt

Get Started Inspiring Ideas Finally, during some working sessions with key stakeholders, the team used these patterns to touch off some ideation. Using the actual stories they heard in the listening sessions, the team helped the group cycle through extensions that might end in various ways for the organization. They guided the working session so that the ideas were not limited to an existing product or service.

• Confront the person so they won’t do it again to anyone else • Try to defuse the tension between me and the other person involved

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CASE STUDY

Zero In on Current Business Goals

CASE STUDY

Recognize I am in a dangerous situation Feel terrified that I'm about to have an accident (or get hurt) Yell expletives because I am so scared about hitting the deer because of my momentum going downhill Feel alarmed that the thing I saw on the freeway turns out to be a big wheel bouncing through traffic, too close to do anything about

Feel terrified because the cellophane wrapped my car completely so I can't see anything, and I am going down the interstate at 60 mph

Feel chilled to see the second plane fly into Tower 2, knowing it was intentional and not some air traffic control screw-up

Feel scared by the guy I notice out of the corner of my eye staring at me aggressively and following me Hope the drug works for my son as I hug him on my lap and tremble and cry Feel scared that I won't be able to get out of this lane in time

Feel shocked because this tall guy was suddenly in my face, shoving me, knocking off my glasses

Feel scared that now my car is exposed to being rearended on the highway Feel scared about using the epi pen correctly on myself for the first time

Get safe again

Behave in a smart way so I can get out of this dangerous situation safely despite the adrenaline

Feel shocked to suddenly be in a situation that could be dangerous

Feel alarmed by the pickup that whizzed by me at 30-35 mph when I was at the crosswalk Feel startled by the mirror that flies past my shoulder

Figure out if this is a dangerous situation Look in her ear with a flashlight to decide if my daughter is hurt badly enough we need to take her to a doctor

Feel dazed by the surreal effect of the deer's head and antlers rolling past my car window Feel scared when I experience nap jerks, falling asleep, while I'm driving

Try to figure out if the guy is joke drowning just to get my attention and make me look stupid jumping in

Test if he's really following me by crossing the street and watching if he does, too

Feel calm and empty so that I would not be stupid about getting over in time Feel calm as I try to get the car back in control as it slid downhill on the ice Inject my son with epinephrine immediately without panicking Make sure I don't skid so that I can stop in time

Try to keep the car straight to get off at the exit I remember here, by stretching up to peer our the 2" at the top of the windshield

Feel panicked about what I should do after the bracket hit my windshield, because it was an unfamiliar situation

Look for a safe place to pull over after the bee stung me on the neck while I was driving

Decide not to pull off the interstate because I could get hit on the side of the road, and there is a ravine I could tumble into, and I can't see

Leave my tall office building nearby in New Jersey in case they're flying planes into all the tall buildings Speed up to get away from the guy following me when I was lost Make sure he isn't armed

Feel surprised that I want to hurry back into the boat rather than follow her rescue directions, which I know will give me more success

Find out if anyone was hurt

Reach out mentally to others for help to get out of the situation

Get people in the train car to look up by making a crinkling sound on my water botte, to be aware of the big, muscly dude before he tries anything

Spit out my bite of rice krispie right away because it has peanut butter in it (son's point of view)

Walk normally, even though I'm late, so if the guy decides to try something, people on the sidewalk will side with me

Make sure I'm safe about getting from my car over to talk to him

Pray to my dead brother to help me through this incident

Feel relieved it's over Spend some time getting the adrenaline out of my system

Feel relieved I was / others were not hurt Feel lucky not to have swerved because the deer that came out of the middle of the road would have hit my windshield Feel grateful I wasn't hurt, physically, because it could have been much worse Feel relieved that my son seems fine and is wiggling on my lap Feel thankful no one got hurt and there was no damage

Feel grateful that the tempered glass windshield saved me and my daughter from getting seriously hurt since there wasn’t anything else we could control about the bracket hitting our car Feel lucky I saw the stopped car in my lane early enough to hardly hit him Feel lucky the tire bounced entirely over my car, since it is a small Mini Cooper

Stay in right hand lane behind semi, gripping the wheel, for the rest of the trip because that was my one free shot to avoid an accident

Feel grateful that my husband is such a good driver that he could slow down and avoid letting the black car that came across the center divider hit us

Feel lucky that my husband was there to catch our daughter as I fell down the last four steps Feel relieved that my daughter had stopped crying because it means she isn't hurt that bad

Shake with adrenaline for a while after I stopped at the bottom of the hill and pulled off to the side

Worry I might have hurt someone Feel scared I'm in trouble because I hurt my sister with the stick by accident Feel worried about the possibility the person I rearended is injured

Reassure people I am not hurt Reassure my wife that I'm okay, not hurt by the planes

Breathe deeply for a while in the parking lot to calm down

Reassure my brother that he didn't hurt me

Try to calm myself down from the anger and shaking

Feel grateful to the person who helped me get out of the dangerous situation Praise the woman's rescue directions, since she sounded confident but needed to know how she did Realize that my husband's absorption in driving is what saved us from getting hit by that black car all those years ago

Feel grateful the semi-truck driver is paying attention and slows and honks to let me over

Feel angry at the other person involved

Feel relieved the danger is over Feel safer because the guy won't try to steal my bag on these less crowded, wider sidewalks

Feel thankful to reach the street I recognized from the last meeting I had at that building

Feel relieved I didn't have to figure out how to get his car off the highway

Realize my message to my wife was not clear, because she knows I often work in the Tower and I might have been in it when I called, before it collapsed

Feel amazed how much the shock and daze slowed down my thinking and communication s to my wife and parents

Feel surprised I’m not taking his rage personally perhaps because it was luck of the draw

Feel upset with myself

Confront the other person (or not) so he knows he put me out

Feel surprised I reacted this way Feel angry at the person who could have avoided causing this

Feel angry that the big guy with the plastic hand paddles willfully endangered me by splitting my lane without letting me know

Feel annoyed the driver forced me out of the crosswalk, even though I had the walk signal Feel angry while thinking of all sorts of things to say to him about the possible consequences

Feel angry at the guys for accusing me when they could have said something to prevent or help the situation

Feel upset that their neglect has put me out in a big way, with my car undrivable and a $500 repair

Feel annoyed at my team for putting me in the position of making up ground with the client

Struggle to decide whether I should remain my nonconfrontational self, or go up there and tell him what he almost did

Try to enlist the help of an official looking car to flag down the work truck, since they may not pay attention to me Make the life guards feel remorse for not paying attention

Hope I can yell at them because I need to direct my aggression at someone and they should know better than to leave loose bracket on top of their truck

Realize that my crazy impulse to get the driver of the officiallooking car to help me pull the perpetrator over did not make sense to that person

Decide to drive home because there was nothing I could do

Feel upset that the person who did this probably wasn’t paying attention, doesn't care Confront the person so he won't do it again to anyone else Decide it is my public service to go up there and tell the young man what he did so he doesn't do it again over the next five months of working here

Avoid adding tension to the situation by not accusing him of being over the yellow line Keep the situation from escalating by using a calm tone of voice and getting out of there

Remind awful drivers that we pedestrians exist so they will driver safer Make sure someone knows the rules, if he acts in a self-serving way

Try to defuse the tension between me and the other person involved

Feel angry that he is so offhanded about making assumptions when he could hurt someone

Show the guards I could see their point of view, as a sort of apology Try to try to downplay the fact that I got angry

Wonder what the other person involved was thinking Realize based on her story, the guard was paying attention but made an assumption

Imagine the young guy was not paying attention because he was listening to music as he drove his truck fast

Wonder what drives the kind of anger that causes a person to strike out violently at a stranger Attempt to see things from his point of view, as someone who does not do flip turns

Feel frustrated that the driver and occupants of the work vehicle appear to have no idea the damage they caused me

Assume the guy who jumped in the deep end could swim, because an adult would be smarter than that

Feel astounded the life guards were chatting, not paying attention to the situation

Feel angry replaying the scenario from his eyes and seeing myself in the middle of the lane on my back, clearly unaware of him

Doubt the guy cares about what others think about his lack of safety etiquette Feel upset again replaying the scenario and words in my head

Return home/to what I was doing

Feel remorseful about jeapordizing both our lives with my negligent driving

Feel compelled to do things I don't think need to be d because of the insurance process

Feel disgusted that I let an accident almost happen, when I know better

Feel guilty about putting my sister through all the doctor visits and hearing test Feel terrified that I'd hurt our 2-year-old daughter when I fell because she was crying

Feel embarrassed at my reaction, lack of skill

Feel irresponsible for not watching where the pool gets deeper, because the mom had to sprint from across the deck to rescue her kid

Feel angry at myself for not recognizing it sooner than when I see him lunge for his friend in that awful way, which means he is truly drowning

Feel embarrassed that my husband heard me say a swear word for the first time

Feel upset enough to say, "Oh sh-t!" when I dropped and broke all 12 bottles of Pepsi in the garage

Feel embarrassed that I could not control the car during the slide Feel embarrassed about yelling at the guard

Realize my message to my wife was not clear, because she knows I often work in the Tower and I might have been in it when I called, before it collapsed

Get back home

Keep driving so that if there was any cop who saw me, I would be too far gone before he could react

Feel embarrassed to immediately flip the fancy kayak this woman let me try out

Decide to walk to a friend's house in New Jersey rather than take the train home because the transfer station is probably damaged

Make the car safe enough to drive home by getting the door open and struggling to push the stuff down on the windshield

Feel amazed how much the shock and daze slowed down my thinking and communication s to my wife and parents

Feel surprised I’m not taking his rage personally perhaps because it was luck of the draw

