16 UX mapping techniques to improve your Product development process
Different mapping options to integrate into the product development cycle
UX can be a very complex process to follow. There are lots principles to consider, a lot of research to be done, a lot of stakeholders to involve, a lot of information to find and share — essentially there are a lot of factors when you are building out the product. One such way to simplify this is through collaboration or developing one of the maps that are available in the field of UX. In this article I will explore 16 different types, from the common user journey map to minds models maps. The mapping techniques I talk about are listed below:
- Affinity maps
- Assumption maps
- Cognitive map (see concept map and mind map)
- Concept map
- Conversation map
- Ecosystem map
- Empathy map
- Experience map (see user journey map)
- Mental model map
- Mind map
- Process map
- Roadmaps
- Site map
- (User) Story map
- Service map (blueprint)
- Scenario map
- Topic map
- User journey map
For each map, I will discuss what they are, when to use them and how to create them. It is worth noting I have not used all these mapping techniques yet, but I have bookmarked them for when the right time comes.
Affinity maps
(reference source User Testing)
What is it?
A way to be able to quickly synthesis individual bits of information from research into key themes or topics. The themes and topics can then be grouped and themed into higher level ones if required.
eg the first themes from the research are browsing, delivery info, and payment a higher level theme could then create checkout (from payment and delivery info)
When to use it:
Primarily used after a qualitative research such as usability testing or discovery research, it can also be used when there is a lot of data information that needs analysing and forming into themes. It is also the first step prior to doing the user journey map (it is the unsequential data)
How to make one
- Write an 1 observation, comment or quote from the user research on a sticky note and keep doing that for the duration of the research so that you have a collection of sticky notes all with individual notes (the notes can be colour coded based on whether it is an observation, comment or quote). These can also be tagged with which participant in case you wanted to refer to it again by tagging it P1, P2 etc
- Arrange the sticky notes into common themes and give the grouped notes a label/heading so you know what topic is covers
- You can break the arranged sticky notes into slightly lower level themes if required, or conversely, create higher level heading from the themes that have been formed if required.
Assumption maps
What is it?
It is a visual tool that helps identify and track assumptions made about a project or product development process. It is used to explore uncertainties and assumptions related to the project and to encourage a more proactive approach to testing and validation. Fundamentally it is a way to be able to record all the assumptions that you have about a product that you are building in an organised and structured format.
When to use it:
Normally used as part of a kick off meeting to help highlight what all the assumptions stakeholders have. This helps guide the UX Researcher into understanding what assumptions either need validating or disproving based on them being considered an important unkown factor about the product.
How to make one
(Example in Aneta Kmieciks Miro board)
- All stakeholders individually list what assumptions they have which can be about the customer, business or technology
- Places the assumptions into the assumption map (with an asix for known/unknown and important/unimportant
- Vote on which assumptions are the most important or relevant that need exploring
- Take the priority ones that have been voted on
Concept maps
What is it?
A type of cognitive map, a concept map is a way to explore the relations between different concepts of your product based on a hierarchy and a main topic at the top. It is a visual way to organise your thoughts and make connections between the ideas.
When to use it:
It is a great way format for idea generation as the picture slowly builds out in a visualise way for the team to understand and interact with. It is primarily used when reviewing the structure or IA of the experience however it can be used to include how content of features are implemented in the journey
How to make one
(example creating a concept map about the solar system based on this video):
- List the main topic at the top (solar system)
- Introduce a focus question if necessary (what is in the solar system)
- List out any concepts connected to the main topic (eg sun, moons, stars)
- Organise these concepts hierarchically eg stars at the top with sun underneath
- Connect the concepts with an arrow and a verb explaining how they are connected eg Solar system >includes> stars regardless of hierarchy
Conversation map
What is it?
(reference source AVO agency)
A list of customer questions, objections, or concerns at each phase of their user journey followed by a list of helpful responses or solutions to each of those statements. As the name suggests, it is done in a conversational method. Essentially what question would they ask and what would you answer back to them
For example I don’t know if this company is reliable > we have been around for 100 years
When to use it:
When ideating on identified user problems and trying to come up with the solutions that can alleviate it. It can be used after the initial discovery research or usability testing and once problems have been found. It can be used in the ‘How might we’ process.
