Word: User Journey Map

Definition: A map or diagram that illustrates the story of how a user experiences and interacts with a product or company. The story can be a small portion of the experience or an all-encompassing overview in order to provide insights into the user's thoughts, feelings, and motivations.

Thought: User journeys are helpful to many people within a company, but the key takeaways for UX practitioners include uncovering pain points, understanding the user's unique perspective, and providing insight into user's decision making.

There is no formula for a user journey map. They can take any format you like, so long as it is simple and readable. This could be a timeline, an infographic, or a storyboard - just to name a few.

Word of warning, user journeys should be created from research and gathered information from users. This is not a free-form art class. No one is interested in your thoughts or feelings here.

Below is an example of one that I did a while back for reference. Don't judge it too harshly.

Question: Are we at a point yet where this tool is universally accepted by teams outside of design or, are UXers still barring the heavy-lift in selling the importance of these documents to stakeholders?