Feel angry that the big guy with the plastic hand paddles willfully endangered me by splitting my lane without letting me know

Feel annoyed the driver forced me out of the crosswalk, even though I had the walk signal Feel angry while thinking of all sorts of things to say to him about the possible consequences

Feel angry at the guys for accusing me when they could have said something to prevent or help the situation

Feel upset that their neglect has put me out in a big way, with my car undrivable and a $500 repair

Feel annoyed at my team for putting me in the position of making up ground with the client

Struggle to decide whether I should remain my nonconfrontational self, or go up there and tell him what he almost did

Try to enlist the help of an official looking car to flag down the work truck, since they may not pay attention to me Make the life guards feel remorse for not paying attention

Hope I can yell at them because I need to direct my aggression at someone and they should know better than to leave loose bracket on top of their truck

Realize that my crazy impulse to get the driver of the officiallooking car to help me pull the perpetrator over did not make sense to that person

Decide to drive home because there was nothing I could do

Feel upset that the person who did this probably wasn’t paying attention, doesn't care Confront the person so he won't do it again to anyone else Decide it is my public service to go up there and tell the young man what he did so he doesn't do it again over the next five months of working here

Avoid adding tension to the situation by not accusing him of being over the yellow line Keep the situation from escalating by using a calm tone of voice and getting out of there

Remind awful drivers that we pedestrians exist so they will driver safer Make sure someone knows the rules, if he acts in a self-serving way

Try to defuse the tension between me and the other person involved

Feel angry that he is so offhanded about making assumptions when he could hurt someone

Show the guards I could see their point of view, as a sort of apology Try to try to downplay the fact that I got angry

Wonder what the other person involved was thinking Realize based on her story, the guard was paying attention but made an assumption

Attempt to see things from his point of view, as someone who does not do flip turns

Feel frustrated that the driver and occupants of the work vehicle appear to have no idea the damage they caused me

Imagine the young guy was not paying attention because he was listening to music as he drove his truck fast

Wonder what drives the kind of anger that causes a person to strike out violently at a stranger

FIGURE 13-10. The top portion of a mental model diagram generated from primary research.

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Review the reasons I should keep riding a bike, after nearly being hit by a car, such as dedicated, happy, helpful fellow triathletes

Feel dismayed to find out that by filling in a field, I have set off a long process involving laywers for this little accident

Feel mad that I can't go to the gym now because I slipped on the ice and sprained my wrist

Decide to go back since I saw in the rearview mirror that he had stopped and we should exchange insurance information

Feel frustrated that I can't cheat the medical industry and just borrow an otoscope from a doctor I work with, because it is Sunday

Finish what I had started, even if I'm scared

Try to find my proof of insurance either in my purse or in the glovebox

Feel anxious to end the process by agreeing to split the blame

Struggle to decide that the responsible thing to do is pay the emergency room co-pay, rather than wait until Monday to take her to the doctor

Decide to take our daughter to the clinic in Kroger, because it's cheaper than the emergency room copay of $150, which I don't want to pay

Double check with the pediatrician o call if we reall need to go to the emergenc room like the nurse said, or we can wait a day for the doctor's office to be open

Feel frustrate that we could have saved th $150 becaus the doctor at the emergenc room said exactly what predicted

Feel compelle to fill in all the fields on the claim form, to tell how I saw

Feel upset w

Confront the other person (or not) so he knows he put me out

Feel angry at the person who could have avoided causing this

Exchange insurance information with the other person because there was some minor damage

Carry on with what I was doing

Wonder why I swore at such a minor thing, when I've only sworn three times in my life

Feel angry at the other person involved

Feel surprised I reacted this way

Follow the insurance process

Feel upset with myself about my role in the incident (being partially to blame)

Assume the guy who jumped in the deep end could swim, because an adult would be smarter than that

Feel astounded the life guards were chatting, not paying attention to the situation

Feel angry replaying the scenario from his eyes and seeing myself in the middle of the lane on my back, clearly unaware of him

Doubt the guy cares about what others think about his lack of safety etiquette Feel upset again replaying the scenario and words in my head

Feel upset with myself about my role in the incide (being partially to blame) Feel remorseful about jeapordizing both our lives with my negligent driving

Feel disgusted that I let an accident almost happen, when I know better

Feel guilty about putting my sister through all the doctor visits and hearing test Feel terrified that I'd hurt our 2-year-old daughter when I fell because she was crying

Feel irresponsible for not watching where the pool gets deeper, because the mom had to sprint from across the deck to rescue her kid

Feel angry at myself for not recognizing it sooner than when I see him lunge for his friend in that awful way, which means he is truly drowning

enough to say "Oh sh-t!" whe I dropped and broke all 12 bottles of Peps in the garage

Feel upset with myself

Follow the insurance process

el remorseful about apordizing oth our lives with my negligent driving

el disgusted hat I let an ident almost ppen, when I now better

Feel guilty bout putting my sister ough all the octor visits nd hearing test

eel terrified t I'd hurt our 2-year-old ughter when ell because e was crying

Feel embarrassed at my reaction, lack of skill

Feel angry at myself for not recognizing it sooner than when I see him lunge for his friend in that awful way, which means he is truly drowning

Feel embarrassed that my husband heard me say a swear word for the first time

Feel upset enough to say, "Oh sh-t!" when I dropped and broke all 12 bottles of Pepsi in the garage

Feel embarrassed that I could not control the car during the slide Feel embarrassed about yelling at the guard

Exchange insurance information with the other person because there was some minor damage

Feel dismayed to find out that by filling in a field, I have set off a long process involving laywers for this little accident

Decide to go back since I saw in the rearview mirror that he had stopped and we should exchange insurance information

Feel frustrated that I can't cheat the medical industry and just borrow an otoscope from a doctor I work with, because it is Sunday

Try to find my proof of insurance either in my purse or in the glovebox

Feel anxious to end the process by agreeing to split the blame

Carry on with what I was doing

Wonder why I swore at such a minor thing, when I've only sworn three times in my life

Feel irresponsible for not watching where the pool gets deeper, because the mom had to sprint from across the deck to rescue her kid

Spend time thinking about what happened

Feel compelled to do things I don't think need to be done because of the insurance process

Get back home

Keep driving so that if there was any cop who saw me, I would be too far gone before he could react

Feel embarrassed to immediately flip the fancy kayak this woman let me try out

Decide to walk to a friend's house in New Jersey rather than take the train home because the transfer station is probably damaged

Make the car safe enough to drive home by getting the door open and struggling to push the stuff down on the windshield

Review the reasons I should keep riding a bike, after nearly being hit by a car, such as dedicated, happy, helpful fellow triathletes Feel mad that I can't go to the gym now because I slipped on the ice and sprained my wrist Finish what I had started, even if I'm scared

Struggle to decide that the responsible thing to do is pay the emergency room co-pay, rather than wait until Monday to take her to the doctor

Decide to take our daughter to the clinic in Kroger, because it's cheaper than the emergency room copay of $150, which I don't want to pay

Double check with the pediatrician on call if we really need to go to the emergency room like the nurse said, or if we can wait a day for the doctor's office to be open

Feel frustrated that we could have saved the $150 because the doctor at the emergency room said exactly what I predicted

Feel compelled to fill in all the fields on the claim form, to tell how I saw it

Try to figure out what just happened / how Feel confused as to what happened as I came over this knoll and apparently clipped mirrors with this guy going the other way who was slightly over the yellow line

Try to process the experience by thinking and writing about it Imagine what would have happened if the truck driver hadn't been paying attention

Piece together how a mirror comes flying through the air, realizing it was clipped by a lady driving past a truck

Realize all those cars pulled over had broken windshields from the bouncing tire

Assume the report I heard of a plane flying into Tower 1 was about a small plane, like because of fog

Imagine that if he was armed, he would have shot or stabbed me Imagine what would have happened if I had been 10 steps behind

Feel terrified when I imagine that freeway driver not paying attention for a second or two, and causing an injury accident

urance ith the ecause e minor e

Feel dismayed to find out that by filling in a field, I have set off a long process involving laywers for this little accident

go eI he irror ad and ld e e on

Feel frustrated that I can't cheat the medical industry and just borrow an otoscope from a doctor I work with, because it is Sunday

my f e my the x

Feel anxious to end the process by agreeing to split the blame

Struggle to decide that the responsible thing to do is pay the emergency room co-pay, rather than wait until Monday to take her to the doctor

Decide to take our daughter to the clinic in Kroger, because it's cheaper than the emergency room copay of $150, which I don't want to pay

Double check with the pediatrician on call if we really need to go to the emergency room like the nurse said, or if we can wait a day for the doctor's office to be open

Feel frustrated that we could have saved the $150 because the doctor at the emergency room said exactly what I predicted

Feel compelled to fill in all the fields on the claim form, to tell how I saw it

Prevent an accident by following safe habits

Try not to drive myself crazy thinking of scary scenarios like these where I have no control over damage or injury Feel chilled how close my son had been from having a reaction to the peanut butter Imagine how horrible it would have been if he'd drowned while I was watching

Feel grateful for emotional support from people after the incident

Feel shocked that someone almost collided with me while I was in a vulnerable position kicking on my back

Feel terrified that the irresponsible bastard could have made a widow out of my wife and orphans of my kids Feel scared that I almost got hit hard in the head with a metal pipe

Follow the insurance process

Feel compelled to do things I don't think need to be done because of the insurance process

Try to prevent this from happening again/to others

Think about what would have happened if

Imagine what would have happened if I had turned into the crosswalk immediately or been five steps ahead of myself

CASE STUDY

Return home/to what I was doing

upset with myself about my role in the incident (being partially to blame)

