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)
- Actor — A specific persona or user whose perspective anchors the map
- Scenario + Expectations — The situational context and associated goals
- Journey Phases — High-level stages organizing the experience (e.g., discover, try, buy, use, seek support)
- Actions, Mindsets, and Emotions — User behaviors, thoughts, and emotional responses throughout phases
- 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 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:
- Primary persona — "Your main target customer (e.g., 'small business owner')" (Most common starting point)
- Secondary persona — "A secondary user segment with different needs (e.g., 'enterprise admin' vs. 'end user')" (Use if primary persona already mapped)
- High-churn persona — "User segment with highest churn rate (e.g., 'trial users who don't convert')" (Good for retention initiatives)
- 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:
- First-time use — "New user onboarding, from discovery to activation" (Common for SaaS, apps)
- Core workflow — "Recurring task the user does regularly (e.g., 'create invoice,' 'run report')" (Common for established products)
- Problem resolution — "User encounters issue and seeks help (e.g., 'forgot password,' 'billing question')" (Good for support/retention)
- 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
Thou