Journey Map

Use this when you need to create, update, or visualize a customer journey map -- whether for a client engagement deliverable or an internal product experience audit.

Related resources: user-journey-map-template.md, service-blueprint-template.md, product-experience-map-template.md -- fill-in-the-blank templates for all three map types (standalone, printable). clinical-trial-startup-template.md -- pre-populated phases, pain points, and emotional arc for clinical trial site activation journeys.

Related skills: Use /state-map to detail UI states at each touchpoint. Use /ai-service-design to add AI frontstage/backstage layers to a service blueprint.

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How it works

1. You provide the client name, product or service, target persona, and engagement context
2. The skill pulls comparable journey maps from past engagements, applies Kate's discovery frameworks, and walks through a collaborative mapping process
3. It returns a structured journey map with stages, touchpoints, emotions, friction points, prioritized opportunities, and optional visual output

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Subcommands

• /journey-map or /journey-map create -- Create a new journey map
• /journey-map update -- Update an existing map with new research or insights
• /journey-map visualize -- Generate visual output from an existing map

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Process: Create mode

Step 1: Gather inputs

Before writing, read knowledge/voice-tone-guide.md -- use the client-facing voice (compressed, verb-forward, outcome-oriented, credibility without bloat).

Ask the user (or extract from provided context):

1. Client: {{CLIENT}} (company name and relevant context)
2. Product/Service: {{PRODUCT}} (the product, service, or experience being mapped)
3. Persona: {{PERSONA}} (who is traveling this journey -- role, JTBD, or segment). Check for existing personas in personas/ if applicable.
4. What research data do you have? (Interview transcripts, survey results, support tickets, analytics, observation notes, or assumptions to validate.)
5. User goal: What specific goal is the user trying to accomplish? (One specific goal per map -- not "use the product.")
6. Current-state or future-state?
   • Current-state -- map how things work today (diagnosing problems)
   • Future-state -- map how things should work (aligning on a vision)
7. Map type:
   • User journey map (default) -- one user, one goal, your product
   • Product experience map -- one user, full product lifecycle
   • Service blueprint -- journey map + behind-the-scenes operations (see service blueprint lanes below)
8. Output preferences:
   • Markdown only (default)
   • Miro board -- full map as a Miro doc
   • FigJam -- emotional arc + phase flow as a Mermaid diagram
   • Notion sync -- creates/updates a Notion page with the map content

If the user provides files (PDFs, transcripts, documents), read and analyze them as research inputs.

Step 2: Search for comparable journey maps

Search knowledge/engagement-history.md for past engagements where Kate delivered journey maps or similar experience-mapping work. Look for matches on:

• Domain (healthtech, govtech, enterprise, developer-tools, nonprofit)
• Engagement type (user-journey-mapping, ux-research-synthesis)
• Product category or persona similarity

Pull structural patterns from 1-2 comparable engagements. Note what stages, touchpoint categories, or friction themes carried over.

Step 3: Apply discovery frameworks

Read knowledge/pm-discovery-frameworks.md. Apply relevant frameworks:

• Opportunity Solution Tree structure to connect friction points to opportunities
• Jobs to Be Done framing for the persona (functional, emotional, social jobs)
• Assumption identification to flag where the journey map is based on inference vs. evidence

Read knowledge/services-canon.md and reference the user-journey-mapping service definition to ensure the deliverable aligns with Kate's stated service scope.

Step 4: Define phases

Collaboratively identify 4-7 phases that represent the user's mental stages (not product pages).

1. Propose initial phases based on the research data and goal. Default structure:

Stage	Focus
Awareness	How does the persona first encounter the product or need?
Consideration	What do they evaluate? What alternatives exist?
Acquisition	How do they sign up, purchase, or onboard?
First Use	First experience -- time to value, setup friction
Ongoing Engagement	Regular usage -- habit formation, feature adoption
Retention / Renewal	What keeps them? What triggers churn risk?
Advocacy	When and why do they recommend or expand?

2. Refine with the user -- Do these phases match the real experience? Are any missing or redundant?

3. Confirm the phase set before proceeding.

Step 5: Fill lanes

For each phase, document:

Lane	What to capture
User goal	What the user is trying to achieve in this phase
Steps	What the user actually does (actions, not features)
Touchpoints	Where the interaction happens (app, email, phone, in-person)
Actions	Specific behaviors and decisions
Thoughts & Questions	What is on their mind ("Is this worth my time?" "How do I...?") -- use their words from research where possible
Emotional State	How they feel (use a simple scale: positive / neutral / negative, with a one-word descriptor)
Pain Points	Friction, confusion, drop-off risks
Opportunities	How to improve the experience

Step 5a: AI touchpoints lane (optional)

If the product includes AI-powered features, add an AI touchpoints lane to each phase. This maps where AI enters the user's journey, what it does, and what happens when it fails.