Feel amazed how such a minor thing caused such big repercussions Feel amazed that the cellophane is wrapped so tightly I can't roll the window down and stick my head out to see, and have to cut it off when I get home Feel amazed how much damage the sturdy deer did to my car

Find out if others who saw the incident thought it was as bad as I did

Feel relieved he is not angry about me rearending his car

Feel grateful for all the verbal support that calmed me down Feel grateful that friends have written me notes of concern

Feel exonerated by the repair man telling me that clipping mirrors is pretty common in rural places

Feel grateful to my friend for suggesting I go see a doctor about being so tired all the time Feel validated by my husband's opinion that I was as lucky as I thought I was Stay calm when I show my husband where the deer hit the car

Report the incident (or not) to authorities so they know what happened

Figure the accident could have been worse Figure that the accident could have been much worse, so even though there was damage, it was a near-miss in terms of injury

Figure the accident could have been much, much worse, so it's a near-miss Figure that the accident was minor, so it's kind of a nearmiss

Wonder if reporting the incident to the police would be worthwhile since I didn't see his car's make or color

Hope that filling out a form to report a nearmiss will encourage them to put out some warnings, like when this happens at work

Let the police know the license plate of the idiot who almost hit me, since I had the license number

Decide to report the incident to the pool supervisor, so she knows about the potential problem

Convince someone in charge to do something to prevent this from happening again

Recognize there is no way for me to prove they were responsible since there were no witnesses

Encourage the life guards to use their authority to teach the guy not to split lanes until the swimmer acknowledges him Hope she can think of a way to prevent future injuries

Resolve not to mention my own solutions, since I know the pool supervisor prefers to think of her own

Share a grin with the guards over their lack of real authority, so they know I understand their position Yell at my husband that he must hurry to put up the stair railing, or someone will get hurt worse

Change my actions so this doesn't happen again

Look up tips for driving on ice so I am not embarrassed again by my lack of ability to control the car

Devise a plan to keep myself safe in crosswalks by counting to 10 after the light changes Try to come up with a better plan for getting the boulders off the truck safely

Decide I should give up driving and commute by train to work, even though it takes longer and my workday is shorter, because all those incidents in the car seemed to be a message from the universe Change the way I and my teenage daughters drive so that we never drive behind a work truck on the freeway Resolve never to drive again with little sleep

Change my travel routine because of nearly hitting that woman, doing yoga before bed, homeopathic sleepting pills, or flying in early on the day of the presentation Line up a job back in California so I can get out of here where it is icy all winter

Scan the sides of the road constantly for deer in the dark as I drive slowly with my high beams on in the area with lots of wildlife

Drive as carefully and thoughtfully so I don't endanger other people's lives with my car Drive more slowly because my reaction times are slowing down as I age Watch the sides of the road for deer all the time

Look for what might have peanuts in it at restaurants or potlucks so I can skip it, since I'm allergic (son's point of view)

Feel impressed with the painted warnings at the crosswalks in London to "Look Right!"

Feel pleased to have saved 10 lives during my time as a lifeguard Stick to roads where slow driving doesn't anger other drivers Follow the crowd when I come to a crosswalk

Spend time thinking about what happened

Try to figure out what just happened / how

Imagine what would have happened if I had turned into the crosswalk immediately or been five steps ahead of myself

Feel confused as to what happened as I came over this knoll and apparently clipped mirrors with this guy going the other way wh o was slightly over the yellow line

Try to process the experience by thinking and writing about it Imagine what would have happened if the truck driver hadn't been paying attention

Piece together how a mirror comes flying through the air, realizing it was clipped by a lady driving past a truck

Realize all those cars pulled over had broken windshields from the bouncing tire

Think about what would have happened if

Assume the report I heard of a plane flying into Tower 1 was about a small plane, like because of fog

Imagine that if he was armed, he would have shot or stabbed me Imagine what would have happened if I had been 10 steps behind

Feel terrified when I imagine that freeway driver not paying attention for a second or two, and causing an injury accident Try not to drive myself crazy thinking of scary scenarios like these where I have no control over damage or injury Feel chilled how close my son had been from having a reaction to the peanut butter Imagine how horrible it would have been if he'd drowned while I was watching

Feel grateful for emotional support from people after the incident

Feel shocked that someone almost collided with me while I was in a vulnerable position kicking on my back

Feel terrified that the irresponsible bastard could have made a widow out of my wife and orphans of my kids Feel scared that I almost got hit hard in the head with a metal pipe

Feel amazed how such a minor thing caused such big repercussions Feel amazed that the cellophane is wrapped so tightly I can't roll the window down and stick my head out to see, and have to cut it off when I get home Feel amazed how much damage the sturdy deer did to my car

Find out if others who saw the incident thought it was as bad as I did

Feel relieved he is not angry about me rearending his car

Feel grateful for all the verbal support that calmed me down Feel grateful that friends have written me notes of concern

Feel exonerated by the repair man telling me that clipping mirrors is pretty common in rural places

Feel grateful to my friend for suggesting I go see a doctor about being so tired all the time Feel validated by my husband's opinion that I was as lucky as I thought I was Stay calm when I show my husband where the deer hit the car

Report the incident (or not) to authorities so they know what happened

Figure the accident could have been worse Figure that the accident could have been much worse, so even though there was damage, it was a near-miss in terms of injury

Figure the accident could have been much, much worse, so it's a near-miss Figure that the accident was minor, so it's kind of a nearmiss

Wonder if reporting the incident to the police would be worthwhile since I didn't see his car's make or color

Let the police know the license plate of the idiot who almost hit me, since I had the license number

Decide to report the incident to the pool supervisor, so she knows about the potential problem

Recognize there is no way for me to prove they were responsible since there were no witnesses

Case Study: A Mental Model for a Forward-Thinking Insurance Company  361

CASE STUDY

Here are a few of the ideas the group came up with, along with notes about feasibility and questions to further explore before deciding whether to pursue an idea.

Idea: Warn Others of This Hazard or Error

Pattern: Several of the near misses are minor accidents. People are thinking, “It could have been so much worse.” The subsequent interaction with the insurance process become too entangling when people think of their incident as a near miss.

Pattern: Some customers want to report the incident so that authorities know what happened, so they are aware of a hazard or the process not working right.

Idea: Create a new kind of claim for when the people involved consider it minor and they don’t want the process to become too involved.

Idea: Choose a few details to describe the hazard or error. If these details don’t cover it, type in a description. We’ll get the information to people who can warn others.

Goals Met:

Goals Met: Reduce future claims: Getting the message out to the channels that customers already use, such as traffic reports or Google Maps, will help them become aware of a road hazard. They can drive a safer route. Build social capital: If we can get the message out that the customers are supplying these valuable hazard reports, and we’re getting it to the right people, that would certainly build our reputation. Increase membership: Customers will feel satisfaction in helping others avoid what they experienced. They may pass on the word to others. Idea: Claim-Lite

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Increase membership: If it is a positive experience, customers will talk about this kind of claim. Once the new process seems to be working and stable, we can use it in our marketing. Reduce future claims: This should read “reduce claims,” since we’ll replace a certain percentage of claims with the “lite” version. This insurance company example demonstrates the way person-focused research can reframe how an internal group approaches improvements to a company’s offerings and internal processes. Not every idea should be pursued. The team will want to test them. Some of the ideas will be shelved until later; others will never see any more attention. It’s even possible that none of the ideas make sense for the organization to pursue. Try not to become too attached. What’s key is to use your empathic understanding of the people an idea supports to judge whether to invest more resources in it or let it wither. Successful organizations know the difference.

Indi Young is a researcher who coaches, writes, and teaches about inclusive product strategy. Her work is rooted in the problem space where the focus is on people, not users. Indi pioneered opportunity maps, mental model diagrams, and thinking styles. Her way of approaching problems allows teams to truly pay attention to people, without letting cognitive bias and assumptions creep in. Indi has written two books, Practical Empathy and Mental Models.

Case Study: A Mental Model for a Forward-Thinking Insurance Company  363

CASE STUDY

About the Contributor

Diagram and Image Credits Figure 13-2: Diagram by Don Norman adapted from his book The Design of Everyday Things Figure 13-3: Diagram by Indi Young from her book Mental Models, used with permission Figure 13-6: Image from Indi Young’s book Mental Models, used with permission Figure 13-7: Diagram by Philip Johnson-Laird from his book Mental Models Figure 13-8: Goals-means framework by Beth Kyle from “With Child: Personal Informative and Pregnancy,” used with permission Figure 13-9: Diagram by Jim Kalbach Figure 13-10: Diagram by Indi Young, used with permission

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IN THIS CHAPTER ■

Ecosystem models and diagrams

■

Service, multi-device, and content ecosystem mapping

■

Case study: Building a service ecosystem map from the ground up

CHAPTER 14

Ecosystem Models As the internet continues to grow and evolve, service ecosystems become more complex. Products are connected. The idea of a standalone offering is already something of the past. Building the proverbial better mousetrap is no longer necessarily the path to success. Instead, thinking in terms of ecosystems is the new competitive advantage. Steve Denning, a popular business writer with Forbes magazine, puts it this way: Even better products can disappear with alarming rapidity. By contrast, ecosystems that delight customers are difficult to build, but once built, are difficult to compete against.* Successful organizations will be determined by how well their services fit with one another and, more importantly, how well they fit into people’s lives.

* Steve Denning, “Why Building a Better Mousetrap Doesn’t Work Anymore,” Forbes (Feb 2014).

