UX mapping

Q: What are the main types of maps in UX?

Any output that serves to illustrate how a system works, highlight interactions between subsystems, describe a particular process, or detail certain aspects of a larger whole falls within the family of maps.

Q: Examples of mapping in a UX project?

The list is long given the broad definition we offer. We can mention those we handle most often with our clients: ecosystem mapping, stakeholder maps, all forms of user journeys, empathy maps, all forms of organisational modelling (service blueprint, decision tree, flowchart).

Q: Is a map a UX deliverable?

Not necessarily. If it's used in a skills-building phase, it can remain a tool for understanding. If you co-build it or share it with a project team and it makes sense for their stakes, then yes, the map can become a tool in its own right.

Q: What tools are used for UX mapping?

As with most formalisms, there isn't really a single (or perfect) tool. We generally use the tools we know well. And ideally, the ones that let you create, manipulate and arrange elements of a kind suited to what you want to model.

Design deliverable

Map complex systems to evolve them more effectively

UX mapping consists of representing, in a visual format, the elements that are relevant to a subject of study, along with the links that exist between those elements.

The mapping technique is very widespread in UX. Depending on the issues encountered or the stages of the project, you'll turn to different mapping formats.

In an overall approach, mapping lets you highlight the main information in a concise way. It brings out relationships between actors or components of the whole ecosystem you're interested in.

What is it for?

identifying the actors of an ecosystem (ecosystem mapping)
grouping elements that are linked (affinity mapping)
positioning opportunities against the stages of the journey (opportunity mapping)
simplifying reality so you can work on evolving it
breaking down the levers to act on (e.g. human, digital, tangible, infrastructure-related or at the organisational level)

What's the need?

at the start of a project, to lay out a project's stakeholders
during a desk study, to record the links and relationships
in co-design workshops, to align participants on a shared representation
when analysing usage data, to group knowledge on the same theme
before a debrief, to synthesise the insights of a study in a more impactful format
to surface recommendations on an existing representation (journey, experience map, blueprint)
to represent the current state of a system or the projection of a future state of it

The message

A map serves to communicate a key idea to your audience. It's therefore essential to define the message you want to get across. The trap in this kind of exercise is wanting to represent too much information on a single support. It can be worthwhile to consider several levels of reading by complementing a comprehensive report with a concise view of the results. If that summary is visual, all the better.

The data

The type of data collected and the results obtained will also shape the choice of map. If it's an idea linked to user behaviours, you can for instance offer a scale to represent the principle of a gradient. For data linked to movement flows, an overlay on a plan of the location will be very telling. For recommendations linked to a complex process, you can offer an overlay on the steps materialised with post-its, and so on.

The audience

Adapting the level of detail to your audience's expectations is very useful. A successful mapping exercise will therefore aim to adapt the message and the medium to the audience. For complex maps (like experience maps), you'll make sure to offer different entry points to make quick reading easier depending on the reader's interests.

What are the main types of maps in UX?

Examples of mapping in a UX project?

Is a map a UX deliverable?

What tools are used for UX mapping?

Related methods

Experience map

The experience map focuses on the visible part of the experience. It represents a user's overall experience with a service or product: before, during and after.

Service blueprint

The service blueprint represents the back-office side of the experience. It describes the organisation of the touchpoints the user crosses to use a given service.

Persona

Personas come out of work on user-profile modelling. They highlight behavioural archetypes that prove useful when designing.

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