--- name: persona-journey-mapping description: User personas, customer journey maps, empathy maps, and experience mapping patterns. Use when synthesizing research into actionable models, understanding user experiences, or aligning teams on customer needs. context: fork agent: ux-researcher version: 1.0.0 tags: [ux, personas, journey-map, empathy-map, experience] author: OrchestKit user-invocable: false complexity: medium --- # Persona & Journey Mapping Frameworks for synthesizing research into actionable user models and experience maps. ## User Personas ### Persona vs. Empathy Map | Aspect | Persona | Empathy Map | |--------|---------|-------------| | Based on | Fictional composite | Real individuals | | Scope | Full user profile | Specific moment/scenario | | Purpose | Shared understanding | Build empathy quickly | | Creation | After research synthesis | During/after research | ### Persona Template ```markdown ## Persona: [Name] ### Photo & Demographics [Include representative image] - Age: [Range] - Role: [Job title] - Company: [Type/size] - Location: [Geographic] - Tech savviness: [Low/Medium/High] ### Quote > "[Characteristic statement that captures their mindset]" ### Background [2-3 sentences about their professional context] ### Goals 1. [Primary goal - what success looks like] 2. [Secondary goal] 3. [Tertiary goal] ### Pain Points 1. [Frustration with current state] 2. [Obstacle they face] 3. [Risk or concern] ### Behaviors - [Typical workflow or habit] - [Tool preferences] - [Information sources] ### Motivations - [What drives their decisions] - [What they value most] ### Scenario [Brief story of how they might use your product] ### Key Insight [The most important thing to remember about this persona] ``` ### Persona Example ```markdown ## Persona: DevOps Dana ### Demographics - Age: 32 - Role: Senior DevOps Engineer - Company: Mid-size SaaS (200 employees) - Location: Austin, TX - Tech savviness: Expert ### Quote > "I don't have time for tools that create more work than they save." ### Background Dana manages CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure for a growing engineering team. She's responsible for reliability and developer productivity, and is constantly balancing new requests with maintaining existing systems. ### Goals 1. Reduce deployment failures and rollback frequency 2. Give developers self-service capabilities without chaos 3. Spend less time on repetitive tasks, more on improvements ### Pain Points 1. Alert fatigue from too many false positives 2. Lack of visibility into who changed what and when 3. Context switching between 10+ different tools ### Behaviors - Checks Slack and monitoring dashboards first thing - Automates anything she does more than twice - Documents decisions in ADRs and runbooks ### Motivations - Professional reputation for reliability - Autonomy to solve problems her way - Continuous learning and skill growth ### Key Insight Dana evaluates tools by "time saved vs. time invested"—she needs immediate value with minimal onboarding. ``` ## Empathy Maps ### Standard Empathy Map ``` ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ [User/Persona] │ │ │ ├─────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────┤ │ SAYS │ THINKS │ │ │ │ │ • Direct quotes │ • What occupies their mind │ │ • Statements made │ • Worries and concerns │ │ • Questions asked │ • Aspirations │ │ │ │ ├─────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────┤ │ DOES │ FEELS │ │ │ │ │ • Observable actions │ • Emotional state │ │ • Behaviors │ • Frustrations │ │ • Workarounds │ • Delights │ │ │ │ └─────────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────┘ │ │ │ │ PAINS │ GAINS │ │ │ │ │ • Fears │ • Wants │ │ • Frustrations │ • Needs │ │ • Obstacles │ • Success measures │ │ │ │ └─────────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────┘ ``` ### Empathy Map Example ```markdown ## Empathy Map: First-time user during onboarding ### Context New user who just signed up, attempting to complete setup ### SAYS - "Where do I start?" - "Is there a tutorial?" - "Can I import my existing data?" ### THINKS - "Is this going to be worth my time?" - "I hope I don't break anything" - "How long until I see value?" ### DOES - Clicks around hesitantly - Opens help docs in new tab - Looks for "Get Started" or "Quick Start" - Skips optional steps ### FEELS - Anxious about learning curve - Hopeful about solving their problem - Impatient to see results - Overwhelmed by options ### PAINS - Information overload - Unclear next steps - Fear of making wrong choices early ### GAINS - Quick win / early success - Confidence in the tool - Clear path to full value ``` ## Customer Journey Maps ### Journey Map Structure ``` ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAP │ │ [Journey Name] │ ├────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬───────────────┤ │ STAGE │ Aware │ Consider│ Purchase│ Onboard │ Use & Retain │ ├────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────────────┤ │ DOING │ │ │ │ │ │ ├────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────────────┤ │THINKING│ │ │ │ │ │ ├────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────────────┤ │FEELING │ 😐 │ 🤔 │ 😬 │ 😊 │ 😃 │ ├────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────────────┤ │ PAIN │ │ │ │ │ │ │ POINTS │ │ │ │ │ │ ├────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────────────┤ │ OPPORT-│ │ │ │ │ │ │ UNITIES│ │ │ │ │ │ ├────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────────────┤ │TOUCH- │ Blog, │ Demo, │ Sales, │ Email, │ App, Support, │ │POINTS │ Social │ Reviews │ Pricing │ Docs │ Community │ └────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴───────────────┘ ``` ### Journey Map Template ```markdown ## Journey Map: [Journey Name] ### Persona [Which persona is this journey for] ### Scenario [What is the user trying to accomplish] ### Stages #### Stage 1: [Name] **Touchpoints:** - [Channel/interaction point] **Actions:** - [What user does] **Thoughts:** - "[What they're thinking]" **Emotions:** [😊 😐 😟] **Pain Points:** - [Friction or frustration] **Opportunities:** - [How we can improve] --- #### Stage 2: [Name] [Repeat structure] --- ### Key Insights 1. [Insight from mapping process] 2. [Another insight] ### Priority Improvements | Stage | Opportunity | Impact | Effort | |-------|-------------|--------|--------| | | | | | ``` ### Experience Curve ``` Emotional Journey: First Month with Product Satisfaction │ 😃 │ ╭──────────── │ ╭────╯ Productive 😊 │ ╭────╯ User │ ╭────╯ 😐 │ ╭────────╯ │ ╭───╯ Pit of Climbing 😟 │ │ Despair Out │─╯ └──────────────────────────────────────────► Time Day 1 Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 ``` ## Service Blueprint Extension of journey map showing frontstage/backstage operations. ``` ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ CUSTOMER ACTIONS │ Browse │ Sign up │ Onboard │ ├─────────────────────┼──────────┼──────────┼────────────┤ │ LINE OF INTERACTION │──────────┼──────────┼────────────┤ ├─────────────────────┼──────────┼──────────┼────────────┤ │ FRONTSTAGE │ Website │ Form │ Welcome │ │ (Visible) │ │ │ wizard │ ├─────────────────────┼──────────┼──────────┼────────────┤ │ LINE OF VISIBILITY │──────────┼──────────┼────────────┤ ├─────────────────────┼──────────┼──────────┼────────────┤ │ BACKSTAGE │ CDN, │ Auth │ Data │ │ (Invisible) │ Analytics│ system │ import │ ├─────────────────────┼──────────┼──────────┼────────────┤ │ SUPPORT PROCESSES │ Hosting, │ Email │ Customer │ │ │ CMS │ provider │ success │ └─────────────────────┴──────────┴──────────┴────────────┘ ``` ## When to Use Each Tool | Tool | Best For | Timing | |------|----------|--------| | Persona | Shared understanding of target users | After discovery research | | Empathy Map | Quick alignment on specific scenario | During workshops | | Journey Map | End-to-end experience analysis | Strategic planning | | Service Blueprint | Operations alignment with CX | Process improvement | ## Living Documents These artifacts should evolve: ```markdown ## Maintenance Schedule ### Personas - Review: Quarterly - Full update: Annually or after major pivot ### Journey Maps - Review: After major feature launches - Full update: When customer journey fundamentally changes ### Empathy Maps - Create fresh for each new scenario/project - Archive after project completion ``` ## Best Practices - **Data-backed personas**: Connect to analytics, not just qualitative research - **Dynamic journeys**: Update based on real user behavior data - **Cross-functional creation**: Include engineering, support, sales in workshops - **Accessibility by default**: Include users with disabilities in all personas - **Connect to metrics**: Link journey stages to measurable KPIs ## Related Skills - `user-research-methods` - Research that feeds into personas/journeys - `product-strategy-frameworks` - Strategic context for experience design - `requirements-engineering` - Translating insights to requirements ## References - [Persona Template](references/persona-template.md) - [Journey Map Workshop Guide](references/journey-map-workshop.md) **Version:** 1.0.0 (January )