Thinking about ecosystems doesn’t apply only to large organizations. GOQii, for example, is a small company that makes a wearable fitness band. But unlike other brands, theirs is connected to a trainer, who provides personalized health feedback. Meeting daily goals set by the trainer earns Karma points, which users can then donate to good causes. By connecting activities around the field of fitness, GOQii created an ecosystem of experiences. This is an integral part of the GOQii value proposition, reflected in the brand’s customer-facing materials, as seen in Figure 14-1. Keep in mind that thinking about ecosystems doesn’t mean you need to actually create an ecosystem. On the contrary, it’s about understanding how your solution fits into a broader context of service interactions from a human perspective. The idea is to consider the experience when moving through touchpoints in an ecosystem, even if you don’t control each touchpoint. This chapter focuses on various types of ecosystem models and multichannel maps, pointing out some key techniques and uses.

367

which may focus on just one aspect in more detail. Models of the ecosystem provide a framework for organizing and interlocking with other types of diagrams.

BAND Measure your activity and sleep

APP Track your nutrition, lifestyle and karma

KARMA Live healthy, earn karma points, donate

ECOSYSTEM COACH EXPERTS

Passionate minds designing GOQii Life

Your personal guide to healthier living and goal reinforcement

FIGURE 14-1. GOQii integrates with many touchpoints in an ecosystem of health and training.

Ecosystem Maps Ecosystem maps tend to favor a network-like arrangement of information rather than a chronological timeline, differentiating them from customer journey maps and experience maps, for instance. The general intent is to show relationships between multiple entities that comprise an experience. This embraces the complexity of modern business offerings and how they must be compatible with their surrounding offerings, including with competitors. Ecosystem mapping also provides a view at a higher level of granularity than, say, customer journey maps, typically zoomed out to include a broad range of factors that may only indirectly affect the individual’s experience. As a result, ecosystem mapping often precedes other types of mapping,

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Chris Risdon and Patrick Quatelbaum advocate starting with a view of the broader ecosystem in their book Orchestrating Experiences. The authors write: The basic process includes identifying what makes up the ecosystem, identifying the relationships. … An experience ecosystem complements other models, such as personas and customer journeys, which provide insights into your customers and their experiences. Figure 14-2 shows an example of an ecosystem map from the book. This particular diagram deals with health care in the US, showing various entities and their primary relationships with one another. The concentric circles reflect immediacy and the direct influence of those aspects on the individual, who stands in the center. The goal is to look at touchpoints and the interactions an individual has while moving along the pathways in the system. Points of integration between various parts of the model emerge, leading to team discussions about opportunities and solutions. Visualizations offer an immediacy of comprehension and help us arrive at strategic conclusions. Maps show interrelationships in an ecosystem. In biology, an ecosystem is a community of living organisms interacting with one another and with nonliving elements in

their environment. Think about plants, animals, and insects, and how they move in air, in water, and on land. The sum is greater than its parts: ecosystems are diverse sets of relationships. We can view organizations and the individuals they serve similarly, as a whole rather than a collection of ­disparate parts. Ecosystem mapping applies what is called systems thinking, or a consideration of multiple entities within a complex environment in a holistic way. Basically, systems thinking is a way of viewing the relationships between multiple components as a whole. This allows teams to identify leverage points—or points they can influence or impact—to find opportunities for change and improvement. For instance, based on the model in Figure 14-2 a team might discuss the role of health standards in the individual’s overall health and how there could be a more direct impact. There’s

an intentional oversimplification of each aspect in the diagram to be able to focus on the connections between them, rather than the complexities within each. Cornelius Racheriu, managing partner at the Canadian-based consultancy Ampli2de, has also done extensive work with ecosystem maps and systems thinking in commercial settings and beyond. His approach combines systems thinking with design thinking, or creative problem solving. Ecosystem diagrams can have a distinct point of view, or a focus on one aspect of the system over another. Racheriu points to several different perspectives ecosystem maps can take, including service ecosystems, device ecosystems, and content ecosystems, discussed in the following sections. For additional details about Rachieru’s ecosystem mapping process, see the case study at the end of this chapter.

Service Ecosystems Service ecosystem diagrams focus on interactions and touchpoints within a broad service environment. The aim is to understand the goals and needs of individuals in the system and how to better provide service to them.

FIGURE 14-2. An ecosystem map provides a high-level view of the relationships between elements in a broader system.

Figure 14-3 shows an example of an ecosystem map appearing in the book Service Design by Andy Polaine, Lavrans Løvlie, and Ben Reason. This is a visualization of a car-sharing service created for Fiat. Each “pie slice” in the diagram represents a different consideration in the system—in this case, who, what, where, when,

Ecosystem Maps  369

FIGURE 14-3. An ecosystem map for car sharing reflects interactions at different levels of granularity, from the in-car experience to cars in the community and beyond.

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why, and how. The concentric circles reflect different levels or orders of magnitude of the factors involved. The center of the diagram illustrates the relationship of the driver to the car. Moving outward, the relationships start including passengers, other cars, other services, communities, society, and the planet as a whole. Such diagrams allow teams to see and discuss the various relationships in a tangible way. Kim Erwin, associate professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Institute of Design, offers an alternative approach. She developed an information-dense format called the consumer insight map, which she describes as follows: Consumer Insight Maps promote emotional contact with research, showcase important complexity in consumers’ lives and support persistence of the consumer voice throughout (and often beyond) a design process. … Consumer Insight Maps are designed to take the complexity of consumers’ lives—the dense, messy, interconnected ambitions, activities, anxieties that thread throughout their days—and flatten them out so that we might examine them more systematically.* Figure 14-4 shows an example of a consumer insight map. According to Erwin, the key to their effectiveness is how the information is arranged. The technique relies on principles from cartographic maps by showing relationships between information types.

* Kim, Erwin, “Consumer Insight Maps: The Map as Story Platform in the Design Process,” Parsons Journal for Information Mapping (Winter, 2011).

FIGURE 14-4. Consumer insight maps coordinate a range of content types in a single overview Ecosystem Maps  371

FIGURE 14-5. The consumer service map is based on different categories of content laid out in the diagram as zones.

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For instance, Erwin defines different zones of information, seen in Figure 14-5—mindset, activities, anxieties, attitudes, and product opportunities. Within each zone, subgroups of information provide refinement and depth to the overall story told by the map. The result is an easy-to-understand overview that exposes the diversity of aspects of an experience without an oversimplified portrayal. Borrowing from principles of cartography, consumer insight maps present information in context, allowing the reader to orient to the territory and consume the information at micro and macro levels as desired. In another example, the map in Figure 14-6 shows a combination of a service ecosystem model at the top in the form of a spatial map and a typical customer journey in the lower part of the diagram. With this, a team can both discuss the relationships between different elements in the system and see how the experience unfolds over time. Overall, service ecosystem mapping is a broad approach with few standards or rules to follow. The aim is to provide insight into a network of various factors to reduce complexity and to make strategic decisions.

Models of the ecosystem provide a framework for organizing and interlocking with other types of diagrams.

FIGURE 14-6. An ecosystem map for a car-sharing service.

Ecosystem Maps  373

Device Ecosystems These days, it’s common to have interactions with multiple devices in our day-to-day lives (see Figure 14-7). Two-thirds of us shop online across devices, starting on one and finishing the transaction on another. Similarly, a banking transaction may begin on a mobile phone, move to an ATM, and end on a computer. And using a car-sharing service begins by booking a car (perhaps on a laptop), moves to a card reader in the vehicle, and ends with an interaction on a mobile phone. Though ideally seamless, in reality our experiences are often disjointed. People have created hacks, like emailing themselves URLs or screenshotting information on one device’s screen for use on another. Ultimately, customers lose patience, and businesses potentially lose money in the gaps between device experiences.

The new opportunity is less about designing individual touchpoints and more about designing interactions between them, whether physical, digital, voice, or otherwise. From this standpoint, the product architecture becomes the new user experience when interacting with different device touchpoints fluidly. And as the number of devices increases, it becomes more difficult to grasp and design coherent experiences. Tearing down device silos is a common challenge for any ecosystem ­designer. But there are many factors to balance, and being able to comprehend them at once is imperative. Wolfram Nagel, author of the book Multiscreen UX Design, suggests that designers focus on four elements: Devices A deep understanding of the hardware and its capabilities is necessary from the outset. Users You must also be aware of the users and their goals and needs. Context The environment in which a device is used is critical to the design of the system. Content

FIGURE 14-7. The system of connected devices is ever-growing, demanding more and more clarity through mapping interactions between them.

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Information has to be modeled and architected in such a way that it can easily traverse different devices and screen sizes.

FIGURE 14-8. A touchpoint matrix can be used to study the flow of interactions and information across different devices.

Ecosystem Maps  375

To view all of these factors at once, Nagel recommends visualizing the interaction in a touchpoint matrix, as shown in Figure 14-8. This example shows a day in the life of a persona, with all of the devices and interactions used. It’s a simple but effective approach to see the movement from screen to screen and the user requirements necessary at each transition.

Alternatively, consider how these elements come together in Cloudwash, an experimental prototype of a reimagined washing machine created by Berg.* The system integrates a variety of services involved in washing clothes, such as contacting a plumber, scheduling use of the washing machines, and ordering detergent (Figure 14-9). Berg has no direct stake in those complementary services, yet the envisioned system combines them seamlessly. The approach to multi-device design can vary from situation to situation. In some cases, the intent may be to provide a uniform experience from device to device. In other cases, there may be complementary experiences that differ between devices. As applications, functions, screen sizes, context, and user needs change, so too should your design across devices. Michal Levin has done some of the most extensive work with multi-device design. In her book Designing Multi-Device Experiences, she points to three distinct approaches for ­creating experiences: Consistent

FIGURE 14-9. Cloudwash integrates a range of services from multiple providers. (Photos by Timo Arnall, copyright Berg.)

