Storytelling is heralded as one of the most effective ways to connect with others. No, really, it’s true. In a one-minute speech study at Stanford, listeners recalled stories 63% of the time afterward, versus only 5% for any individual statistic. Stories stick with us more than numbers. This is especially true in the world of user experience design. Designers use stories to map user journeys. They allow us to experience things from their point of view — an authentic way to get to know our users.
What’s a Journey Map?
A customer journey map is an important and visual tool in the design thinking process. It’s there to remind us that the customer really does come first. What’s in a journey map? Journey maps outline the steps, emotions, and interactions a customer has over time. The most common components are:
- Channels: The places or contexts where interactions happen (e.g., website, app, call center, in-store).
- Personas: The main characters representing user needs, goals, feelings, and pain points.
- Timeline: The period or phases over which the journey occurs (e.g., awareness, purchase, renewal).
- Emotion: The emotional highs and lows (😐 frustration, 🙂 happiness, 😟 anxiety) experienced by the customer.
- Touchpoints: The specific actions and interactions the customer has with the organization (what the customer is doing).
Why I Mapped Something That Doesn’t Exist Yet
For my user journey map, I mapped a future-state idea for Spotify. As it stands, they have a binary listening experience: free, ads; paid, no ads. While exploring ideation techniques for Spotify, Venmo, and The Weather Channel, I uncovered an idea for Spotify that I wanted to continue to explore.
My persona is called Kathrine, and she’s the perfect candidate to explore this idea. More about her in a minute. You might assume a journey map always documents something real. In reality, mapping a future-state concept is a legitimate, established use of the method, not at all a stretch, and can be just as useful for uncovering a better user experience.
Meet Kathrine
Kathrine is a 20-year-old college student earning extra money as a part-time yoga instructor. She teaches 90-minute classes 3 times a week and relies on uninterrupted music during class. She’s exhausted all the free and piecemeal ways of outsourcing her playlists, and she’s frustrated.
She loves Spotify and is a budget-conscious college student who can’t justify paying for premium, but needs reliable, uninterrupted music, especially during classes. Kathrine is fine with interruptions while planning or practicing on her own; it’s only a problem when she has paying customers who expect a true flow experience. Her playlists enhance and support her business.
Flowing Through the Journey
Kathrine’s journey starts when she sees an ad for Spotify Tiered on social media. She thinks, wait, is my phone listening to me? She rushes to the app to see what this new offer is about, hoping it’s what she thinks: a cost-conscious ad-free option. She’s been frustrated and a bit embarrassed when they’re in mid-warrior pose and an ad bursts in with, “Do you know where your money is hiding?” Kathrine usually laughs through it, hoping the students don’t mind, but the truth is, she minds. Very much so.
When she sees there are 30-minute increments available to purchase, she makes a note to purchase 90 minutes before her next class. To her relief, her frustrations are eased when the full 90 minutes plays through seamlessly. No more embarrassing laugh breaks and interrupted savasana flow. Kathrine feels confident she’ll keep purchasing these slots, as the price is worth her new peace of mind. She even starts sharing her enthusiasm on social media and with her fellow instructors, who are also on a budget.
The Moment That Matters Most
The Experience phase is Kathrine’s moment of truth: the ad-free block playing seamlessly through the full 90-minute class, with no interruption in front of paying students. This is the initial touchpoint most likely to give her anxiety, wondering if it will work. Also, if it holds, it becomes the moment that builds real trust in the feature.
Why a Lotus Flower
To illustrate Kathrine’s user journey, a lotus flower seemed most fitting. Not only is it “on brand” for her as a yoga instructor, but it’s also a memorable and visual way to symbolize her journey. Not all journeys have to move from left to right; in fact, circular maps are actually recommended for subscription-based products.
Namaste
Watching Kathrine flow through her user ad-free listening journey through a yoga-themed lens leaves the designer with something a chart or statistic can’t give them. Storytelling brings relatability, leading to deeper empathy, making user journey maps another valuable way to put yourself in the user’s shoes and keep their needs first.
The lotus flower represents Kathrine’s journey in full bloom. It visualizes the full circle from frustration and embarrassment to relief and trust. Now imagine Kathrine in her next class, mid-savasana, not having to break focus to laugh it off with her class. She’s left with a confident solution to her flow state problem. Proof you can map an idea before it even exists.
For a closer look at Kathrine’s journey map, view the PDF below.
AI tools supported proofreading and editing for this post.