Lane	What to capture
AI touchpoint	Where does AI interact with the user in this phase? (Recommendation, content generation, scoring, chat, search, classification, or "none")
AI role	What is the AI doing? (Generating, recommending, classifying, personalizing, automating, assisting)
User visibility	Does the user know AI is involved? (Transparent, implicit, hidden)
Trust requirement	How much does the user need to trust the AI at this point? (Low -- convenience feature. Medium -- influences decisions. High -- affects health, money, or safety.)
Failure impact	What happens if the AI is wrong here? (Minor annoyance, wrong recommendation, missed diagnosis, financial error, safety risk)
Fallback	What happens if the AI is unavailable or wrong? (Human backup, manual process, degraded experience, feature unavailable)

### AI Touchpoints — (Phase name)

| AI touchpoint | Role | Visibility | Trust required | If wrong | Fallback |
|---------------|------|-----------|---------------|----------|----------|
| (touchpoint) | (role) | (transparent/implicit/hidden) | (low/medium/high) | (consequence) | (backup) |

Use this lane when: the product has multiple AI-powered features across different journey phases, you're designing a new AI feature and want to understand its place in the journey, or you're auditing an existing AI product for interaction quality (see /ai-interaction-audit).

Step 5b: Service blueprint lanes (if service blueprint type selected)

If the user chose "Service blueprint," add these lanes below the standard journey lanes for each phase:

Lane	What to capture
Frontstage actions	What the user sees and interacts with directly (UI, email, conversation)
Line of visibility	--- (separator -- everything below is invisible to the user)
Backstage actions	Staff actions, manual processes, internal handoffs that support the frontstage
Support processes	Systems, databases, third-party services, automated workflows that enable backstage actions
Physical evidence	Tangible artifacts the user receives or interacts with (receipts, notifications, reports, documents)

### Service Blueprint — (Phase name)

| Lane | Details |
|------|---------|
| **User actions** | (What the user does) |
| **Frontstage** | (Visible touchpoints -- UI screens, emails, chat messages) |
| --- LINE OF VISIBILITY --- | |
| **Backstage** | (Staff actions -- support agent reviews request, ops team processes order) |
| **Support processes** | (Systems -- payment gateway, CRM update, notification service, database write) |
| **Physical evidence** | (Artifacts -- confirmation email, invoice PDF, shipping label) |

Service blueprints reveal where internal handoffs break down, where automation could replace manual backstage work, and where the line of visibility should shift. Use this when: the experience involves multiple teams or systems, there are known handoff failures, or the team is redesigning an operational workflow alongside the user experience.

Step 6: Synthesize

After all phases are filled, add synthesis sections:

1. Pain point frequency -- Which pain points appeared across multiple phases or multiple users? Mark frequency where known (e.g., "4 of 6 users mentioned this").

2. Emotional arc -- Summarize the emotional journey across phases:

   Awareness(neutral) -> Consideration(curious) -> Acquisition(anxious) -> First Use(relieved) -> Engagement(mixed)
   

3. Critical moments:

   • Aha Moment: When the persona first experiences core value
   • Moments of Truth: Decision points where they commit or abandon
   • Churn Triggers: Where personas most commonly drop off
   • Friction Patterns: Recurring themes across stages (e.g., unclear next steps, missing feedback loops, handoff gaps)

4. Key findings -- 3-5 top-level insights from the map.

5. Open questions -- What does the team still not know? What needs more research?

Step 7: Prioritize opportunities

Rank improvement opportunities using this structure:

Opportunity	Stage	Impact	Effort	Priority
(description)	(stage)	High/Med/Low	High/Med/Low	1, 2, 3...

Group into:

• Quick wins: High impact, low effort
• Strategic bets: High impact, high effort
• Table stakes: Must-fix friction that blocks the journey

Step 8: Data confidence notes

For each stage, note whether the journey mapping is based on:

• Evidence: Direct research data (interviews, analytics, support logs)
• Inference: Reasonable assumption based on domain patterns -- mark [ASSUMED]
• Gap: No data available -- needs validation -- mark [NEEDS VALIDATION]

Step 9: Save artifact

Save the journey map as a structured markdown file:

• Default path: journey-maps/(user-type)-(goal).md
• If the journey-maps/ directory does not exist, create it.
• If creating multiple maps, create a journey-maps/README.md index.