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In this case, the same basic experience is replicated between devices, keeping the content, flow, structure, and core features the same as best as possible. Twitter is a good example: layouts may change across different screen sizes, but the overall experience is seamless across devices. Users can execute a full range of tasks from any device.

* See Bruce Sterling, “‘Cloudwash,’ the BERG Cloud-Connected Washing Machine,” Wired (Feb 2014).

Content Ecosystems

Continuous This approach centers on an experience that is passed on from one device to another, continuing an activity or progressing through a sequence. For instance, using Amazon’s Kindle Cloud Reader, customers can stop reading on one device and continue at the same point they left off on another. Complementary With this approach, devices complement one another, with different experiences on each one. The Zipcar app is a good example: while logging into zipcar.com on a laptop gives the user access to the full range of account and booking options, the mobile app only offers a small subset, focused on the driving experience. The options are tailored to the device: there’s even an option to beep the car horn from the mobile app to find a parked Zipcar, something not available in the browser experience.

Models of an ecosystem can provide the organizational underpinnings for information architecture and taxonomy development. Specifically, content ecosystem maps focus on how information is created and how it flows between endpoints in a system. That is, they illustrate how information will be experienced, both for content creators and consumers. For instance, Figures 14-10a through 14-10d show a series of diagrams created by Paul Kahn, Julia Moisand Egea, and Laurent Kling. These illustrate the ecosystem of content production at the Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité (INRS), a large French government organization. In Figure 14-10a, each colored carpet represents a different department within the organization, forming a base diagram. Content formats and systems are overlaid on the carpets, or colored background regions, to provide insight from multiple perspectives. Figures 14-10b to 14-10d then show variations of the base diagram with additional layers and types of information. Figure 14-10b illustrates the flow of content between departments, in particular the duplication of content from one to another. Figure 14-10c uses the same model to look at research activities across the organization, using a different color scheme across the diagram, and Figure 14-10d shows access to the websites, also using a different color scheme.

Visualizations offer an immediacy of comprehension and help us arrive at strategic conclusions. Maps show interrelationships in an ecosystem.

There’s an untapped opportunity in the gaps between gadgets. Multi-device design can unlock a lot of potential for customer loyalty and business growth. As this trend continues, the need for visualizing experiences in the form of diagrams will only increase, to shine a light on an otherwise invisible aspect of design.

Ecosystem Maps  377

FIGURE 14-10a. The base map of content production within the organization.

FIGURE 14-10c. Extending the base map to show various search engines and indexes.

FIGURE 14-10b. Overlays showing the duplication of content on external sites.

FIGURE 14-10d. This version shows that a portion of the website was duplicated to make it available to Google for search indexing.

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Note also that Figures 14-10a to 14-10d represent a type of diagram called an isometric projection. This is a method of illustrating three-dimensional objects in two dimensions. Isometry is achieved by rotating the angles at which objects appear in the diagram. When all line angles are kept the same, the sense of a plane is created.

The point of content ecosystem models is to be able to architect information in a way that can be used across mediums. The content model defines a pattern for how information in an ecosystem will be described and tagged. Figure 14-11 shows an example of a content model for attending a professional conference, modeled after a diagram created by Jonathan Kahn. Each element in the content model can be derived from an element in the content ecosystem map. Having a diagram of the overall system allows providers to better understand how concepts and topics relate to one another when organizing the content for that system. This insight can be used to develop database models, website site maps, navigation, content management systems, and more.

VENUE name address URL [...]

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TICKET (TYPE)

EVENT

NEWS ITEM

name (1 day ticket) price date of purchase [...]

title date description [...]

title date body [...]

valid for

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featured in

SESSION

PRESENTATION

SPEAKER

name (e.g., design) description time [...]

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FIGURE 14-11. A content ecosystem is a conceptual model that describes the relationships between the people and things in the information system. Ecosystem Maps  379

Elements of Ecosystem Models Ecosystem maps contrast chronological and hierarchical models. Instead of showing a timeline or laddering of elements, they reveal relationships in a network-like arrangement. Insights come from the spatial layout of information, for instance by using concentric rings to show priority moving inward. An ecosystem model aims to provide an overview so the system can be viewed as a whole. Taking a step back, viewers can get the big picture quickly, or they can zoom in to a section for more detail. Frequently, overlays or variations of the diagram provide different snapshots of insight that tell multiple stories of value creation.

TABLE 14-1. A summary of the main dimensions of ecosystem models. Point of view

Include perspectives of multiple actors and multiple interaction types with the organization.

Structure

Network or spatial displays of information.

Scope

Holistic, capturing elements of experiences across many levels of interaction.

Focus

Focus on a range of relationships between actors, goals, content, and modes of interaction.

Uses

Gaining a broad understanding of experiences across actors and touchpoints. Highlighting gaps and inefficiencies in a system with overlays of information.

Core elements are entities, whether actors, physical objects, or content, and the relationships between them. The aim is to show the flow of value from one point to another. Table 14-1 summarizes the main aspects that define ecosystem models using the framework outlined in Chapter 2.

Building and understanding strategy. Innovating new, meaningful experiences. Organizing objectives of a content system. Strengths

Rely on a metaphor people can relate to. Provide a holistic overview.

Tearing down device silos is a common challenge for any ecosystem ­designer.

Engaging and suitable for workshops. Weaknesses

Lack sequence or chronology of information. Can take a long time to create. Hard to create together as a group. Lack detail, omit indication of emotions and feelings.

380  Chapter 14: Ecosystem Models

Further Reading Michal Levin, Designing Multi-Device Experiences (O’Reilly, 2014)

Sofia Hussain, “Designing Digital Strategies, Part 1: Cartography,” UX Booth (Feb 2014)

This full-length book is dedicated to understanding the device ecosystem when designing cross-channel experiences. It focuses quite a bit on the mobile experience, but not at the expense of other modes, such as PCs, TVs, and more.

Sofia Hussain, “Designing Digital Strategies, Part 2: Connected User Experiences,” UX Booth (Jan 2015)

Kim Erwin, “Consumer Insight Maps: The Map as Story Platform in the Design Process,” Parsons Journal for Information Mapping (Winter 2011) Professor Erwin presents a technique that directly draws on the predictable structure of geographic maps, called the consumer insight map. This framework helps teams make sense of experiences in a direct and immediate way. She focuses on four aspects of cartographic maps to incorporate in visualizations: zones, elevations, topographies, and blueprints. The spatial combination of information results in a platform for delivering powerful, visual stories that speak to diverse stakeholders.

In this pair of articles, design expert Hussain discusses approaches to mapping ecosystems. She favors circular diagrams that get away from a linear, left-to-right depiction of chronology. The focus on behaviors and motivations recalls Young’s mental model diagrams. Hussain’s maps are very compact and present a clear overview at a glance.

Elements of Ecosystem Models  381

CASE STUDY

Building a Service Ecosystem Map from the Ground Up by Cornelius Rachieru Service ecosystem mapping visualizes complex business challenges, allowing strategists to find solutions together with stakeholders. The approach is domain-agnostic and encourages the use of any relevant data lens that can shed light on the problem to be solved. 

Third, we identify the primary and secondary actors. For the purpose of service ecosystem mapping, both human and nonhuman actors are considered. Figure 14-12 shows a sketch of these first three steps for an ecosystem map around the topic of “retirement.”

This process has been successfully used for the past few years by my firm, Ampli2de Inc. (ampli2de.com ), a strategic design consultancy in Canada. The method combines techniques from both design thinking and systems thinking and integrates aspects of previous approaches and readings from Rosalind Armson, Peter Checkland, Russell Ackoff, Sofia Hussain, and Jim Kalbach. 

Phase 2: Synthesis and Visual Exploration

Our process reflects a bottom-up approach in two phases, each with three steps.

Phase 1: Research and Definition We begin with at least two weeks of research into the problem space. This includes not only user research but also competitive research in the industry vertical, along with occasional ­market research. Next, we start sketching a rich picture of an ecosystem. It’s important to keep this low-fidelity as data is collected to allow for iterations and adjustments along the way.

382  Chapter 14: Ecosystem Models

In the next phase we apply techniques from systems thinking to create a map of the ecosystem. This begins with an underlayer of services from the perspective of the primary actor. Borrowing from jobs to be done (JTBD) practices, we map their objectives to each service cluster in the model, as shown in Figure 14-13. The JTBD become the main units of analysis in the service ecosystem, reflecting what needs are to be supported by the provider from the individual’s perspective. It’s then possible to expand the area of focus by identifying additional clusters. These are considered secondary services, but are important to the overall model for comprehending the ecosystem holistically. Figure 14-14 shows how we investigated further clusters of concern beyond the core model of ­primary goals.

CASE STUDY

FIGURE 14-12. Ecosystem modeling begins with research and a rough sketch of the entities and actors in the system.

Case Study: Building a Service Ecosystem Map from the Ground Up  383

CASE STUDY FIGURE 14-13. Jobs to be done are overlaid on the model and clustered into logical groupings.

384  Chapter 14: Ecosystem Models

CASE STUDY

FIGURE 14-14. Extend the ecosystem model to include secondary service clusters.

Case Study: Building a Service Ecosystem Map from the Ground Up  385

CASE STUDY

Case Study Title by tk

FIGURE 14-15. Overlays of strategic factors to consider—or data lenses—provide insight into opportunities and points of intervention.

