{"id":33615,"date":"2022-06-24T11:57:58","date_gmt":"2022-06-24T11:57:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/?p=33615"},"modified":"2022-10-05T13:37:30","modified_gmt":"2022-10-05T13:37:30","slug":"6-ways-to-spice-up-your-customer-journey-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/6-ways-to-spice-up-your-customer-journey-map\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Ways to Spice up Your Customer Journey Map"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Customer\n

How to add meaning to your CJM by using visual materials, colors, and even emojis.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Who wouldn’t want to get into other people\u2019s minds once in a while? Especially if those other people are customers and you are a seller or service provider. Since it\u2019s not OK to grab your customer by the sleeve and demand them to tell all, we are lucky to have a methodology called customer journey mapping<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In essence, customer journey maps (CJMs) are made to visualize the customer\u2019s path from initial thought all the way to action and make this visualization clear and understandable.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it\u2019s not always the case. Sometimes the CJMs are presented as a dry and boring spreadsheet full of words that are supposed to paint the picture. Instead of just showing the actual picture.<\/p>\n\"Customer\n

Source: <\/em>Shopify<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Our brain is just not trained to process text fast, we need time. Pictures, on the other hand, are highly comprehensible. According to John Medina\u2019s Rule<\/a> #10<\/a> from his bestseller Brain Rules, information is better absorbed when presented visually.<\/p>\n

So, what are the tricks of transforming data into a pleasant and easy-to-grasp presentation? How can one make his CJM research colorful, clear, and convincing?<\/p>\n

Paint the picture<\/strong><\/p>\n

By showing some creativity while visualizing a customer journey stage, you can improve CJM quality. Instead of writing a detailed description with dozens of words to read, just add a picture to the block of text. A visual component will accentuate the meaning instead of spreading it all over those three sentences you need to describe the action. It will clear out the air.<\/p>\n\"Online\n

Source: <\/em>edraw<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Think of it this way: your essay on how you spent your vacation is not nearly as engaging as a picture of you in a hammock holding a fruity drink.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guy walks into a bar and asks for a drink\u201d is better left to opening a bad joke. You can just add a picture of a guy at the bar. Depending on the specifics of the actual business, it can be a real-life picture of the shop, or a screenshot of an online store, or even a stick figure. Anything will be more alive than a scrupulous description.<\/p>\n

You can create a whole storyboard section with actual customer actions to show a complete sequence of events. This way you won’t need to waste your space by filling it with text: pictures are self-explanatory.<\/p>\n

There are very few tiny formats more engaging than comics. So why not put your essential data into a plain and consistent visual representation of real-life situations?<\/p>\n\"Customer\n

Source: <\/em>UXPressia<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Make whoever sees your CJM feel as if they were present at every stage of your customer\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n

Show some emotion<\/strong><\/p>\n

The reason we are so persistent in using emojis is simple: they express our feelings better than our own words.<\/p>\n

Make a persona come to life in your CJM by showing their emotions throughout the journey. Customer experience is directly based<\/a> on the emotional part of it. Putting an emoji instead of describing the customer’s attitude is a powerful tool: it basically gets us into empathy mode and allows us to take every interaction more personally.<\/p>\n

Exactly the result we hope to achieve by building a CJM in the first place.<\/p>\n\"CJM\n

Source: <\/em>Technology Meets Culture<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Our most basic cultural code fills us with joy when we see a smile. And that\u2019s how you can put \u201cemotional\u201d back into the \u201cemotional journey\u201d.<\/p>\n

Picture channels and process<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t forget to visualize your persona\u2019s channels and processes. Showing the type of the process is necessary to shine out the customer\u2019s path through separate interactions.<\/p>\n