Let’s have a look on your product via the eyes of your customer. The customer journey. A method to help you to get a clearer view on processes and products. Identify touch points, situations, feelings or usability of your product.
Where can you use it?
In principal at all stages of your project or design. Everywhere when you need to know what a customer would think or do. Via this method you will design a flow of touch points and stages where the customer will use or interact with your product. This can be used for products, processes, websites or software. Define the journey from the first touch until the final result when using it.
How to do it?
First you need to think about the customer. Create the persona and think about there backgrounds. Determine the type. Also explain why you choose this kind of customer.
Next will be the customer journey. You need to stink about the general stages of the journey. For example, if you want to optimize a selling process begin with the first research and finding your product. How will the customer get in contact with your product? Impressions? Thoughts? Look and feel? What are the next steps in the process? If the customer wants to buy your product what needs to be done?
In your customer journey you will follow each step in the process and will describe how your customer will interact with the process. Create a flow chart with all steps. Each site, click, required information, interaction. If your customer will send an order, will he receive a confirmation? What if there are questions….. Completing the process, what will happen next. Always through the eyes of your customer.
Identifying weak points and unclear steps in processes will be the target in your customer journey. This method can be very helpful to identify these. You can use it at all stages of your project wherever you want to check processes and workflows. It will also help you to get some insights in the process. Over all thinking.
Sometimes it is necessary to leave your position and look on your work via different eyes. Take the customers position – take the journey.
