Well, Let’s start by understanding what a User Journey is. A User Journey is a series of steps that a user takes to achieve a specific goal within a product. The journey can vary based on the type of user. For instance, a user with an Admin role would use the product differently than a user working on the ground, who would have a different journey and use.
Why is a User Journey so important for a Product?
It is crucial to understand how users are expected to use the product, identify any gaps, streamline the journey, and provide users with a positive and engaging experience. Ultimately, all of these factors contribute to the success or failure of the product, which in turn affects revenue.
Have you ever wondered if there’s a perfect time to start improving user journeys? The truth is, there’s no such thing! Don’t wait for the right moment to better the journey- it’s never too late to start!
Are there indicators that ring the bells – Oh Yes, your support ticket inflow, Adoption metrics, and Customer feedback? You can take practical steps to ensure a positive and successful outcome for your product.
Now that we understand a bit about what the user journey is and why it is critical, let’s dive into the topic of discussion.
How do we improve a User Journey?
Here is a 5-step process that can be followed:
Step1: Set your Scope & Objective for Improvement
The first and foremost step is to define the need and scope of improvement and what it means to do so. This will set the direction for the entire exercise. Some of the typical improvement objectives could be:
– Reduce the clicks
– Improve the overall experience
– Improve engagement- Reduce time taken to complete the process
– Conversion
– Make it a guided journey
Step 2: Pick a User persona
You can’t modify the User Journey for every User at a time, because we studied above that every User has a unique way of using the Product. So picking the User persona having the major pain points becomes crucial. Create a visual user journey mapping for the As-Is journey for that persona.
At the end of this step, it is a good idea to summarize the problem statement. Here is a templatized Statement to plugin your pieces.
We are trying to achieve [Business Objective] by solving the [pain point] for [Persona]
Step 3: Prepare the yardstick for Comparison
Improvement can be measured when compared to something that is already existing. Based on the objective and persona identified above, define your target metrics and baseline the As-I’s performance.
Step 4: Solutioning
Here comes the crux of the exercise. Now, break the problem into smaller steps.
- Apply first principles thinking in alignment with the objectives and see if we can achieve the goal in a much easier way.
- What is first-principles thinking? Questioning the assumptions we have and restructuring the solution from scratch. This type of thinking helps you eliminate all the assumptions and biases that lie in the existing solution.
- You can compare your journey with the category leaders in this space. Eg: Let’s say you are looking to improve the Email setup journey within your product, then look at leading products in this space like Mailchimp, Hubspot, etc.
- At the end of this step, you should typically have 2-3 solution options. Discuss and finalize one.
- Finally, prepare the To-be User Journey mapping, and run multiple iterations until you reach a reasonably simplified state.
Step 5: Visualize the To-Be User Journey
A/B test your To-be journey with a set of Customers (aligned with persona) and populate the numbers against the target metrics identified above. Compare against your baselined values and see the delta.
There are quite a few tools in the market that can help visualize your User Journey. Example: Miro, LucidCharts, Visual Paradigm etc.
Trade-Offs
The entire exercise doesn’t consider the technical constraints while arriving at the To-Be journey. However, it is important to keep a tab on the technical feasibility before we end up with technical bottlenecks.
All of this is a continuous process. As the product evolves, we need to repeat these exercises to ensure we deliver an outstanding user experience and hook your users.