How to make a system of journey maps work? / Romina Maidel / Circle #16

Let's build a *system* of journey maps! Hold on there... do you know what you're getting yourself into?

Journey maps are great. They help you align people, processes, and resources around your customers' needs. This leads to a more efficient organization, happier employees, and less frustrated customers.

But as you might have experienced, journey maps also tend to spiral out of control pretty quickly. You start with a simple map that is adequate to get the job done. Then you slowly but surely start adding more data to the map. Your map, which was once a marvel of simplicity, now all of a sudden looks more like the manual of a nuclear power plant.

So the time has come to break your giant journey map into smaller, more manageable pieces. It's time to move from a single journey map to a system of journey maps. The moment this thought goes through your mind, you've opened pandora's box.

Many new questions arise...
* Which parts of the system do you need to standardize?
* Who will have the responsibility for keeping the smaller maps updated?
* What is the right tool for the job?

The last thing you want is to invest a lot of time and money in setting up a tool, structure, and process that, in the end, no one ends up using. Not good for the company and not great for your career either.

In our Circle community for in-house service design professionals, many members are currently in the midst of this transition. That's why we decided to address this topic in a recent session and share the most important do's and don'ts with each other. In this episode, you're going to the highlights from that session and learn what it takes to go from a single journey map to a system of maps.

It's clear to me that journey map, mapping, management, and ops is gearing up for the next evolution wave. So expect more content on these topics in the months ahead.

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to the Show
03:15 Who is Romina
04:30 How did we get here
06:45 Journeys are stories
11:00 What is the system
14:30 Google Maps analogy
16:45 Circle announcement
18:00 The ideal system of maps
22:30 Where does it break down
24:45 How do you prioritize
27:00 From small to medium
28:30 Shared incentives
31:00 How important is the tool
34:30 Ownership
40:00 Bottom-up vs. top down
43:45 What is our role
47:00 Common pitfalls
51:30 Biggest question
53:00 Key takeaway
55:00 Closing thoughts

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/romina-maidel-053a607a/

--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

If you'd like to be part of these conversations as they happen rather than just getting the summary on the podcast, consider joining us in the Circle.

www.servicedesignshow.com/circle/