{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
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    "title" : "Journey Mapping the Customer Experience: A USA.gov Case Study |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Journey Mapping the Customer Experience: A USA.gov Case Study",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/08/12/journey-mapping-the-customer-experience-a-usa-gov-case-study/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"Journey Mapping the Customer Experience: A USA.gov Case Study","summary" : "Journey maps are a visual representation of a customer’s end to end journey with your product or service. They are a powerful tool for exploring key interactions and experiences with your organization, programs, and/or services. Journey maps describe a customer’s entire journey, even the parts that occur before and after contact with your organization. They","date" : "2015-08-12T10:00:21-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"mary-ann-monroe" : "Mary Ann Monroe","michelle-chronister" : "Michelle Chronister"},"topics" : {
        
            "analytics" : "Analytics",
            "contact-centers" : "Contact centers",
            "customer-experience" : "Customer experience",
            "research" : "Research",
            "user-experience" : "User experience"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2015-08-12-journey-mapping-the-customer-experience-a-usa-gov-case-study.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2015/08/2015-08-12-journey-mapping-the-customer-experience-a-usa-gov-case-study.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2015/08/2015-08-12-journey-mapping-the-customer-experience-a-usa-gov-case-study.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2015/08/2015-08-12-journey-mapping-the-customer-experience-a-usa-gov-case-study.md","slug" : "journey-mapping-the-customer-experience-a-usa-gov-case-study","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/08/12/journey-mapping-the-customer-experience-a-usa-gov-case-study/","content" :"\u003cp\u003eJourney maps are a visual representation of a customer’s end to end journey with your product or service. They are a powerful tool for exploring key interactions and experiences with your organization, programs, and/or services.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJourney maps describe a customer’s entire journey, even the parts that occur before and after contact with your organization. They typically contain elements such as the customer’s attitudes, emotions, and needs.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe recently \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/04/06/using-personas-to-better-understand-customers-usa-gov-case-study/\"\u003eupdated USA.gov’s personas\u003c/a\u003e and used them as the backbone for our journey maps. We updated our personas to help inform our Web design, content, and contact center services.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe have a lot of data that we regularly analyze, and it tells us a lot about our customers’ journeys within a channel, but we knew we needed to better understand our customers’ journeys across channels. This is a best practice to better understand what a customer experiences, where there are disconnects in information, and where improvements can be made to your website, contact center \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/04/30/digitalgovs-inaugural-podcast-how-ivr-supports-contact-centers/\"\u003einteractive voice response\u003c/a\u003e recordings, or service delivery on any channel.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"preparation-is-key\"\u003ePreparation is Key\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe used information in the \u003ca href=\"http://designingcx.com/cx-journey-mapping-toolkit/\"\u003eCX Journey Mapping Toolkit\u003c/a\u003e to plan the sessions and our approach. We invited subject matter experts, managers, and other stakeholders to participate in the mapping sessions and designated facilitators to lead the sessions and keep us on track.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/04/600-x-337-USAgov-Personas-slide-4-Browse-info-Learn-more.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Slide 4, Browse information or learn more on a general topic\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the most important preparation activities is creating the behavior line. This is the path your customer takes and the journey you’re going to map.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of USA.gov’s personas, Linda, wants to browse information or learn more on a general topic. We selected “searching for financial assistance from the government” as the topic of Linda’s journey because it’s consistently one of the top reasons customers visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.usa.gov/\"\u003eUSA.gov\u003c/a\u003e or call \u003ca href=\"https://www.usa.gov/phone\"\u003e1-844-USA-GOV1\u003c/a\u003e, and it falls within the persona category.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo create Linda’s behavior line, we looked at:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUSA.gov Web analytics, including demographics, devices, common paths, popular pages, outbound links, and onsite searches\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWeb analytics specifically for our \u003ca href=\"https://www.usa.gov/benefits-grants-loans\"\u003eGovernment Benefits, Grants, and Loans\u003c/a\u003e content\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUSA.gov customer satisfaction survey data\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSearches on Google that led customers to USA.gov\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/topics/contact-centers/\"\u003eContact center\u003c/a\u003e content usage\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWeb analytics for other government websites available through the \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/guides/dap/\"\u003eDigital Analytics Program\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGeneral search trends on Google\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOnce the behavior line was created, we printed each step on one piece of paper. We taped the steps to the wall, with accompanying images, and the facilitators walked the participants through a series of exercises to explore the journey, which includes:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEmployees and systems the customer interacts with personally\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBehind-the-scenes employees and systems that support the direct interactions\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCustomer’s attitudes, emotions, and needs\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe highs and lows of the journey\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/07/600-x-400-Mapping-Michael.jpg\"\n    alt=\"600-x-400-Mapping-Michael\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eAfter adding multiple rounds of sticky notes and stickers to mark these different factors, we picked the greatest pain points in the journey and brainstormed ways to improve them.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"results\"\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe four journey mapping sessions generated a total of 110 ideas. Of those ideas, 58 were broad, and many were repeated in each session. Clear themes emerged around areas such as:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eContent\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePartnerships\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMarketing\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eResearch\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTechnology\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eContact center operations\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe journey mapping process and results helped us clearly see the pain points and gaps in the customer’s experience, including channel, content, and device gaps. It also helped to build empathy and increase understanding with our employees.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"next-steps-and-key-takeaways\"\u003eNext Steps and Key Takeaways\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile the process of journey mapping is enlightening, it doesn’t end with a map. Follow-up and planning for improvement are key. We’ve incorporated many outcomes from our journey maps into our \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/topics/customer-experience/\"\u003ecustomer experience\u003c/a\u003e (CX) improvement queue. We’ve prioritized several projects into our fourth quarter objectives and key results across our content, user experience, performance measurement, and contact center teams.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/07/1000-x-800-USAgov-Personas-and-Journey-Maps.jpg\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/07/600-x-480-USAgov-Personas-and-Journey-Maps.jpg\"\n    alt=\"600-x-480-USAgov-Personas-and-Journey-Maps\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome specific priorities in our CX improvement queue:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eImprove our contact center interactive voice response (IVR) menu\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEngage partner agency customers in journey mapping exercises that cross our programs\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShare our data; make better linkages in results that impact our programs (e.g., search results impact on user experience, content usage on Web and in contact center)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eImprove reporting of key results throughout our organization and to senior leadership\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eImprove customer understanding by using \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/01/09/personas-101/\"\u003epersonas\u003c/a\u003e and journey maps as a standard process that we incorporate into the beginning of any new project or product\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEstablish a Customer Advisory Council that includes our agency customers; engage them in our USA.gov transformation efforts and problem solving\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJourney mapping isn’t a one-and-done project. We are continuing to analyze our results and prioritize areas for improvement, and we’ll continue to map future state journeys to help define desired experiences, keeping the customer at the center of our efforts.\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}