A simple guide to User Mapping

We recently covered how to map out your idea, before we create a scope and move on to the actual build you will need to define and map out how our users will interact with the platform. 

Mapping your customers (or users!) 

The type of people using your product is what will determine its functionality. For example, if you have a marketplace like Ebay/ Etsy then both buyer and seller need to be present for it work; however, with an everyday fitness tracker only one user needs their service provided by this platform?  In each case you need to determine who is this person and why are they going to be use your platform.

The best way to determine if your ideas fit to the real world with actual ‘users’ or ‘customers’, is to reach out and ask them!

There will always be improvements, but you’ll get a great feeling for how viable your business idea is. 

Step 1: Categorize and describe each type of user on the platform (buyer, seller etc.)

Step 2: Write down 10 people or businesses who spring to mind that you think your product is the perfect fit for.

Step 3: Send them an email and ask if they will test your product and answer a few questions, perhaps offering an incentive for helping you out e.g. a gift voucher

Step 3: Prepare some questions that you want them to answer in an interview. E.g How did this product help you? What was great? What could be better? Would you buy this product? 

Step 4: Take the feedback, liaise with your software developer and improve your product.

Step 5: Utilize the information within your user journeys.

Mapping a User Journey 

Official definition: A person's experience during one session of using a website or application, consisting of the series of actions performed to achieve a particular goal. 

Why bother? 

A mapped user journey is a great way to remind yourself of the core concepts in your platform or app. It helps you understand how and why people use it better than ever before, which can be crucial when making changes for improvement's sake! To gain clarity and understand the user journey we map every step out in a flow chart or mind map. You can map your own user journeys using an online tool like Miro or a desktop app like Adobe illustrator or draw.io, or if you’re stuck, give us a shout!  

How would I map a journey without you? 

Just as a picture speaks a thousand words, a mapped user journey helps to simply explain the core concepts of your platform/app not only to others but yourself- it's a step-by-step map of how your user will interact with the platform and really should be idiot proof- if someone not involved in the business looked at it, would they understand what’s going on? 

To do this break down each user action and interaction into a step, listing any pages/ screens they will land on, starting with the main journey, before going deeper into complex logic and side journeys. Here’s a simple journey for a customer placing order: 

As you can imagine there will not be one journey alone for your product- there will be third party services and ancillary journeys that the platform will interact with, as well as various journeys for various actions. Lots of deep thinking and time will be put into the stage of the products growth, but it’s worth it. If you do get stuck, please reach out- we can help at any stage.