Customer Journey

Every design decision begins with the user's needs, motivations, and questions — not with the company's internal organizational structure.

Scope

Use this skill when you:

• Create or validate personas for a web project
• Visualize a customer journey map
• Identify and prioritize touchpoints
• Design onboarding sequences
• Assign content to a journey phase
• Plan post-purchase customer retention measures

Principles

1. Customer Perspective Before Company Perspective

Every design decision begins with the user, not with the internal structure.

2. Touchpoints Are Experience Moments

Every point of contact generates emotions and influences the purchase decision. No touchpoint should be left to chance.

3. The Journey Is Not Linear

Users jump between phases, skip steps, and return. Designs must account for this non-linearity.

4. Data Before Assumptions

Personas and journey maps are based on research (analytics, interviews, surveys) — not on gut feeling.

5. The Journey Does Not End at Purchase

Customer retention, referral, and win-back are integral components.

6. One Goal per Touchpoint

Each point of contact pursues exactly one primary call to action.

Rules

DO: Create Data-Driven Personas

• COMBINE web analytics, CRM data, support inquiries, and user interviews.
• DEFINE per persona: demographic key data, goals, pain points, preferred channels, decision criteria.
• VALIDATE personas regularly against real user data and update at least annually.

DO: Explicitly Map the 5+1 Phases

1. Awareness — The user recognizes a need or problem.
2. Interest — They actively search for information and solutions.
3. Evaluation — They compare options, read reviews, consult their network.
4. Purchase Decision — They select an offer and complete the transaction.
5. Customer Experience — They use the product and form an opinion.
6. Retention — The company builds a long-term relationship.

DO: Categorize Touchpoints Using EPOMS

• Earned: Reviews, referrals, press coverage.
• Paid: Ads, sponsored posts, banner advertising.
• Owned: Website, blog, newsletter, physical store.
• Managed: Social media channels, app store presence.
• Shared: Forum posts, shared social media content.

DO: Use Emotional Journey Mapping

• CAPTURE the user's emotional state at each touchpoint.
• FLAG critical points where negative emotions lead to abandonment.
• DEFINE measures to transform negative emotions into positive ones.

DO: Fully Leverage Internal Data Sources

• Web analytics (user flow, bounce rates, conversion paths)
• Social media monitoring (sentiment, questions, complaints)
• Email marketing analytics (open rates, click-through rates)
• Support inquiries and complaints
• Sales statistics
• Feedback from marketing, sales, and service teams

DON'T: Invent Personas Based on Assumptions

• NEVER create personas without a data foundation. Fictional personas lead to design decisions that miss reality.

DON'T: View Touchpoints in Isolation

• A touchpoint is always part of the overall journey. Never optimize a contact point without examining the impact on upstream and downstream points.

DON'T: Treat B2B and B2C as Identical

• B2B journeys have longer decision cycles, more decision-makers, and more heavily rational criteria. Use separate journey maps.

DON'T: Create the Journey Only Once

• Validate the map at least semi-annually against current analytics data and customer feedback.

Patterns

Customer Journey Map (Visualization)

At project kickoff and before every relaunch. Horizontal axis = phases, vertical axis = touchpoints, emotions, channels, pain points, opportunities. Result: Visual artifact for shared understanding. See references/journey-map-template.md for details.

Onboarding Sequence

After purchase decision or registration: 1. Welcome message with a clear next step, 2. Step-by-step introduction (max. 3 steps), 3. First success within 60 seconds, 4. Follow-up after 24 hours and 7 days.

Micro-Conversion Chain

When the primary conversion is too far from first contact: Define 3–5 intermediate goals (newsletter, whitepaper, webinar) that progressively guide the user closer to the primary conversion.

Re-Engagement Loop

For inactive existing customers: Trigger-based communication (e.g., 30 days of inactivity), personalized offer, easy re-entry, feedback request.

Persona Validation Loop

When personas are based on assumptions or are older than 6 months: 1. Translate hypotheses into an interview guide, 2. Conduct 5–8 interviews, 3. Cross-reference with analytics, 4. Update or discard the persona.

Touchpoint Audit

Before a relaunch or when conversions are declining: 1. Capture all touchpoints in a matrix, 2. Walk through and evaluate from the user's perspective, 3. Identify gaps, 4. Prioritize the top 3 optimizations.

Anti-Patterns

The Company Org-Chart Website

The website structure mirrors the departmental structure instead of the customer journey. Users must understand the company's internal logic. Solution: Structure along user needs and journey phases.

Touchpoint Overkill

Too many contact points at once, without priorities. Inconsistent brand experience. Solution: Better to have 5 excellent than 20 mediocre touchpoints.

The Forgotten Post-Purchase Phase

All energy flows into acquisition; the customer experience after purchase is neglected. Solution: Allocate at least 30% of journey design effort to phases 5 and 6.

Copy-Paste Personas

Generic personas from templates without project-specific data. Solution: Every persona needs at least 3 project-specific data points.

Checklist

• At least 2 data-driven personas defined
• All 5+1 journey phases documented
• Touchpoints categorized using EPOMS
• Emotional states captured per phase
• Pain points and opportunities identified per touchpoint
• Clear call to action defined per touchpoint
• Onboarding sequence designed for new customers
• Customer retention measures planned for post-purchase phase
• Journey map created as a visual artifact
• KPIs defined per phase
• Journey validated against real analytics data

Cross-References

• design-process — The customer journey informs the briefing and concept phase
• landing-pages — Landing pages are central touchpoints in the journey
• website-audit — Journey analysis is a core component of every relaunch audit
• ux-design — UX design as the framework for user-centered journey design
• ai-design-workflow — AI can accelerate persona development and touchpoint analysis