How to make one
- Conduct discovery research or usability research to determine user question, statements or objections
- Determine which ones are the most important to the user journey (eg how many users this will affect) and come up with responses to them as if you were having a conversation with them
Ecosystem maps
What is it?
A method that can be used during discovery research that looks to hone in on problems faced by a user (who is listed in the centre). It then expands out with other people, products or services that the user may interact with in the course of the experience you know know what the central users dependancies are, and who could be impacted.
When to use it:
When you are focused on a new service or improving an existing one so that you can reveal the major players and the complexities of the experience by visually detailing all the involving parts. As the name suggests, it shows the whole ecosystem they belong to with all the different moving cogs
How to make one
(as detailed by Macdamian and interaction design)
- Draw the main/central person (usually a user) in the ecosystem.
- Draw the people and/or institutions for whom they have a central connection
- Draw the tools people use (cell phones, computers, smart speakers, connected devices)
- Place the most important actors/roles and tools close by
Empathy maps
What is it?
An empathy map is a summary of a users experience of a produce in a non sequential map. It centralises what a user has said, thought, done and felt. In newer templates it will also includes the users pains paints and their gains (what they were hoping to achieve). It is a detailed summary of a user without the human element of what a persona can offer.
When to use it:
When building the profile of your user and their interaction with your product and, as the name suggests, when you want to build empathy with your user. It will also feed into a value proposition canvas
How to make one:
- Determine the persona
- Conduct qual research
- Make notes and plot them in the different quadrants
- Synthesis the data
Mental model maps
(Source: Deliverable UX and interaction design foundation)
What is it?
A method to get an understanding of what users think or do during set phases with a journey process. It is a way of unlocking users natural thought process when they need to complete a set task within the journey.
For example the journey could be to get to work and this has stages such as getting dressed, eat, travel etc. Within those stages they have their own ideas of what this is made up of
When to use it:
When you are trying to understand what users would expect at various points within the product journey. Does a particular feature, function or step make sense to the user or does it create added friction and therefore prove detrimental.
How to make one
- Define the phase of a journey that a users will go through when interacting through a product. This can be through discovery research or a team exercise
- Speak to users about what they would expect to happen in each phase of the journey to understand what belongs where according to them. This can be done through different techniques including card sorting.
Mind maps
What is it?
A type of cognitive map to try and understand users mental model. They help organise information based on a single central topic or idea which then has related sub topics branching of it in a tree structure format. It is very granular focusing on a single element and the connecting factors to it, however unlike a concept map it does not connect all the different topics making it less complex and detail.
When to use it:
It is a great way for idea generation as the picture slowly builds out in a visualise way for the team to understand and interact with. It is primarily used when reviewing the structure or IA of the experience but can also be used to explore or brainstorm specific topics. It helps to generate ideas
How to make one:
- Have one core topic to focus on
- Branch of ideas or sub topics that are related to it
- Continue to do this until you have included all your connected ideas
Process Maps
What is it?
(example provided by Shopify here)
A process used to get insights (from the user) on how they will actually be interacting with a digital platform. It is used when trying to determine the steps a user goes through when trying to complete a process. This is similar to user story mapping, except it is is done by the user and will not necessarily have the 3 levels used there such as details
When to use it:
When trying to work out the users mental model when they go about completing a task. It can be used not only to understand their thoughts toward this but also for understanding which steps they find most challenging. This should be used, therefore, during usability testing.
How to make one
- Define the task you would want the user to complete
- (Get the user to) write down the steps they take to complete the process
- (Get the user to) rank the steps based on any key metrics (popular ones being difficulty and necessity). This could also be done via a P.U.R.E evaluation
Roadmaps
What is it?
A way of plotting out the long term vision and strategy of your team based on what your team aims to achieve within set timelines (normally monthly or quarterly). It helps provide teams with a shared focus and vision
When to use it:
Normally used when starting out or during the product development process so all stakeholders are aware of what is being worked on, what support is required of them and when.
How to make one:
- Determine your timeframe that you want to achieve set goals by eg short term (weekly), medium term (monthly), long term (quarterly)
- Meet with all stakeholders to discuss priorities and plot out the goals/sub goals along with the tasks/subs tasks that will help achieve them within the desired timeframe (this can be broken down based on the stakeholder or task)
- Include additional details if required
Scenario map
What is it?
