How to create a customer journey map

A customer journey map visualises every step a customer takes from first hearing about you to becoming loyal. It helps the team see the customer the same way and reveals where the biggest problems are.

Journey stages

1. Awareness: the customer notices the problem and starts looking for solutions.
2. Consideration: compares alternatives.
3. Decision and purchase: signs up or buys.
4. Onboarding: sets up the product and sees (or does not see) first value.
5. Regular use: makes it part of daily work.
6. Loyalty and advocacy: renews, expands and recommends.

What to capture at each stage

• Customer goal: what are they trying to achieve?
• Touchpoints: website, ads, sales calls, email, product, support
• Actions: what do they do?
• Emotions: curiosity, confusion, frustration, satisfaction
• Pain points: where do they get stuck or give up?
• Opportunities: how can we improve the experience?

Gathering data

• Customer interviews; see our customer interview guide
• Product analytics and funnel data; see our data analytics guide
• Support tickets and NPS comments; see our NPS guide
• Sales team observations

Build the map on real data, not assumptions.

Building the map

1. Pick one segment and one scenario (e.g. "a small business owner issuing a first invoice").
2. Lay stages along a horizontal axis.
3. Fill in the headings above for each stage.
4. Draw the emotion curve; the lowest points are priority problems.
5. Review it with the team.

Prioritising improvements

Focus on stages with the biggest drop-off and the most negative emotion. For most startups that is onboarding and activation; see our UX and growth hacking guides.

Conclusion

A journey map is one of the most effective ways to see the product through the customer's eyes. Update it at least once a year.