Challenge
When I joined the team, my first task was to map the user journey of the overall offered solution. At that time, the software was divided in 3 main areas, developed in different periods and with higher or lower data sharing connections.
Previous research and workshops already collected a lot of information: personae were defined, main steps of the overall flow were clear and a first list of users’ problems was collected. But the “glue” was missing: a clear overview of the links between software areas and how the different personae would interact in the various touch-points.
Process
To start from the fundaments, I defined the 3 main scenarios that the software was used for: a clear problem statement, a user story and users’ goals were described for each of them.
Collecting information on problems vs. actions
Focus on main personae and interactions for each scenario.
From here, I was able to map the user journey of the different persona for each scenario, highlighting both the touch-points with the software itself (with the focus on working areas and main features) and the connections between the users.
User journey for scenario #2 highlighting relationships, pain points and gaps.
My progress was constantly shared and discussed with the Product and the Customer Success teams, so that I could capture their knowledge and at the same time learn more about the market, the personae, the customers and the software itself.
Results
Identified main gaps in the overall flow
Highlighted data sharing breakages between working areas of the software
Spotted a redundancy creating confusion for the basic user (i.e. maintenance engineer): 2 different main entry points to the software for submitting requests
Identified opportunities for automation in the orders management system
Discovered a complete lack of clear part versioning and interactivity with documentation, when storing knowledge and part history was one of the main customers’ goals
…and more
Takeaways
A clear vision starts from a deep understanding of the journey
In the short term, such blueprint helped me and the product management team to translate the identified gaps and problems into a product roadmap. It brought alignment, simplified discussion and improved the decision making process.
For myself as a lead designer, I could start from this exercise to draft the design team long term vision.
User journey as a tool for the whole organisation
The blueprint proved to be an incredibly useful resource for the whole product team, used constantly to look backward at the bigger picture and how pieces were fitting together. It helped me bringing a user-centered approach to the team.
Moreover, the Customer Success team could better map customers to specific persona and scenario, focusing on the right users’ flows, tasks and goals to better train customers and promote new features with a clear target and flow in mind.
Be curious and be a novice
On a personal level, this exercise significantly speeded up my on-boarding, turning me into an active team member after only one month. During this process, I focused on learning the software as a “new customer”, taking the opportunity to collect feedback and ideas that were used later on to draft smaller and bigger improvements on existing features.