EuPMA - European Product Management Association
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European
Product
Management
Association
Product Management Action Card
Create the User Journey
We drive the future of Product Management in Europe
WHY
Customer needs and expectations change throughout the interaction with a product, service or solution.
Looking only at individual touchpoints can hide important relationships between what happens before, during and after use.
A User Journey helps the team understand the experience from the user’s perspective, identify the most relevant moments and create a shared structure for further analysis of needs, pain points, Jobs-to-be-Done and opportunities.
WHAT
A User Journey is a structured representation of the main phases a user goes through while trying to achieve an objective.
Depending on the context, each phase may include:
- user goals and expected outcomes
- activities and behaviours
- needs and expectations
- pain points and difficulties
- emotions
- touchpoints and interactions
- relevant contextual factors
- available evidence or customer insights
The journey should describe the user experience, not the internal company process.
It does not need to capture every possible interaction. Its purpose is to identify the phases and moments that are most relevant for understanding the user and defining the product.
HOW
- Define the user and the journey scope
Identify the customer or user role and clarify the objective or experience that the journey should represent. - Define the start and end points
Establish where the journey begins and where it ends. Avoid making the scope unnecessarily broad. - Identify the main phases
Describe the journey using a limited number of meaningful phases based, whenever possible, on customer research and observed behaviour. - Describe what happens in each phase
Capture the user’s goals, activities, expectations, difficulties, emotions and relevant interactions. - Connect the journey to evidence
Link observations to interviews, usage data, customer feedback, customer insights or other available sources. - Identify critical moments
Highlight phases where important needs, frustrations, decisions or opportunities emerge. - Use the journey as a framework for deeper analysis
Select relevant phases to identify Jobs-to-be-Done, customer needs, desired experiences and product opportunities.
The User Journey should remain a living representation and be refined as new customer evidence becomes available.
Need support applying this Action Card?
Talk to EuPMA.
Read the quick guide.
Download the: “Observe the customers” Action Card.