A ideation exercise to help your team think about how user will approach a task and what experience you want to provide them.
When to use it:
Fairly early in a project to help define user flows features and UI design. It helps make sure that our solutions are grounded in the real world. Ideally it map out what the user would ideally do, but can also ouline what currently happens
How to make one
(example from NNgroup and UX for the masses)
- Outline the key task your product will be built to support
- Write a scenario that includes: persona, motivator, intent, action and resolution (focus on what happens not how it happens)
- Break the scenario down into 4–6 steps
- Breakdown the steps into 3 categories (ideas/suggestions, questions that arise that you want to resolve, and comments)
Service map (blueprint)
What is it?
A way to align how both front stage and back stage stakeholders are involved in the user journey. At what touch points is a service required from the business, by who and how is this done.
When to use it:
It can be done as follow up to the development of a user journey map and when you are trying to get an understanding of the bigger picture and the wider involvement of all stakeholders. When the business needs an understanding of the resource that is required and what stakeholders are involved and when. This can then be used to also look at the stakeholders needs, goals and painpoints of supporting the user complete their goal
How to make one
- Create user journey map (see below)
- Once you have detail the evidence the user will see that demonstrates their action/step is happening or has happened
- In the same user action/step list the stakeholders that are involved in that point of the user journey and detail whether the stakeholder is one they will see/interact with directly or if a stakeholder is not visible to them
- Do the same for software that supports the user
Site maps
What is it?
Very similar to a concept map, but focused purely on the IA of an experience, a site map looks at defining the hierarchy of your website. It has the different ‘levels’ or stages a user will go through starting from, in most cases, the home page and slowly funnelling down to the different routes a user can take and how they connect.
When to use it:
When you want to review the hierarchy of your website and determine the paths user can take. It is a way to review the funnels and the different options users face as well as working out how different sections of the site may be connected to user journeys.
How to make one:
(As detailed in Gliffy)
- List all content ideas for your website you (you can prioritse these and choose which to remove as youre going through the process). When doing this consider the goals of your website
- Group the content ideas into similar themes of categories and sub categories
- Using the groups you started to pull together in step 1, identify the primary categories and organize the content under them
(User) Story maps
What is it?
A detail of the (micro) steps and (micro) interactions taken from the perspective of a user in order to get it done. It is used for a high level input for epics, user stories or tasks. They help determine how features are completed. The story maps break down the solutions to the user problems that have been identified in the user journey map.
When to use it:
A story map can be used at various points during the product development process — whether its plotting out a new product, after an initial piece of discovery work or when looking at an existing product.
How to make one
(example of a user story map here)
- Decide the high level activities — the core tasks they aim to complete
- Steps: these sit directly underneath the related activities in the order the steps are taken to complete the task
- Details: The more granular actions to complete the steps (eg step would be login, the detail would be input email and input password)
- Deferred details/activities or steps are put at the bottom to prioritise at a future chance
Topic map
(Reference Elaine Lim’s article and Leow Hou Teng’s article)
What is it?
This was actually a method I came across from fellow Medium writers (links above — I would definitely recommend reading both to get a better understanding). A topic map is essentially a way to help make sure you have constant visibility of what topics you want to cover off in a user interview, along with the sub topics that feed into it. The format is very similar to a mind map.
When to use it:
When conducting user interviews (whether formative or summative) and can be use as well as or instead of a discussion guide depending on suitability.
How to make one
- Review your assumptions
- Ideate for questions to validate assumptions
- Group questions into topics with an affinity map
- Draw a topic map
User journey map
What is it?
A sequential map which outlines the process/steps a user goes through when trying to achieve their goal. It details their steps, emotions, goals and pains points at the various stages along quotes and notable actions. It is a more detailed version of an experience map and as such I have left experience maps out.
When to use it:
When you want to understand the end to end journey of your user. How they achieve their main goal by breaking it down into small goals and tasks so you can remove any friction or pain points.
How to make one:
- Identify your user group
- Conduct discovery research
- Write up the notes
- Synthesis the information through affinity mapping
- Plot the notes in order they happened in the user journey while labelling the stages and listing the goals etc
Found this a useful read? Check out some of my other articles below:
THE PERSON BEHIND THE WORDS
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