Journey Maps

“A journey map is a visualization of the process that a person goes through in order to accomplish a goal.” (Gibbons, 2018) Applied to services, a journey map describes the journey of a customer or user across a service experience and visualizes and connects all moments of interaction (Polaine et al., 2013;

Stickdorn and Schneider, 2010). Learner Experience Mapping (LEM) has a similar approach. It looks at learning opportunities and experiences from the lens of the learners, who are consuming the content and wants to ensure that added value is provided within the learning process (Learner Experience Mapping: Building Personalized Learner-centric Experiences, 2019)²⁴. To assess if a digital service or learning experience adds value to users, one can draw on the parameters offered by User Experience design (UX). UX applies the usefulness, desirability, credibility, usability, accessibility, and findability parameters to evaluate services and service experiences. (Learner Experience Mapping: Building Personalized Learner-centric Experiences, 2019)

Journey maps are a comprehensive tool to capture all phases of a service or learning experience as experienced by users from the beginning – emergence and consciousness of a need – to the end – experienced benefit of a service (Stickdorn and Schneider, 2010). They break down the whole service experience into manageable components and can help to identify barriers, pain

24 Typical learner experience maps comprise the following elements: (1) learner profile; (2) learning paths; (3) touch points and pain points; (4) timelines; (5) modes; (6) integration of all aspects (Learner Experience Mapping: Building Personalized Learner-centric Experiences, 2019).

points, and improvement needs of a service that are not obvious from the administrative perspective²⁵ (Stickdorn and Schneider, 2010; Journey Mapping for a Better E-learning Experience, 2014). By aiming for an emphatic description of users’ rational and emotional needs, as well as their feelings related to the service, they can also help to assess if a service experience strengthens users' relationships with the provider (Journey Mapping for a Better E-learning Experience, 2014; Polaine et al., 2013).

Journey maps can have different scales and scopes, ranging from macro-level maps to very detailed micro-level, step-by-step descriptions and they can develop into living documents that evolve and change over time (Stickdorn and Schneider, 2010). Various forms to visualize journey maps exist, e.g. in the form of tables, charts, or cartoons. Eventually, the quality and usefulness of “any map depends on the quality of the data it is based on” (Stickdorn and Schneider, 2018a: chap. 3)

To visualize and analyse the user experience with the digital learning offers on the Alumniportal Deutschland, the author created two journey maps for two different service scenarios: (1) browsing the Alumniportal’s website for digital learning offers and (2) the more specific scenario of finding and participating in a web seminar on the portal. Both user journeys were divided into five phases:

(1) interest and awareness phase (2) exploration and research phase (3) registration and conversion phase (4) experience and consumption phase as well as (5) bonding and advocacy phase (Yuzdepski, 2018). The guiding questions for the journey maps were (1) How is the overall user experience with digital learning offers on the Alumniportal Deutschland so far? and (2) What are positive aspects as well as possible pain points within the existing service?

In each phase of the user journey, different factors determine the user experience and satisfaction. In the first phase, the interest and awareness phase, users have to be directed and attracted to the respective section of the portal’s website or the community. The offers and the information on the offers have to be findable. (Yuzdepski, 2018) Effective channels of communication

25 For eLearning providers, journey maps can be tools to understand how the diverse elements they offer (e.g. content, media, materials, and interactions) work together and if the technologies they use are working effectively (Journey Mapping for a Better E-learning Experience, 2014).

and information have to be used (Shuteyev, 2020) and at best, users should have an idea of what to come to the portal for. In this phase, user satisfaction is mainly dependent on the fact if users can find what they are looking for on the website (relevancy, usefulness) and that the offers promise to be of high quality (desirability, credibility). Other factors that can further contribute to user satisfaction are the structure of the website, the navigation as well as the sententiousness of initial information. (Shuteyev, 2020) In the exploration and research phase, the accessibility and clarity of provided information on the learning offers are crucial, as they serve as a basis for users to make an informed decision. The information and the offers themselves should be easily accessible (e.g. in terms of scheduling, language, and technology).

Furthermore, support services as well as the opportunity to directly get in touch with organizers add value to users and can increase conversion. (Shuteyev, 2020) Support services can for example include FAQ sections or forums. In the third phase, the registration and conversion phase, it is important to enable a clear and smooth registration process (usability, accessibility). In this phase as well, support services can be helpful in case users need support regarding their decision on participation. (Shuteyev, 2020) Support services here can also include emails with relevant information and calendar entries which ensure that users are reminded of events or deadlines. In the experience and consumption phase, numerous aspects can influence the service experience: usefulness, accessibility and usability play an important role here. The user experience in the consumption phase also strongly influences the last service phase, the bonding and advocacy phase. Service providers can increase user satisfaction in this last phase by communication measures and offering attractive support services. (Shuteyev, 2020; Yuzdepski, 2018) These measures can include follow-up emails with additional information and material, the opportunity to exchange with lecturers and other participants further, the opportunity to give feedback as well as recommendations on other learning offers that might be relevant and of interest to users. The last two stages of the user journey are especially important as they determine if users will consider participation again in the future and recommend and advocate the services to others. (Shuteyev, 2020; Yuzdepski, 2018)

To create the journey maps, the author used a template offered by the online white boarding tool miro, as it proved to be user-friendly, flexible and as the tool

allows for collaborative work. The first step was to identify two relevant service scenarios. Next, activities and steps in the user experience that were to be included in the journey maps were identified. Steps that appeared to be similar were combined, narrowing it down to the five aforementioned phases per journey map. The author then arranged the user activities in a timeline and labelled them from the user’s perspective. The journey maps were completed by adding assumptions about user’s objectives, desires and feelings for each phase in the journey. (Stevens, 2019) Finally, the author ran through the service scenarios, reflecting the journeys from the users’ point of view and tried to identify moments and aspects within the journeys that deviate from ideal service experiences. These potential pain points were used as starting points to explore possible changes to improve the service experience (Andrews and Eade, 2013:

462). The findings of the two journey maps were discussed with team members to include their perspectives and ideas in the journey maps as well. The main findings of the two journey maps are presented in chapter 4.2.1.