Use this file structure:

# Journey Map: (User type) -> (Goal)

**Date:** (date)
**Client:** (client name)
**Based on:** (research sources)
**Scope:** Current state / Future state
**Persona:** (link to persona file if exists)

## Phases

| | Phase 1: (name) | Phase 2: (name) | Phase 3: (name) | ... |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **User goal** | | | | |
| **Steps** | | | | |
| **Touchpoints** | | | | |
| **Actions** | | | | |
| **Thoughts & feelings** | | | | |
| **Pain points** | | | | |
| **Opportunities** | | | | |

## Emotional arc

(phase-by-phase emotional summary)

## Critical moments

(Aha moment, moments of truth, churn triggers)

## Key findings

1. (finding)
2. (finding)
3. (finding)

## Pain point frequency

| Pain point | Phases affected | Frequency | Severity |
|------------|----------------|-----------|----------|
| (pain point) | Phase 1, Phase 3 | 4/6 users | High |

## Prioritized opportunities

(Table grouped by quick wins / strategic bets / table stakes)

## Open questions

- (question)

## Change log

| Date | Change | Source |
|------|--------|--------|
| (date) | Initial map created | (research source) |

Step 10: Visual output (optional)

If the user requested visual output:

Miro board: Post the full journey map markdown as a Miro doc using doc_create. The markdown format renders well in Miro docs.

FigJam: Generate a Mermaid.js flowchart showing the phase flow with emotional indicators:

• Phase nodes (rounded rectangles) connected left-to-right
• Pain point nodes (red) branching off relevant phases
• Opportunity nodes (green) branching off relevant phases

Notion sync: Create or update a Notion page with the map content. Record the Notion page URL in the markdown file's frontmatter for future syncs.

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Process: Update mode

1. Look in journey-maps/ and list available maps. Ask which one to update.
2. Read the selected map file.
3. Ask: "What new research, data, or observations do you want to incorporate?"
4. Present proposed changes as a diff before applying.
5. After user confirms, update the markdown file. Add an entry to the Change log.
6. If the map has a linked Notion page, update it. If no Notion page exists, offer to create one.

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Process: Visualize mode

1. Read from journey-maps/ -- list available maps, let user pick.
2. Choose output: Miro board, FigJam, or refreshed markdown table.
3. Generate the visual artifact from the current map state.

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Uncertainty Policy

Topic	Tolerance	Action
User type / persona identity	Low	STOP and ask -- wrong persona means wrong map
Pain point attribution (who experiences it)	Low	STOP and ask -- misattributed pain points mislead prioritization
Phase boundaries	Medium	Assume + flag [ASSUMED] -- user refines in review
Emotional states per phase	Medium	Assume + flag [ASSUMED] -- user validates against research
Touchpoint details	Medium	Assume + flag [ASSUMED] -- user knows the product surface
Opportunity framing	High	Best guess -- synthesis is a starting point for discussion
Map type selection	High	Best guess -- default to user journey map if unclear

Default: STOP and ask when a topic is not listed above.

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Examples

Input

• Client: "Greenfield Health"
• Product: "Patient portal for chronic care management"
• Persona: "Newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes patient, age 45-65, managing condition for first time"
• Context: "Journey mapping engagement, 3-week sprint. We have 8 interview transcripts and basic analytics on portal usage. Goal is to identify where patients drop off between diagnosis and sustained self-management."

Output (abbreviated)

Journey Map: Newly Diagnosed T2D Patient -- Greenfield Health Portal

Stage	Touchpoint	Persona Action	Emotion	Pain Point	Opportunity
Awareness	Physician referral	Receives portal link at diagnosis appointment	Overwhelmed (negative)	Information overload during an emotional moment	Delay portal intro by 48hrs; send a warm-start email instead
First Use	Portal login	Creates account, views dashboard	Confused (negative)	Dashboard shows clinical data without context	Add a "Start here" guided first visit
Ongoing Engagement	Daily logging	Logs blood glucose readings	Neutral	Manual entry is tedious; no feedback on trends	Show weekly trend summary with plain-language interpretation

Critical Moments:

• Aha Moment: First time the portal shows a trend line connecting daily logs to A1C improvement (Engagement stage)
• Top Churn Trigger: Week 2-3 when logging novelty wears off and no clinician feedback has arrived

Top Opportunities:

1. Warm-start onboarding email 48hrs post-diagnosis (Quick win)
2. Guided first visit replacing raw dashboard (Quick win)
3. Clinician feedback loop within first 2 weeks (Strategic bet)