PREFACE

“Then the Ping-Pong match begins.”

That’s what a customer told me about his experience with the billing process of the company I was consulting. After digging deeper and having conversations with other customers, it became clear to me what he meant.

Apparently, the company was known for sending incorrect invoices. Finding a resolution often proved difficult for customers. They instinctively called the support hotline first, but agents there weren’t empowered to fix problems with invoices. Customers then called their sales representative, who wasn’t responsible for billing issues. Relatively quickly, customers fell into an aggravating communication loop with the company.

But it got worse.

The collections department didn’t suspend its scheduled warning notices. And they didn’t know if a customer may have questioned an incorrect bill. So amidst customers’ frustration troubleshooting an incorrect bill, they received a past-due notice.

That not only added insult to injury, it also made the resolution exponentially more complicated: three or four parties were now involved, and the customer was caught in the middle. Ping-Pong, indeed.

This was not rare. I easily uncovered similar stories with just a handful of additional customer interviews. One person I spoke with recalled how absolutely livid she was when this happened. She was ready to cancel a service vital to her business just out of principle.

As a designer, I find it disheartening to hear such stories. But it’s not surprising. I’ve seen it over and over again: in large organizations, one hand does not know what the other is doing.

My research was part of a larger experience mapping project I was conducting. The effort resulted in several diagrams to illustrate customers’ current condition: a map of the end-to-end journey and a series of workflow diagrams illustrating their experiences step-by-step.

To conclude the project, I held a workshop with various stakeholders from a variety of functions: sales representatives, marketing specialists, business managers, designers, and developers. Walking through the illustrations allowed us to comprehend the customer experience in detail.

I intentionally put myself in the breakout group examining the billing workflow—just to see what would happen. Everything went fine until we got to the point where an incorrect bill and past-due warnings were sent out. Then came the collective outrage: “How is this possible?” they asked. They were unaware their company was capable of inflicting so much pain on customers.

A clear action item emerged: implement the ability to place a hold on bills that customers have challenged. This would prevent collection notices from being sent out until the issue was resolved. The head of customer care had a draft proposal for this procedure by the end of the day. Initially, this was to be done manually, but eventually an automated hold was needed.

Of course the real problem was sending incorrect invoices in the first place. But even if that were corrected, a larger, more fundamental issue emerged in our team discussion: the organization wasn’t able to handle customer complaints and requests across departments.

From this particular incident, the sales manager was easily able to recount additional stories of troubleshooting non-sales–related issues with customers. This distracted him from his sales duties. And the customer care representative described how their team often couldn’t help customers on the phone immediately, yet would have to take the brunt of their anger.

By coming together and having a conversation around the actual experience, we were able to reflect on the company’s performance as a service provider across functions, beyond this one particular incident. It became obvious: the organization faced larger, systemic issues. These only came to light after we focused on the experience from the customer’s point of view.

Aligning for Value

Few organizations deliberately want to create bad experiences for the people they serve. Yet experiences like the one described earlier happen all the time.

I believe the fundamental problem is one of alignment: organizations are out of sync with what the people they serve actually experience.

Misalignment impacts the entire enterprise: teams lack a common purpose, solutions are built that are detached from reality, there is a focus on technology rather than experience, and strategy is shortsighted.

Aligned organizations have a shared mental model of what they are trying to accomplish. They are obsessed with delivering amazing experiences for the people they serve.

More and more, people select products and services based on the total experience they have. To meet market expectations, it’s imperative to align around the end-to-end experience.

To achieve alignment, I see three imperatives organizations must follow:

1. View your offerings from outside-in rather than inside-out.

   From my work with dozens of companies, I have seen teams with the best intentions focused too much on internal processes. They are wrapped up in a type of organizational navel gazing. Many simply don’t know what customers actually go through.

   Misalignment impacts the entire enterprise: teams lack a common purpose, solutions are built that are detached from reality, there is a focus on technology rather than experience, and strategy is shortsighted.

   What’s needed is a change in viewpoint—from inside-out to outside-in. Organizations must have a clear understanding of the experiences they create. This is not limited to just frontline personnel. Everyone must empathize with the individuals they serve.

   In this sense, gaining empathy isn’t only about feeling the same emotions as another person. Instead, it refers to the ability to grasp what others are experiencing, the ability to put yourself in their shoes. Empathy for others comes with the recognition that their perspective is valid even if it’s different from your own.

   But a little empathy is not enough. Members of the organization must deeply care about their customers and what they experience. They need to internalize people’s desires and motivations, and advocate on behalf of the people they service in everything they do.

