When to use it?
Use when you need a clear, structured map that connects user steps with expectations, emotions, and team responsibilities. Best for quick workshops or when your team is new to journey mapping.

💡 What It Is
A simple grid with steps across the top (Step 1, Step 2, Step 3…) and categories down the side (e.g., actions, expectations, emotions, opportunities, ownership). It gives you a structured way to capture what happens at each stage.

✨ Why Use This Tool?
It’s fast, organized, and makes responsibilities visible, helping teams link the user’s journey to internal processes.

📌 What You Should Know

• Start With: Research data, personas, or workshop inputs
• End With: A completed grid with labeled rows and steps
• Time Needed: 30–60 minutes
• Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆ (2 out of 5 – structured, but simple)

🛠️ Quick Guide to Get Started

1. Define the journey stages across the top.
2. Fill in rows for actions, expectations, and emotions.
3. Add opportunities and assign ownership.
4. Review the full picture together.

💡 Helpful Tips

• Keep wording short, it should be scannable at a glance.
• Don’t overload, 5–7 steps is usually enough.
• Use colors or icons to highlight highs and lows.

When to use it?
Use when you want to engage people emotionally and “see” the journey. Best for workshops or projects where storytelling and empathy are key.

💡 What It Is
A visual timeline drawn like a comic strip, with frames showing what the user is doing, thinking, and feeling at each stage. Even rough sketches or stick figures work, the focus is on telling the story.

✨ Why Use This Tool?
It makes the journey vivid and relatable, helping teams connect with the human side of the experience.

📌 What You Should Know

• Start With: A persona and their story
• End With: A visual sequence of moments and emotions
• Time Needed: 45–90 minutes
• Difficulty: ★★★☆☆ (3 out of 5 – needs some drawing but not perfection)

🛠️ Quick Guide to Get Started

1. Pick key steps in the journey.
2. Draw simple frames showing each step.
3. Add notes about feelings, expectations, or thoughts.
4. Share and discuss with your team.

💡 Helpful Tips

• Stick figures are fine, clarity matters more than art.
• Use facial expressions or icons to show highs and lows.
• Invite users themselves to sketch for stronger empathy.

When to use it?
Use when you want to connect user experience with behind-the-scenes processes. Best for complex services where staff, systems, and policies affect the journey.

💡 What It Is
A layered map that combines the user journey with what happens “frontstage” (visible interactions like staff or apps) and “backstage” (hidden systems, tools, and processes). It shows how the experience is shaped by what happens inside the organization.

✨ Why Use This Tool?
It helps you trace pain points back to root causes, revealing where internal bottlenecks affect users.

📌 What You Should Know

• Start With: A clear service or process to analyze
• End With: A layered map showing user actions + frontstage + backstage
• Time Needed: 1–2 hours
• Difficulty: ★★★★☆ (4 out of 5 – more detailed, needs facilitation)

🛠️ Quick Guide to Get Started

1. Map the user’s main steps.
2. Add frontstage interactions for each step.
3. Add backstage processes that support them.
4. Look for gaps, bottlenecks, or misalignments.

💡 Helpful Tips

• Focus on a slice of the service, not the entire system at once.
• Use arrows or colors to show where issues start.
• Involve both customer-facing and back-office teams.

When to use it?
Use when you want to compare how different personas experience the same journey. Best for deciding who to prioritize or for spotting where needs diverge.

💡 What It Is
A side-by-side journey map where two or more personas are plotted along the same process. Each persona has their own “line” showing actions, feelings, and pain points, so you can compare directly.

✨ Why Use This Tool?
It highlights differences and overlaps between groups, helping you see who struggles most and where to focus design efforts.

📌 What You Should Know

• Start With: 2–3 personas with solid data
• End With: Parallel maps showing each persona’s experience
• Time Needed: 1–2 hours
• Difficulty: ★★★☆☆ (3 out of 5 – needs careful organization)

🛠️ Quick Guide to Get Started

1. Define the journey steps.
2. Plot each persona’s actions and emotions for each step.
3. Compare where experiences align or diverge.
4. Discuss priorities and opportunities.

💡 Helpful Tips

• Limit to 2–3 personas to avoid clutter.
• Use different colors for each persona.
• Pay attention to extremes, one group’s struggle may reveal innovation opportunities.