Customer Journey Map: How to Create One and Why It's Needed

A customer journey map (CJM) is a tool that illustrates every interaction a user has with a product or brand, starting from their first encounter. It shows what buyers do, think, feel, and what problems they face.

Below, we will take a closer look at what a CJM is and why it is needed.

Customer Journey Map by Canva

Why You Need a Customer Journey Map

• Understanding your customers' experiences helps you find ways to improve things for the long haul.
• A customer journey map gives you and your team a clear picture of how customers perceive your brand at each step. This helps you spot problems early on, attract or retain users, and make smart decisions.
• It also makes understanding your clients' experiences easier. With a map, your employees become more customer-focused, shifting their focus from company issues to user challenges.
• A Customer Journey Map is a handy tool for product development decisions.
• CJMs improve customer relationships, simplify their journey, and boost the chances of repeat purchases. The map helps you identify and remove roadblocks on their path.
• You'll also gain insights into how to fix existing products.
• A CJM shortens the user journey by eliminating unnecessary steps. The less time customers spend getting what they want, the less likely they are to abandon their purchase.
• Journey maps help you identify and solve problems with new products upfront, avoiding unsuccessful launches.
• Understanding your customers' thoughts and feelings at each stage of the journey unlocks more creativity. It becomes easier to make improvements and design updates that truly benefit your users.

What's in a Customer Journey Map

A CJM visualizes the user experience from the moment they realize they have a need, all the way through using your product or service, and even beyond.

Customer Journey Stages

Awareness: This is where it all begins. A person feels they need something.

Information Search: They go online or offline (e.g., go to a store) to find a solution, explore options, and learn about your products or services.

Choice: The customer weighs their options and ultimately decides to buy from you or continue searching.

Purchase: The person gets what they wanted.

Support: They may need help using your product or service.

Retention: At this stage, you aim to turn them into a regular customer. Do they come back for more purchases or go to your competitors?

Churn: Sometimes users choose not to continue with you. Understanding why they leave will improve your product.

Touchpoints

These are all the places where the customer interacts with your business, both online (website, social media) and offline (stores, events). All touchpoints influence how satisfied the customer is with your brand.

Understanding Customer Actions

Figure out what users are doing at each stage. This will help you understand if they have trouble finding information, experience difficulties when placing an order, and are satisfied with the support.

Prioritizing

Not all stages of the journey are equally important. Highlighting the most crucial touchpoints helps you focus on the areas that have the greatest impact on customer satisfaction.

Knowing Their Goals

If you understand what users want to achieve at each stage, you will meet their needs and even exceed their expectations.

Understanding Their Feelings

Consider the thoughts and concerns of consumers. What questions do they ask along the way? Try to put yourself in their shoes.

Overcoming Difficulties

The map reveals obstacles that complicate the customer journey. Slow website loading, unclear instructions, or return policy? Solve these problems. This will make the journey more comfortable.

A Few More Things

Consider including details such as conversion rates, how much time customers spend on different activities, and who is responsible for each touchpoint.

How to Create a Customer Journey Map

1. Gather your team

• Hold a CJM meeting. Invite key employees (e.g., from sales or customer service, UX designers) and ask them to collect any user data.
• Pay attention to social media — it's a good source of information about how customers perceive your brand. If possible, survey your users. Or even try yourself as a customer. Try to understand who your buyer is — imagine their image based on the characteristics of your target audience (Anastasia, female, 50 years old, London, embroidery enthusiast, etc.).
• The more information you collect, the more thorough your map will be. However, it is not necessary to make it too detailed — let it be primarily easy-to-understand for employees.

2. Develop a CJM template

• On the board, sketch a table with the stages of the customer journey on one side and the details you want to record on the other.
• There are templates on the Internet, the basic structure of which you can use.

3. Discuss the map with the team

• Briefly explain the purpose of the meeting and discuss the CJM together.
• Make sure everyone agrees with the stages and data included in the map.
• Make adjustments.

4. Start building the customer's CJM

• Fill in the initial stages of the journey.
• Be prepared for people to use your product differently than expected.
• The goal is to understand their real experience, not what you imagined.

5. Work on the map together

• Divide the team into small groups (2-3 people each) to fill in the remaining sections. This speeds up the process and makes it more engaging.

6. Finalize the map with the whole team

• Once everyone has contributed, discuss the map together.
• Make edits and add missing information.

7. Share the draft and gather feedback

• After the meeting, send all participants a digital copy of the CJM (create it in online services, such as Miro or Google Sheets).
• Ask them to review it within a few days and add any ideas.

8. Get feedback from customers

• Show the digital version of the CJM to several key customers.
• Through feedback, you will identify any gaps or inaccuracies in your understanding of their experience.

9. Finalize the CJM and share it with the team

• After you have taken into account the feedback, ask a designer to work on the map.
• Send the final version to all employees to keep them up to date.

10. Decide what to do next

• CJM is a tool, not an end product.
• Use it to identify areas for improvement in the user experience.
• Develop an action plan to address the issues. Figure out how to make the customer journey simpler.

Don't forget to regularly update the CJM to reflect changes in your business or user behavior. This is the only way the map will continue to simplify the journey.

Customer Journey Map Tools

Choosing the right tool is crucial. Here is an overview of some popular options.

Free:

Google Sheets: Great for creating a basic CJM. You can easily arrange the stages of the customer journey map and add details. Additionally, it’s free and easy to share with the team.

Appealing:

Figma: If you need a luxurious user journey map for presentations, this tool will allow you to create detailed and colorful visualizations. However, it requires some design skills. It will not be possible to quickly update the CJM.

Easy:

Canvanizer: This free tool offers map templates. With it, you can create a visual CJM without a significant investment of time. This is a great option if you need a quick and simple visualization of the customer journey.

Suitable for teams:

Miro: This is an online platform with a simple interface and free templates. The basic plan is free for one user, and advanced versions offer collaboration features.

More details:

• You can create a customer journey map using professional tools, such as UXPressia. Boards like Mural are a good solution for brainstorming.
• The best tool depends on your needs. Consider your budget, design skills, desired level of detail, and how many people should have access to the map.

What to Avoid When Creating a Customer Journey Map

To be effective, a CJM should be clear, comprehensive, and insightful. Here are some common mistakes to avoid when creating your map:

1. Lack of balance

• Too little detail: You'll miss important insights that could improve your customer experience. Aim for a detailed map, but keep in mind that your resources are limited.

• Too much detail: Getting bogged down in unnecessary details will overwhelm your team and slow your progress.

2. Not seeing the full picture

• Don't focus only on the ideal scenario. Consider situations where things go wrong — defective products, negative website interactions, returns. Analyze customer complaints to understand these pain points.
• Relying on expert opinions only will lead to a biased map. Gather information from a variety of sources to ensure you're addressing real customer problems. This includes competitor analysis, expert reviews, and quantitative research.

3. Not forming clear recommendations

• Make sure your plans directly address the obstacles your customers face.
• If you don't know what to do about a problem, acknowledge it and brainstorm potential solutions.

4. Not empathizing with users

• If you don't see your product through the eyes of your customers, you won't understand what improvements are really needed. Don't assume you know what people are thinking or feeling. Take the time to understand their real experiences.

Conclusion

A customer journey map is a strategic tool that provides valuable insights into how people interact with your business. You uncover user touchpoints, emotions, and goals at each stage. This knowledge will pinpoint areas for improvement, inform priorities, and ultimately shape a loyal customer base.

As you gather more customer feedback and data, revisit and update your map to reflect the ever-changing user experience.