customer-journey-mapping-workshop

What this skill does

## Purpose
Guide product managers through creating a customer journey map by asking adaptive questions about the actor (persona), scenario/goal, journey phases, actions/emotions, and opportunities for improvement. Use this to visualize the end-to-end customer experience, identify pain points, and create a shared mental model across teams—avoiding surface-level feature lists and ensuring discovery work focuses on real customer problems, not assumed solutions.

This is not a feature roadmap—it's a discovery and alignment tool that uncovers where the experience breaks down and where improvements will have the greatest impact.

## Key Concepts

### What is a Customer Journey Map?

A journey map (NNGroup) visualizes "the process that a person goes through in order to accomplish a goal." It compiles user actions into a timeline, enriched with thoughts and emotions to create a narrative, then condenses and polishes into a visual artifact.

### Five Key Components (NNGroup Framework)

1. **Actor** — A specific persona or user whose perspective anchors the map
2. **Scenario + Expectations** — The situational context and associated goals
3. **Journey Phases** — High-level stages organizing the experience (e.g., discover, try, buy, use, seek support)
4. **Actions, Mindsets, and Emotions** — User behaviors, thoughts, and emotional responses throughout phases
5. **Opportunities** — Insights identifying where experience can improve

### Journey Map Structure

```
Actor: [Persona Name]
Scenario: [Goal/Context]

Phase 1: Discover → Phase 2: Try → Phase 3: Buy → Phase 4: Use → Phase 5: Support
   ↓                  ↓                ↓               ↓               ↓
Actions:           Actions:         Actions:        Actions:        Actions:
Thoughts:          Thoughts:        Thoughts:       Thoughts:       Thoughts:
Emotions: 😊😐😞    Emotions:        Emotions:       Emotions:       Emotions:
   ↓                  ↓                ↓               ↓               ↓
Opportunities:     Opportunities:   Opportunities:  Opportunities:  Opportunities:
```

### Why This Works
- **Forces conversation:** Teams align on shared understanding of customer experience
- **Reveals pain points:** Emotions + actions highlight where experience breaks down
- **Prioritizes improvements:** Opportunities ranked by impact guide roadmap decisions
- **Human-centered:** Focuses on customer perspective, not internal processes

### Anti-Patterns (What This Is NOT)
- **Not a service blueprint:** Journey maps focus on customer perspective; service blueprints map internal operations
- **Not a user story map:** Journey maps support discovery; user story maps facilitate implementation planning
- **Not an experience map:** Journey maps target specific users and products; experience maps explore broader human behaviors

### When to Use This
- Starting customer discovery (understanding current experience)
- Identifying pain points for retention/engagement initiatives
- Aligning cross-functional teams on customer perspective
- Prioritizing which problems to solve first

### When NOT to Use This
- When you already understand the customer journey deeply
- For technical refactoring (no customer-facing journey)
- As a substitute for user research (maps require research input)

---

### Facilitation Source of Truth

Use [`workshop-facilitation`](../workshop-facilitation/SKILL.md) as the default interaction protocol for this skill.

It defines:
- session heads-up + entry mode (Guided, Context dump, Best guess)
- one-question turns with plain-language prompts
- progress labels (for example, Context Qx/8 and Scoring Qx/5)
- interruption handling and pause/resume behavior
- numbered recommendations at decision points
- quick-select numbered response options for regular questions (include `Other (specify)` when useful)

This file defines the domain-specific assessment content. If there is a conflict, follow this file's domain logic.

## Application

This interactive skill asks **up to 5 adaptive questions**, offering **3-4 enumerated options** at each step.

Interaction pattern: Pair with `skills/workshop-facilitation/SKILL.md` when you want a one-step-at-a-time flow with numbered recommendations at decision points and quick-select options for regular questions. If the user asks for a single-shot output, skip the multi-turn facilitation.

---

### Step 0: Gather Context (Before Questions)

**Agent suggests:**

Before we create your journey map, let's gather context:

**Customer Research:**
- User interviews, discovery notes, support tickets
- Churn reasons, exit surveys, NPS feedback
- Analytics data (drop-off points, feature usage)
- Personas or proto-personas

**Product Context:**
- Website copy, product descriptions, positioning
- Competitor journey maps or reviews (G2, Capterra)
- Existing journey documentation (if any)

**You can paste this content directly, or describe the customer experience briefly.**

---

### Question 1: Identify Actor (Persona)

**Agent asks:**
"Who is the actor for this journey map? (Which persona or user segment?)"

**Offer 4 enumerated options:**

1. **Primary persona** — "Your main target customer (e.g., 'small business owner')" (Most common starting point)
2. **Secondary persona** — "A secondary user segment with different needs (e.g., 'enterprise admin' vs. 'end user')" (Use if primary persona already mapped)
3. **High-churn persona** — "User segment with highest churn rate (e.g., 'trial users who don't convert')" (Good for retention initiatives)
4. **Newly discovered persona** — "Emerging user segment from recent research (e.g., 'remote teams' post-COVID)" (Good for market expansion)

**Or describe your specific persona.**

**Adaptation:** Use personas from context (proto-personas, JTBD research, etc.)

**User response:** [Selection or custom]

---

### Question 2: Define Scenario + Goal

**Agent asks:**
"What's the scenario and goal for this journey? (What is the actor trying to accomplish?)"

**Offer 4 enumerated options:**

1. **First-time use** — "New user onboarding, from discovery to activation" (Common for SaaS, apps)
2. **Core workflow** — "Recurring task the user does regularly (e.g., 'create invoice,' 'run report')" (Common for established products)
3. **Problem resolution** — "User encounters issue and seeks help (e.g., 'forgot password,' 'billing question')" (Good for support/retention)
4. **Upgrade/expansion** — "Free user considering paid plan, or existing customer expanding usage" (Good for growth initiatives)

**Or describe your specific scenario.**

**User response:** [Selection or custom]

**Agent extracts:**
- **Actor:** [Persona from Q1]
- **Scenario:** [Context from Q2]
- **Goal:** [What actor is trying to accomplish]

---

### Question 3: Identify Journey Phases

**Agent says:**
"Let's break the journey into high-level phases (typically 4-6 phases from start to end)."

**Agent generates 4-6 journey phases** based on scenario (Q2).

**Example (if Scenario = "First-time use"):**

```
Journey Phases (left to right):

1. Discover — User learns about product
2. Evaluate — User researches, compares alternatives
3. Try — User signs up, starts onboarding
4. Activate — User reaches "aha moment," experiences value
5. Use — User integrates product into workflow
6. Expand — User considers upgrading or inviting team
```

**Agent asks:**
"Do these phases capture the full journey? Should we add, remove, or rename phases?"

**User response:** [Approve or modify]

---

### Question 4: Map Actions, Thoughts, Emotions per Phase

**Agent says:**
"Now let's map what the actor does, thinks, and feels in each phase."

**Agent generates 3-5 actions, thoughts, and emotions per phase** based on context (Step 0) and scenario (Q2).

**Example (for Phase 3: "Try — User signs up, starts onboarding"):**

```
Phase 3: Try (Onboarding)

Actions:
- Signs up with email
- Receives welcome email
- Logs in for the first time
- Sees empty dashboard
- Searches for "getting started" guide

Th