386  Chapter 14: Ecosystem Models

The last step—and the most important one—consists of choosing and calibrating various data lenses, or factors that are most relevant to the business and the situation. For instance, in the example ecosystem map for retirees, we focused on gaps in service provision (shown in red in Figure 14-15) and cost to acquire the service (in green). In this case, service providers can then decide strategically which gaps to fill based on the cost of delivery. The key is to step back and consider a range of areas in the organization: business strategy, enterprise risk management, human resources, diversity, product, and more. Relying only on familiar data lenses may cause you to miss strategic opportunities. Also keep in mind that multiple data overlays can be applied, each resulting in a unique view into opportunities within the service ecosystem.

Finally, we end our ecosystem mapping process with a workshop. Armed with a robust ecosystem map that we’re confident is grounded in research, the team is able to facilitate a variety of conversations to clarify our stakeholders’ strategy. These are typically day-long sessions with structured activities that encourage discussions and interaction across a diverse stakeholder group.

About the Contributor Cornelius Rachieru is a managing partner at Ampli2de Inc. and founder and cochair of CanUX, Cananda’s premier UX conference. He is a leader in the service design and experience design space with almost 20 years of experience, driven by placing human need at the heart of design. Cornelius has been teaching and writing about ecosystem mapping for years and is a recognized thought leader on the topic.

Case Study: Building a Service Ecosystem Map from the Ground Up  387

CASE STUDY

Service ecosystems are expansive in scope. The service provider must then put boundaries around what to consider for future initiatives. Drawing a line around the service areas in the diagram limits the focus of subsequent efforts strategically.

Diagram and Image Credits Figure 14-2: Ecosystem diagram by Chris Risdon and Patrick Quatelbaum from their book Orchestrating Experiences, used with permission Figure 14-3: Ecosystem diagram by Andy Polaine, Lavrans Løvlie, and Ben Reason from their book Service Design, used with permission Figures 14-4 and 14-5: Consumer insight maps and template by Kim Erwin, originally appearing in her article “Consumer Insight Maps: The Map as Story Platform in the Design Process,” used with permission Figure 14-6: Diagram created by Mark Simmons and Aaron Lewis, CC BY-SA 3.0, used with permission Figure 14-8: Example of a device touchpoint matrix created by Wolfram Nagel from his book Multiscreen UX Design, used with permission Figure 14-9: Photos of the Cloudwash prototype by Timo Arnall, copyright Berg, used with permission (thanks to Sofia Hussain for pointing the example out in her presentation at the UX STRAT 2014 conference) Figures 14-10a through 14-10d: Isometric maps created by Paul Kahn, Julia Moisand Egea, and Laurent Kling, originally appearing in Kahn and Moisand’s article “Patterns That Connect: The Value of Mapping Complex Data Networks,” used with permission Figure 14-11: Content model based on an example originally created by Jonathan Kahn Figures 14-12 through 14-15: Examples of an ecosystem model in different stages created by Cornelius Rachieru, used with permission

388  Chapter 14: Ecosystem Models

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398  References

Index A Abilla, Pete, 278 access barrier to consumption, 216 Adlin, Tamara, 126, 249–250 Adobe Creative Suite, as diagramming resource, 194 Air Sandwich, 94 alignment cross-functional, xix–xxi with customer experience, xviii–xxi principles of, 18 alignment attrition, 19 alignment diagrams applying The Ask to, 248 benefits of, 19–21, 121 customer journey maps, 5–7. See also customer journey maps (CJMs) determining experiences to map, 124–125 drafting preliminary, 151–153 employee experience, 61–64 experience maps, 7. See also experience maps future state maps, 243–255

identifying strategy and objectives for organization, 124 illustrating. See illustrating alignment diagrams longevity of, 21 mental model diagrams. See mental model diagrams multiple actors or touchpoints. See multiple alignment personas, creating, 126–128 role in revealing customer experience, 83–84 service blueprints, 7. See also service blueprints skill set needed to create, 136 as strategic tools, 19 type selection in mapping process, 129–135 types of, 5–11 updating criteria, 131 alignment workshops, 207–235 design maps in, 250 empathizing phase, 208–209 envisioning phase, 214–218 evaluation phase, 218–222

facilitating, 225–229 identifying opportunities phase, 211–214 rapid online mapping and design (case study), 258–260 removing barriers, 215–216 structure of, 225–229 alternate flows, illustrating in diagram, 177 Ampli2de Inc., 369, 382 Aristotle, 244 artificial intelligence, 72 The Ask, 247

B Banfield, Richard, 256 barriers to opportunity, removing in alignment workshop, 215–216 Beck, Harry, 33, 34 behavioral elements in diagram design, 38 Berkman, Eric, 173 Berkun, Scott, 67, 241 Bernardo, Diego S., 311 Bettencourt, Lance, 329 Beyer, Hugh, 154, 322 Bitner, Mary Jo, 270

Index  399

Blue Ocean Strategy (Kim and Mauborgne), 97 blueprints. See service blueprints Bodine, Kerry, 74, 294 Booz and Company, 20 boxes, mental model diagram, 341 Braden, Amber, 168–170 brainstorming alignment workshop, 213–214 managing, 242 brand values, promoting the living of, 68 British Standard Institution, 267 Brown, Tim, 83 Brugnoli, Gianluca, 12, 14–15 Buffett, Warren, 15 business model canvas, 103–106 Business Model Generation (Osterwalder and Pigneur), 103–104 business origami technique, 210

C call center reports, for quantitative research, 165 Canvanizer, 195 Carbone, Lewis, 287 career development and growth, building compassionate teams, 68 Carlzon, Jan, 45, 287 Carr, Holly Jameson, 249 champion for mapping effort, finding, 123 Chan, Carrie, 7, 8, 273 Change by Design (Brown), 83 Charan, Ram, 82 chartjunk, 187 Christensen, Clayton, 84–85, 329

400  Index

chronological diagrams, 39, 40 customer journey map, 301 day- or week-in-the-life diagrams, 325 experience map, 332 illustrating, 177 phases in, 178 service blueprints, 279 circular design, 45, 48–53 Citrix (company), 109 CJMs. See customer journey maps (CJMs) Claro Partners, 92, 93 Cloudwash, 376 coherence in business strategy, 20 importance in conception and design of system, 266 Colley, Russell, 292 color, graphical role in diagram, 184 company culture, distinguishing from employee experience, 58 compassionate teams, building, 67–69 compatibility, innovation-decision process, 296 competitor analysis, 123 alignment workshop, 212 reframing competition, 84–87 complexity, innovation-decision process, 296 conditional value, 17 Constantine, Larry and Lucy, 251 consumer consideration in diagram design, 42 consumer decision journey, 296, 298 consumer insight map, 371 consumer intervention mapping (case study), 48–53 content ecosystem maps, 377–379

context and goals, modeling, 139 Contextual Design (Beyer and Holtzblatt), 154, 322 contextual inquiry, 154 convergent selection, 294 convergent thinking, 218 conversion funnel, 296–299 Cook, Scott, 84–86 costs of mapping project, estimating, 137 countering violent extremism (CVE), 24–27 Craik, Kenneth, 348 critical incident technique, field interviewing, 156 cross-channel blueprints examples, 16 cross-functional alignment benefits of alignment diagrams for, 20 and CX–EX alignment, 69–71 cultural environment, employee experience, 59 current state diagrams, 119 customer experience (CX), xvi. See also strategic insight, visualizing aligning to employee experience, 64–66, 71–74, 76–78 compassion for customers, 19, 67–69 gathering information on, 149 importance of investigating, 143 meaningful value in, 17 modeling, 4 starting with, 82–84 customer journey canvas, 291, 292 customer journey maps (CJMs), 5–7, 125, 130, 132–135, 287–309. See also journey management conversion funnel and, 296–299

versus customer lifecycle maps, 292–295 elements of, 299–301 example of simple, 6 phases in, 289–292 relationship to experience maps, 319, 332 strategic insights from, 99 strengths and weaknesses, 301 versus value story mapping (case study), 303–307 workshop case study, 231–234 customer lifecycle maps, 292–295 customers personas for, 126–128 segmentation of, 84–87, 105 customer value chains, 125 customer value, types of, 15 CVE. See countering violent extremism (CVE) CX. See customer experience (CX)

D Danielson, David, 265 data access in journey management, 74 data analysis, investigation for mapping project, 161–164 day-in-the-life diagram, 319–323 day-in-the-life of user, point of view, 35, 62 debriefing after external interviews, 157 decision makers, obtaining buy-in for mapping project, 121–123 Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results (Colley), 292 delivering value, strategic insight for, 91–93 Denning, Steve, 367 Designing Mobile Interfaces (Berkman), 173

Designing Multi-Device Experiences (Levin), 376–377 design maps, 249–250 The Design of Everyday Things (Norman), 340 Design Sprints (Banfield, Lombardo, and Wax), 256 design sprints, future experience mapping, 256 desktop software, for illustrating diagrams, 194 device ecosystem diagrams, 374–377 Dewberry, Emma, 45 diagramming, 5 Diffusion of Innovations (Rogers), 296 Diller, Steve, 17 disruptive mindset, fostering, 217–218 divergent motion, 294 divergent thinking, 214–215 domestic violence (DV) experience map (case study), 334–336 Domestic Violence Service System (DVSS), 334 Dow Corning (company), 103–104 Drucker, Peter, 144 Dubberly, Hugh, 4 Dyer, Jeff, 45