2. Align internal functions across teams and levels.

   Organizational silos prevent alignment. Aligned organizations instead work across functional boundaries. They have a relentless focus on doing whatever it takes to ensure their constituents have great experiences.

   Alignment is not just about superficial improvements. It’s about the collective actions of the entire group, at all levels. An organization’s backstage processes have as much to do with the overall experience as the visible points of interaction that individuals encounter.

   On his TV show, top chef Gordon Ramsay saves failing restaurants by realigning the whole establishment. He usually starts by fixing the kitchen. He’ll chastise cooks for improper food storage or for having a dirty exhaust hood above the stove. The actions in the kitchen influence the experience diners have.

   Aligned organizations have their kitchen in order. They move together in the same direction for the same cause—to create brilliant experiences. And they don’t focus on parts of the experience. They consider the end-to-end interaction. The sum of local optimizations does not guarantee optimization at the global level.

   Note that “alignment” is already an inherent part of the business strategy vernacular. Typically managers speak of upward alignment—getting everyone in the organization to work toward a stated strategy from above. My interpretation of the term focuses on value alignment: looking first at the value an organization needs to create from the individual’s perspective, and then figuring out the strategy and technology needed to deliver that value.

3. Create visualizations as shared references.

   The challenge of alignment lies in the difficulty of seeing interdependencies across the organization. Each department may be functioning fine on its own. But from the users’ perspective, the experience is a patchwork of interactions they have to navigate themselves.

   Visualizations are a key device to break down siloed thinking. A diagram of the individual’s experience serves as a tangible model for the teams to rally around. More importantly, visualizations allow the viewer to grasp interlocking relationships at once.

   In the story opening this preface, sales managers and customer care agents had separately shared their obstacles and inefficiencies with their managers. But it was not until decision makers could see connected factors that both the problem and the solution became apparent. Reports and slide decks don’t have this causal effect. Visualizations do.

   But visualizations don’t provide answers outright, they foster conversations. Diagrams are compelling artifacts that draw interest and attention from others in the organization. They are a means to engage others in discourse. Visualizations point to opportunities and serve as springboards into innovation.

   In a broader sense, visualizations inform strategy. They are a key way of seeing the market from the customer’s perspective. Mapping experiences isn’t a nice-to-have design tool; it’s a must-have for strategic alignment.

   Finally, as practices like lean product development take hold in organizations, the need for alignment only increases. Small, empowered teams need to be on the same page as the rest of the organization. A compelling visualization gets everyone moving in the same direction for the same reasons. Your organization’s agility depends on shared purpose.

Scope of This Book

This book is about a type of tool that provides organizations insight into their broader product and service ecosystems. I call these tools alignment diagrams—an umbrella term for any map that seeks to align how individuals in a system engage with that system and its provider. Chapter 1 explains this concept in more detail.

This book deals with various techniques for mapping experiences, not a single method or output. The focus is on the category of diagrams that collectively seek to describe the human experience. Many related techniques are included here as well.

These diagrams have already been an implicit part of the design and creative disciplines for decades. In fact, you may have already used alignment diagrams as part of your work.

Reframing these approaches as tools for organizational alignment emphasizes their strategic relevance. They help flip an organization’s perspective from inside-out to outside-in. In doing so, they help build empathy and provide a model for decision making that is inclusive of the human condition.

Alignment diagrams also offer a common vision throughout an organization. They aid in creating consistency in thought and action across departmental lines. This type of internal coherency determines success.

To be clear: alignment diagrams are no silver bullet and only part of organizational alignment. However, I believe the story they tell goes a long way in achieving alignment, particularly in larger organizations.

The concept of mapping helps us understand complex systems of interaction, particularly when we’re dealing with abstract concepts like experience. But mapping experiences is not a singular activity limited to one type of diagram over another. There are many possible perspectives and approaches.

In this sense, this book is about possibilities. My hope is that the book expands your thinking and approach toward mapping in general.

There are many types of diagrams covered here, each with different names and backgrounds. Don’t get hung up on labels. Many of the distinctions are historical and based on which term was coined first. Instead, focus on value alignment, not one specific technique over the other. It’s entirely possible to create a new type of diagram that continues to evolve the practice. I encourage you to do so.

What This Book Is Not About

This book is not about customer experience management, service design, or user experience design. It is about diagrams—key tools that span those fields of practice. The approach I describe here is not a design process but rather a process for mapping independent of specific discipline.

