/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
How many times have you found yourself creating a solution to a problem that didn't exist? A well-framed problem is the key to a successful solution. Even a slight adjustment in how you look at a problem can lead to a completely different outcome.
This is Part 3 in our series of posts sharing several of our tried and true methods for helping teams frame problems. Read Part 1 and Part 2.
What Does It Mean to Re-Map Your Users' Journey?
Re-mapping your users' journey means revisiting and updating your existing journey maps, service blueprints, and process maps to reflect how your users' needs and behaviours have actually changed over time, rather than assuming the original map still holds true.
It is one of the most effective ways to uncover real problems worth solving, and to stop your team from building solutions to problems that no longer exist or never existed in the first place.
Why Do Product Teams Get Stuck Solving the Wrong Problems?
Most teams fall into one of two traps. They either believe "if it isn't broken, don't fix it," or they are too busy shipping new features to fix the known problems sitting right in front of them.
The result? Core functionality rarely improves. The product experience quietly calcifies while user needs quietly shift.
If your team is stuck trying to uncover ways to refresh your product experience, it may be time to revisit how your original problems have changed over time.
How Does Updating Your Journey Map Lead to Better Solutions?
Start with what users actually experience today
Think of a digital app or product you use every day. Email, a calendar, something like that. Now think of the last time that app introduced a change to the interface or experience that fundamentally affected how you use it.
If you can remember the change, it was probably uncomfortable or frustrating. It forced you to learn something new or recalibrate where to find certain functionality or content.
That friction is a signal. It tells you the team changed something without fully understanding how the user had already adapted to the existing experience.
Notice the changes users don't notice
We don't notice changes to our everyday experiences when they are so small and incremental they don't register on our radar. When done well, a change to a product or service mimics this incremental approach by anticipating how to make our lives better and easier almost without us noticing.
That is the goal. And getting there requires understanding where users actually are today, not where you assumed they would be when you built the original map.
How Should You Re-Map the User Journey?
Explore the actions, thoughts, and emotions that internal and external users experience around your product or service today, and compare that to how you understood them in the past. Update your vision of what a typical day looks like for them.
Ask yourself:
- What do your most loyal and frequent users need right now?
- How have they devised their own shortcuts to get through a repetitive process faster?
- How would they feel if you introduced something that changed or removed that shortcut?
It is important to explore not only the user journey from Point A to Point B through a specific task, but also how that task experience has changed through repetition. There may be things in that process they do not want changed. Just because you think it is a good solution to a problem does not mean your users want to go through the frustration of changing their habits to fit your new feature.
What Are the Benefits of Refreshing Your Mental Model of the User Journey?
Investing time to align on a refreshed mental model of the user journey leads to better solutions for your most loyal users. It also leads to solutions that are more inclusive for all users.
When you understand how established users have evolved, you are better positioned to anticipate how the needs of new users will evolve over time. You are building for where people are going, not just where they started.
FAQ
What is problem framing in UX? Problem framing in UX is the process of clearly defining and understanding a problem before attempting to solve it. How you frame a problem directly shapes the solutions your team will generate. A slightly reframed problem can lead to a completely different, and often better, outcome.
Why should I update my user journey maps regularly? User needs and behaviours change over time. An outdated journey map reflects assumptions that may no longer be true. Regularly updating your maps helps your team spot real gaps in the experience and avoid building solutions to problems that have already changed or disappeared.
How do user shortcuts affect product design decisions? Frequent users often develop their own shortcuts to move through repetitive processes faster. These informal adaptations are a sign the existing design has room to improve, but they are also habits your users rely on. Disrupting them without understanding them first is a common source of user frustration.
What is the difference between a journey map and a service blueprint? A journey map focuses on the user's experience, actions, thoughts, and emotions as they move through a process. A service blueprint goes deeper, mapping the behind-the-scenes processes, systems, and people that support that experience. Both are useful tools for problem framing.
How do I know when it's time to re-map my users' journey? If your team is stuck, shipping features that don't land well, or struggling to identify meaningful improvements to the core experience, it is a good sign your original understanding of the user journey has drifted from reality. That gap is where re-mapping adds the most value.
If you and your team are looking for ways to refine your user experience, we can help. Let's talk about how to update your user journeys and build solutions that will evolve with user needs over time.
Get Educated