E Eastman, George, 247 eBay, 247 ecosystem mapping workshop, 387 ecosystem models and maps, xv, 130, 367–388 content ecosystem maps, 377–379 and CX–EX alignment, 64–66

determining experiences to map, 125 device ecosystem diagrams, 374–377 ecological consideration in diagram design, 43 elements of, 380 service ecosystem diagrams, 369–373, 382–387 strengths and weaknesses, 380 ecosystem of services, 92 effort as barrier for consumer, 216 framing the mapping effort, 32–34 identifying points of, 212 resource assessment, 136 Egea, Julia Moisand, 377–379 emotional and social barriers in current experience, 215 emotional value alignment for, 15 moments of truth as, 45 emotions, illustrating in a diagram, 191–193 emotive responses, in expressive service blueprinting, 273 empathizing phase of alignment workshop, 208–209 empathy, gaining versus applying, 237 employee experience (EX), xvi, 57–79 aligning to customer experience, 64–66, 71–74, 76–78 cultural environment, 59 distinguishing from company culture, 58 as imperative for growth, 59 internal (inside-across) alignment, 69–71 mapping of, 60–64 physical environment, 59 and scope of experience map, 37 technical environment, 59 Index  401

empowering work, building compassionate teams, 68 The End of Competitive Advantage (McGrath), 86 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), 48–53 Ensley, Michael, 97 Enterprise Design Thinking toolkit, 244 envisioning phase, alignment workshop, 214–218 epistemic value, 17 EPSRC. See Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Erwin, Kim, 371–373 The Essential Advantage (Leinwand and Mainardi), 20 evaluation phase, alignment workshops, 218–222, 223–224 evidence, consolidating findings, 145 experience describing in diagram creation, 178 modeling, 4–5 experience blueprint, 287 experience maps, 7, 125, 130, 311–337 day-in-the-life diagram, 319–323 domestic violence (DV) experience map (case study), 334–336 elements of, 332 example, 9 hybrid experience maps, 315–317 jobs maps, 329–331 strengths and weaknesses, 332 versus customer journey maps, 132–135 workflow diagrams, 325–329 experiments, running to test mapping value, 238–240

402  Index

F facilitating alignment workshop, 225–229, 207–235 collaborative sessions with service blueprinting (case study), 282–283 Farrow, Hennie, 190 “feasibility versus value” matrix, 219 feedback alignment workshop, 221–222 investigating data from a mapping project, 144 field research for mapping project, 154–165 data analysis, 161–164 debriefing, 157 interviewing, 155–157 5x5 technique, envisioning experiments, 240 Flowers, Erik, 270, 282–283 focus dimension in diagram design, 38–39, 130 benefit of, 20 customer journey map, 301 differences based on diagram type, 39, 132 ecosystem maps, 380 experience map, 332 mental model diagrams, 352 service blueprints, 279 focus groups, alignment workshop feedback, 221 focus, importance in mapping, 34 formal data analysis, 164 formality for new mapping project, determining, 120–121 formatting diagram content, 179, 292 framing the mapping effort, 32–34

Frishberg, Leo, 223–224 front and back stage elements business model canvas, 103 service blueprint, 270 functional value, 15 Furr, Nathan, 45 Fusion (Lee Yohn), 65 future experiences, modeling, 139 future state maps, 243–255 design maps, 249–250 storylines, 244–246 user story mapping, 251–255

G gaps in support for customers, identifying, 212 Geertz, Clifford, 153 Gilmore, James, 60 goals-means framework, 348, 350 Goebel, Craig, 191 Google, 247, 297 GOQii (company), 367–368 GoToMeeting, 109 graphic elements, diagram design, 182 Gross, Barbara, 15

H Haeckel, Stephan, 287 Hall, Taddy, 84–85 “hallway testing,” feedback technique, 221 Heart of the Customer, 126, 299–300 Hedayah (NGO), 24–27 hierarchical diagrams, 40 categories in, 178 laddering in mental models, 348–351 mental models, 345, 346, 352

hiring, building compassionate teams, 67 holistic nature of experience, 32 Holtzblatt, Karen, 154, 322 Hubert, Lis, 245 human-to-human touchpoints, 43 Hussain, Sofia, 89–91, 175 hybrid experience maps, 315–317 hypothesis statements for mapped concepts, 238–239

I icons, in diagram design, 185 ideation, managing, 240–242 illustrating alignment diagrams, 173–205 compiling content, 178–181 designing content, 182–189 example diagramming process, 188–190 layout, 175–177 tools and software, 194–196 independence dimension in diagram design, 131 individual’s experience, consolidating findings, 145 individuals, modeling for, 139 industry assumptions, challenging, 217–218 industry benchmarks, for quantitative research, 165 industry reports and whitepapers, investigating a mapping project, 145 informal data analysis, 161 information architecture, 346–348 initiating a mapping project, 119–141 cost estimate, 137 deciding on duration, 136 determining experiences to map, 124–125

diagram type selection, 129–135 formality level, 120–121 obtaining decision-maker buy-in, 121–123 organizational strategy and objectives, 124 personas, creating, 126–128 proposal writing, 137–138 resource assessment, 136 innovation The Ask’s role in fostering, 248 job map to highlight opportunities, 330–331 resistance to, 241 innovation–decision process, 296 The Innovator’s Dilemma (Christensen), 329 The Innovator’s Method (Furr and Dyer), 45 The Innovator’s Solution (Christensen), 329 Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité (INRS), 377–379 insurance company mental model (case study), 354–362 interactive touchpoints, 43 internal (inside-across) alignment, 57, 69–71 Internet of Things (IoT), 91–92 interpretations, consolidating findings, 145 interviewing building compassionate teams, 67 debriefing after, 157 field research, 155–157 mental model transcript normalization, 345 tips on, 159–160 within organization, 148–150 investigation for a mapping project, 143–171

analyzing data, 161–164 conclusions, 147 consolidating findings, 145–146 draft model, 151–153 external research, 153–158 interviewing within organization, 148–150 reviewing existing sources, 144–145 IoT. See Internet of Things (IoT)

J Jain, Seema, 65, 76–78 Jenkins, John, 293, 294 jobs maps, 329–331 Jobs, Steve, 4 jobs to be done (JTBD) practices, 105, 109, 110, 329, 382 Johnson-Laird, Philip, 348–349 Jones, Daniel, 273, 276 journey lines of customer steps, 45 journey management, 42 cross-functional alignment, 69–71 domestic violence experience map (case study), 334–336 employee experience, 71–74 EX-to-CX alignment, 76–78

K Kahn, Paul, 199–203, 377–379 Kaplan, Robert, 94, 97 Karten, Stuart, 319 Kasper, Ryan, 109–113 Kim, Ebae, 199–203 Kim, W. Chan, 97 Kitewheel, 72 Index  403

Kling, Laurent, 377–379 Kodak (company), 81 Kolko, Jon, 19, 69 Kolsky, Esteban, 191 Kyle, Beth, 348

L lab test experience map (case study), 199–203 laddering, 348–351, 352 Lafley, A. G., 100 Lambdin, Charles, 223 layout of alignment diagram, 175–177, 273. See also illustrating alignment diagrams lean consumption maps, 276–278 Lean practices, service blueprints, 275–277 Lean Thinking (Womack and Jones), 273 Lee Yohn, Denise, 65 Leinwand, Paul, 20 Levin, Michael, 376–377 Levitt, Theodore, 82 LexisNexis, 86, 322, 325 Lichaw, Donna, 244–246 lifecycle maps, 292–295, 326 lines, graphical role in diagram, 182 Lombardo, Todd, 256 London Underground map, 33 longevity of alignment diagrams, 21 Louras, Samantha, 199–203 Løvlie, Lavrans, 369–371 Lucidchart, 195

404  Index

M Mad*Pow (company), 199–203 Mainardi, Cesare, 20 Making Meaning (Shedroff, Diller, and Rhea), 17 mapping as actionable, xv advantage for strategic insight, 83 choosing techniques for project, 139 design sprints, 256 envisioning actionable, 237–261 fundamentals, 31–55 future experience design, 243–256 general process, 117 illustrating diagram, 173–205 initiating a project, 119–141 investigation phase, 143–171 as management activity, xvi market continuum model, 294 market experiments, to test mapping value, 238–240 Marketing and Customer Behaviour (Jenkins), 294 market research, investigating a mapping project, 144 Martin, Karen, 275 Martin, Roger, 100 Mauborgne, Renée, 97 MaxQDA, 163, 164 McDonald’s supersize campaign, 247 McGrath, Chris, 62 McGrath, Rita Gunther, 86 McMullin, Jess, 4, 210 Meadows, Donella, 336 meaning, as premium value, 17 Melone, Jay, 213

mental model diagrams, 7, 130, 339–365 combining transcript information, 345 diagrams as opportunities, 21 elements of, 352 example, 10 and information architecture, 346–348 insurance company mental model (case study), 354–362 laddering, 348–351 process, 341–344 and product development (case study), 109–113 rapid mental model method, 346 strengths and weaknesses, 352 Mental Models (Johnson-Laird), 348 Mental Models (Young), 341 mental spaces, 341 Merchant, Nilofer, 94 metrics resource for quantitative research, 165 Miller, Megan, 270, 282–283 Mintzberg, Henry, 100 mode mapping, 319 moment mapping, 287 moments of truth, 45, 211, 297–298 money barrier for consumer, 216 Moore, Michael Dennis, 303–307 Moreno, Mariale, 45 Morgan, Jacob, 59–60 multichannel experience map, xv, xxvi, 14 multi-day alignment workshops, 256 multiple actors, experience mapping of, 12, 13, 326 multiple alignment, 12–15 multiple touchpoints, mapping experience across, 12, 14

Multiscreen UX Design (Nagel), 374 MURAL (company), 76–78, 195, 258–260 music curation (case study), 168–170 mystery shopping, 151 The Myths of Innovation (Berkun), 241