This is also not a comprehensive book about formal techniques in graphic design, information design, or illustration. There are volumes of resources about graphic design and illustration that go into much more detail than I can here.

Finally, I realize that there is a technical difference between the words map (an illustration of where things are) and diagram (an illustration of how things work). However, this book does not distinguish between the two. In practice, terms like customer journey map and experience map are, in fact, misnomers. But they are so widely used that the distinction between map and diagram becomes irrelevant.

Audience for This Book

This book is intended for anyone involved in the end-to-end planning, design, and development of products and services. It’s for people who need a holistic view of the ecosystem in which their offerings are situated. This includes designers, product managers, brand managers, marketing specialists, strategists, entrepreneurs, and business owners.

Regardless of your skill level in mapping, there is something for you in this book. The steps and processes outlined here are basic enough for beginners to start creating diagrams. The related techniques should provide new insights for experts as well.

A Note on the Diagrams

I’ve taken painstaking care to provide a range of diagrams in this book that reflect different approaches to mapping experiences. My interest is in providing complete, whole examples so you can view them in their entirety. Although I’ve given the utmost attention to the display and clarity of each diagram, in some cases, not all texts are legible. Please see the references in the image credits and throughout the book to locate the originals online, where available. I also encourage you to find and collect your own examples for inspiration and guidance.

Rapid Techniques

The process I outline in this book comes without a time frame. Informal efforts can be completed in a matter of days, while formal projects may last weeks or months. I describe a more formal process, particularly in Chapters 4–8.

Throughout the book, however, I highlight approaches that can greatly speed up the process. They are indicated with a “Rapid Technique” symbol to help you navigate to them quicker.

Together, these techniques will help you run a mapping effort even within a fast-paced environment.

Book Outline

This book is divided into three parts.

Part 1: Visualizing Value

Part 1 provides an overview and background on the concept of alignment diagrams.

• Chapter 1 introduces the term alignment diagram as a class of document that seeks to visually align an individual’s experience with the services of an organization. It focuses on the concepts of value alignment and value-centered design.
• Chapter 2 looks at the key elements of mapping experiences, breaking them down into individual components.
• Chapter 3 deals broadly with the topic of strategy in general and the role of visualization in strategy creation.

Part 2: A General Process for Mapping

Part 2 details a general process for creating alignment diagrams, broken into four phases: initiate, investigate, illustrate, and align. After understanding and empathizing with the current experience, we envision what future experiences can be.

• Chapter 4 details how to initiate a mapping project, including the key considerations in effectively framing the effort.
• Chapter 5 outlines how to investigate and perform research before creating a diagram.
• Chapter 6 provides an overview of how to illustrate a diagram.
• Chapter 7 deals with how to use diagrams to align teams, primarily through a workshop.
• Chapter 8 presents a range of complementary techniques used in conjunction with alignment diagrams to envision future experiences and solutions.

Part 3: Types of Diagrams in Detail

The final part of the book looks at some specific types of diagrams in detail, including a brief historical overview of each.

• Chapter 9 starts with service blueprints, the oldest type of diagram covered here.
• Chapter 10 focuses on customer journey maps, including investigations into decision-making and conversion funnels.
• Chapter 11 deals with experience maps. There is also a discussion of “job maps” as well as workflow diagrams.
• Chapter 12 looks at mental model diagrams, as pioneered by Indi Young. There are also discussions of grounded theory, information architecture, and related diagrams.
• Chapter 13 discusses spatial maps broadly. This is less of a diagram type than a diagram format, but its form has an impact on what it can and can’t show.

About the Author

Jim Kalbach is a noted author, speaker, and instructor in user experience design, information architecture, and strategy. He is currently the Head of Customer Success at MURAL, the leading online whiteboard, and has also consulted with large companies such as eBay, Audi, SONY, Citrix, Elsevier Science, Lexis Nexis, and more. Jim holds a master’s degree in library and information science and a master’s degree in music theory and composition, both from Rutgers University.

Before returning to the United States in 2013 after living for fifteen years in Germany, Jim was the cofounder and long-time organizer of the European Information Architecture conferences. He also cofounded the IA Konferenz, a leading UX design event in Germany. Previously Jim was an assistant editor with Boxes and Arrows, a prominent journal for user experience information. He also served on the advisory board of the Information Architecture Institute in 2005 and 2007.

In 2007, Jim published his first full-length book, Designing Web Navigation (O’Reilly, 2007). He blogs at http://www.experiencinginformation.com and tweets at @JimKalbach.