N Nagel, Wolfram, 374 narrative arc, 244–246 The Nature of Explanation (Craik), 348 Net Promoter Score (NPS), 165 network structure for diagram, 40, 368, 380 The New How (Merchant), 94 Newman, Bruce, 15 news consumption, point of view, 35 noncommercial settings, xv, 24–27, 45 Norman, Don, 340–341 Norton, David, 94, 97 Noun Project, 185 NPS. See Net Promoter Score (NPS)

O objectives, matching alignment diagram to organizational, 124 observability, innovation-decision process, 296 Omnigraffle, 194 onboarding, building compassionate teams, 67 ongoing behavior, illustrating in diagram, 177 online testing, alignment workshop feedback, 221 online tools for mapping, 195–196 open questioning interview approach, 159

opportunities alignment diagrams as providers of, 21 highlighting innovation, 330–331 identifying in alignment workshops, 211–214 mental model diagrams, 21 removing barriers in alignment workshop, 215–216 Orchestrating Experiences (Risdon and Quatelbaum), 368–369 organizational elements in diagram design, 38 Osterling, Mike, 275 Osterwalder, Alexander, 103–104, 105–106 outside-in perspective, xviii experience maps as, 319 finding for value created by organizations, 17 role of alignment diagrams in, 11 for strategic insight, 83

P Padilla, Jen, 109–113 Patagonia (company), 96, 97 Patton, Jeff, 251–252 The Persona Lifecycle (Adlin and Pruitt), 126, 249 personal nature of experience, 32 personas creating in mapping process, 126–128 day-in-the-life diagrams, 322 tracking multiple personas in experience map, 315 person-focused nature of mental model diagram, 341

Persuasion phase, Rogers’s innovation–decision process, 296 physical elements in diagram design, 38 physical environment, employee experience, 59 Pigneur, Yves, 103–104 pilot project for mapping project, 123 Pine, Joseph II, 60 pitching a mapping project, 123 Playing to Win (Martin and Lafley), 100 point of view, 35–36, 130 customer journey map, 301 developing in alignment workshop, 213 ecosystem models, 380 experience map, 332 mental model diagrams, 352 service blueprints, 279 points of failure, identifying in alignment workshop, 212 Polaine, Andy, 12, 13, 369–371 Porter, Michael, 88, 89 practical service blueprinting (case study), 282–283 premium values, 17 Presumptive Design (PrD) (case study), 223–224 prioritization of opportunities in alignment workshop, 219 problem framing, 213 proposals, mapping project, 137–138 prototyping ideas, alignment workshop, 221 provider identity, expressive service blueprinting, 273 Pruitt, John, 126 purchasing behavior, point of view, 35

Index  405

Q qualitative research compiling content for diagram, 178 data analysis, 161–164 interviewing, 153–158 Qualtrics XM, 72 quantitative research including in diagram, 181 role in investigating a mapping project, 164–165 Quatelbaum, Patrick, 368–369

R Rachieru, Cornelius, 369, 382–387 Rail Europe diagram, 9, 83, 151–152 rapid mental model method, 346 rapid online mapping and design at MURAL (case study), 258–260 rating performance, 211 Rawson, Alex, 43, 122 Reason, Ben, 369–371 recruiting, building compassionate teams, 67 redistributed manufacturing, 48 reframing competition, 84–87 Reichheld, Fred, 165 relative advantage, innovation-decision process, 296 repeating behavior, illustrating in diagram, 177 research phase, investigating a mapping project, 153–158. See also investigation for a mapping project resources for mapping effort, assessing, 136 reviews and ratings, 144

406  Index

Rhea, Darrel, 17 Risdon, Chris, 7, 9, 43, 83, 151–152, 368–369 Rogalsky, Steve, 251 Rogers, Everett, 295, 296

S Schauer, Brandon, 248, 270, 319 Schneider, Jakob, 291, 292 Schrage, Michael, 247 scope dimension in diagram design, 36–37, 130 customer journey map, 301 ecosystem models, 380 experience map, 332 mental model diagrams, 352 and point of view, 132 selecting diagram type, 131 service blueprints, 279 segmentation of customers rethinking, 84–87 value proposition canvas, 105 segmenting journeys, 73 Segway, 247 service blueprints, 7, 125, 130, 265–285 The Ask technique, 248 versus customer journey maps, 299 distinguishing from CJMs, 132–135 elements of, 279–280 examples, 8, 13 expressive, 273 extending, 270–272 facilitating collaborative sessions with (case study), 282–283 mapping aspects of, 279 strengths and weaknesses of, 279

visualizing services, 266–270 Service Design (Polaine, Løvlie, and Reason), 369 service ecosystem diagrams, 369–373, 382–387 shared reference, alignment diagrams as, 19 shared value, creating, 88–91 shareholders versus shared value, 88 Shaw, Colin, 287, 288 Shedroff, Nathan, 17 Shek, Yvonne, 325 Sheldrick, Leila, 45 Sheth, Jagdish, 15 Shostack, G. Lynn, 266, 276 Sinclair, Matt, 45, 48–53 situational nature of experience, 32 skill barrier for user, 216 Smaply, 195 Smith, Gene, 315 Snow, John, 31 social benefit of a shared value approach, 88, 91 social media, researching, 144, 165 social value, 15 software for illustrating diagrams, 194–196 Software Usability Measurement Index (SUMI), 165 Sonos (company), 168–170 sources of information, reviewing for mapping project, 144–145 Southwest Airlines, 65–66, 97 spatial maps, 40, 178, 380 Spraragen, Susan, 7, 8, 273 stakeholder buy-in, obtaining for mapping project, 119, 121, 123 stakeholder maps, 125

static touchpoints, 43 Stickdorn, Marc, 291, 292 storytelling as alignment tool, 209, 220 communicating vision with storylines, 244–246 mental model construction with, 356 strategic insight, visualizing, 81–115 creating shared value, 88–91 customer first focus, 82–84 delivering value, 91–93 diagram’s value in mapping strategy, 94–104 reframing competition, 84–87 strategy as creative endeavor, 100–102 matching alignment diagram to organizational, 124 strategy blueprint, 100–102 strategy canvas, 97–99 strategy map, 94–97 Strategy Maps (Kaplan and Norton), 94 strategy myopia, 81 Strategy Safari (Mintzberg), 100 structural dimension in diagram design, 39, 130, 279 SUMI. See Software Usability Measurement Index (SUMI) survey, as quantitative research tool, 164 SUS. See System Usability Scale (SUS) swim lane diagram, 325–326 systems thinking, in ecosystem mapping, 369 System Usability Scale (SUS), 165

T Tallec, Christophe, 231–234 target state blueprints, 243–244 task modeling, 251 Tate, Tyler, 15, 16 taxonomy development, 377–379 technical environment, employee experience, 59 Temkin, Bruce, 287–288 Thapliyal, Elizabeth, 109–113 think-aloud interviews, alignment workshop feedback, 222 Thinking in Systems (Donella Meadows), 336 This is Service Design Thinking (Stickdorn and Schneider), 292 Thompson, Ed, 191 Thomson, Jamie, 325 time barrier to consumption, 216 time frame for mapping project, establishing, 136 Tincher, Jim, 126 to-be maps, 243–244 tools and software, for illustrating diagrams, 194–196 Touchpoint Dashboard, 195 touchpoints consumer intervention mapping (case study), 48 device ecosystem diagrams, 374–375 diagram creation, 179 diagram design example, 44 in ecosystem mapping, 368 gathering together for CJMs, 292 identifying, 42–45 from interviews, 148

management programs for, 195 moments of truth as, 45 product versus service, 266 taking inventory, 151–153 transitional volatility, 265–266 types in commerce situations, 297 towers, in mental model diagram, 341 transcript information, 164, 345 transitional volatility, 265–266 trialability, innovation-decision process, 296 Tufte, Edward, 187 typography, diagram design, 183

U The Ultimate Question (Reichheld), 165 Ulwick, Tony, 111, 329 uncertainty, role in squelching ideas, 240 Upaday, Tarun, 315 usability testing, investigating a mapping project, 145 use dimension in diagram design, 42, 130 customer journey map, 301 ecosystem models, 380 experience map, 332 mental model diagrams, 352 service blueprints, 279 users. See also customers day-in-the-life of, 35, 62 mental model’s function for, 340 skill barrier in finding value, 216 user story mapping, 251–255 User Story Mapping (Patton), 251 UXPressia, 195

Index  407

V

W

Z

value aligning for, 5, 15, 17–18, 211 as intersection of individual and organization, 3–4 understanding customer’s perception of, 144 value-centered design, 4, 276–278 value creation factors, 98 value proposition canvas, 105–106 value proposition, creating from shared value perspective, 89 value story mapping (case study), 303–307 value stream mapping, 273–275 Value Stream Mapping (Martin and Osterling), 275 variable order, illustrating in diagram, 177 violent extremism, countering (case study), 24–27 Visio, 194 visual alignment in diagram, 186 visual hierarchy, creating in diagram design, 186 visualizations, as shared references, xix–xx, 255 Vivas, Rafa, 64 von Gorp, Trevor, 315

Walters, Jeannie, 43 Wang, Tricia, 153 Wax, Trace, 256 web-based tools for mapping, 195–196 We Design Services (WDS), 231 What the Customer Wants You to Know (Charan), 82 Who Do You Want Your Customers to Become? (Schrage), 247 Womack, James, 273, 276 Wood, Karen, 334–336 workflow diagrams, 325–329 workshops, building compassionate teams, 68. See also alignment workshops work week diagram, 322, 323 Wreiner, Thomas, 270

Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT), 297–299

408  Index

X Xiameter (company), 103

Y The Year Without Pants (Berkun), 67 Young, Indi, 109, 168, 341–344, 354–362