Acknowledgments

Writing is solitary; publishing a book is collaborative. It’s amazing just how many people are involved. I thank you all. Hopefully I won’t leave anyone out.

First, I’d like to thank the good folks at O’Reilly who made this project possible, in particular Mary Treseler, Angela Rufino, Nick Lombardi, and Melanie Yarbrough.

A special thanks goes out to Paul Kahn for encouraging me to write about alignment diagrams after my talk at the European Information Architecture conference in Paris in 2010. My collaboration with him deepened my understanding and interest in the topic, and I learned a lot from Paul along the way. I’m grateful for his comments on my texts during the writing process.

I’d also indebted to the technical reviewers for their feedback: Leo Frishberg, Austin Govella, Andrew Hinton, Victor Lombardi, Jess McMullin, Chris Risdon, Gene Smith, and Dan Willis. Their expertise and insight was invaluable to me.

I’d also like to thank everyone else who reviewed individual texts and chapters: Amber Brown, Megan Landes, Donna Lichaw, Jim Nieters, and Jen Padilla.

I’d like to thank Professor Michael Schrage for his feedback on early drafts and for in-depth conversations about alignment. His work in general, and in particular the ideas from his book Who Do You Want Your Customers to Become? (discussed in Chapter 7), has influenced my thinking and work. Thanks, Michael.

Thank you to all of the contributors of case studies and diagrams. I am very grateful to have such talented people involved in this book:

• Thanks to my former colleagues for the case study in Chapter 2: Jen Padilla, Elizabeth Thapliyal, and Ryan Kasper.
• Thank you to Amber Brown for her case study from Sonos in Chapter 5.
• Thanks to Paul Kahn and Mad*Pow for their excellent case study and beautiful diagrams in Chapter 6.
• Thank you to Christophe Tallec for his case study on Journey Games in Chapter 8.
• Thanks to Susan Spraragen and Carrie Chan for their contribution to Chapter 9. I enjoyed collaborating with you!
• Jim Tincher’s input and contribution from his excellent work at Heart of the Customer was particularly helpful. Thanks for the case study in Chapter 10.
• Thanks to Peter Jones for his insight and contribution on Gigamaps in Chapter 13.

A special thanks goes out to Indi Young, who not only contributed a case study to Chapter 11, but also helped shape that chapter greatly. I appreciate your collaboration, Indi.

Thanks to all the creators of example diagrams who gave me permission to include their diagrams in this book:

Part 1: Brandon Schauer and Chris Risdon of Adaptive Path, Paul Kahn, Julia Moisand Egea, Laurent Kling, Booking.com, Tyler Tate, Accelerom, Gianluca Brugnoli, Amber Brown, Elizabeth Thapliyal, Ryan Kasper, Claro Partners, Clive Keyte of Intrafocus, Michael Ensley of PureStone Partners, and Daniel Bartel of Strategyzer.

Part 2: Jim Tincher, the folks at Macadamian, Beth Kyle, Chris Risdon, Eric Berkman, Sofia Hussain, Scott Merrill for his photo, Brandon Schauer, Erik Hanson, Deborah Aoki, Kevin Cheng and the good folks at Rosenfeld Media, Donna Lichaw, and Steve Rogalsky. Thanks also to Jeff Patton for a very informative conversation about user story maps.

Part 3: Pete Abilla, Andy Polaine, Adam Richardson, Effective UI, Jim Tincher, Gene Smith, Yvonne Shek, Adaptive Path, Roger Thomas of LexisNexis, Beth Kyle, Indi Young, Patrick Kovacich, Chiara Diana and Roberta Tassi, Julia Moisand, Mark Simmons and Aaron Lewis, Helen Rogers and the team at Berg, Andy Polaine, Lavrans Løvlie, Ben Reason, Jamie Thomson, and the folks at Mad*Pow.

A special thanks goes to Hennie Farrow for the beautiful diagram in Chapter 6, but also for providing the style for the artwork in this book and consulting with me on many other aspects of it. Thanks for listening to me, Hennie!

I’d also like to thank my wife, Nathalie, for her support and encouragement. And I’d like to thank my father, Donald Kalbach, for reading most of the chapters and providing feedback on the text. Thanks!

Finally, I’ve been teaching a workshop on diagrams for about five years. Presenting this material and learning from my students has shaped a great deal of this book. To quote the opening lines of composer Arnold Schönberg’s book on harmony, “dieses Buch habe ich von meinen Schülern gelernt”—
I learned this book from my students. Thank you!