How do you map the customer journey for a complex service like online banking?

A customer journey map, from a systems thinking perspective, is a holistic visualization of the entire experience a customer has while interacting with a product or service. Instead of viewing individual touchpoints in isolation, systems thinking emphasizes understanding how these touchpoints interconnect and influence one another within the broader ecosystem. The map captures every phase of the customer's journey, from initial awareness to post-purchase interactions, and identifies potential pain points, emotions, and opportunities for improvement.

This is a pretty good summary, but I think it'd be helpful to mention up here (as is briefly mentioned down below) that customer journey maps should come from the perspective of a well-researched persona. If you have multiple personas or customer segments, you may have multiple customer journeys.

In my experience the part that makes or breaks a service is if it's not only great for the customers to go through, but sustainable to make happen for the staff in the backstage. That's why I'd recommend that instead of focusing on building a customer journey map, you build a service blueprint (basically a customer journey map that also shows the backstage of the service). This will help you to map in the front stage what is needed to create a lovely experience for online banking, and then map in the backstage what processes, tools, staff members, etc, are needed so that it can become a reality and not just a great idea in a powerpoint deck.

In my experience understanding service patterns (e.g opening an account), and then understanding what customers want to achieve from the service (their goals and needs such as ‘I want to apply for a savings account with good interest) is a great journey starting point. I then look at current satisfaction and the amount of effort that is currently needed for the customer to do that thing. I then move on from there to a service blueprint which looks at the front stage and backstage for those goals to happen ??

Validating a draft of the customer journey with your customers is a crucial step. In my experience, while it's tempting to only bring finished, polished artifacts to share with customers (whether internal or external), you can save time and get more helpful feedback by sharing something that is more low-fi and a work-in-progress. Seek feedback on your journey map using a combination of: 1. Completed elements for customers to validate/react to (what the team pieced together of the journey based on their research) 2. Blanks to be filled in (areas the team is unsure of or missed).

I believe there is no such thing as a customer journey of online banking. There are probably numerous things your customer is trying to get done with the help of an online banking service (setting up and account, transferring money, monitoring savings etcetera) that you can map journeys for. Bringing together all these different (micro-) journeys and to link them to the lifecycle of the relationship of the customer with the organisation is what is referred to as a service architecture. Journeys should then be detailed in blueprints to show the relationship between the customer’s journey (steps), customer satisfaction / emotions with those steps, and the touch points, the processes, systems, metrics etc that play a role.

It would be great to start with customer personas, because people who come to the online banking experience may fall into different personas that share similar needs. Then it is easier to construct a user story, experience map and then journey map, of course expand the journey map into a service blueprint to see how / what is taking care of the UX at every touch point, and what each department should strengthen their services to make this journey a smooth and seamless one.

First translate the journey map into a service blueprint to understand the flow and needed digital services. Design the UX and then create stories.

Use the story to explain what painpoints customers are facing, what service failures are caused due to operational inefficiencies, what emotions customers had along the journey.

Before arriving at the mapping stage, consider a discovery phase on systems and scales. Look to Jamer Hunt on scalar reframing for complexity and Donella Meadows on how to address systems boundaries. Identifying which scales you’re attempting to intervene in, and where you’re drawing systems boundaries, can help determine which journeys to map, and to what ends you are working.

Remember that it's okay to break the rules. While a simple google each can show you great examples of journey maps & service blueprints, nobody says they have to be exactly like that. Think about why you're trying to map a journey, as a service designer, you're simplifying complexity and that's what your journeys need to do. So think about 'How might we simplify the information we want to share with the journey map', 'What decisions would we have to take after seeing the map & how do we simplify the decision making' ? Questions like these will help you focus on the right aspects of the journey & do justice to the entire activity.

Online banking has revolutionized financial transactions, but mapping user journeys within this domain presents unique challenges. Firstly, the diverse demographics using online banking vary in technological literacy, necessitating multiple user pathways to cater to both tech-savvy millennials and older generations less familiar with digital platforms. Secondly, security concerns are paramount. Striking a balance between a seamless user experience and stringent security measures can be intricate. Often, multi-factor authentication steps, although essential for safety, can disrupt the user's flow.

Thirdly, the vast array of banking functions, from simple balance checks to complex loan applications, demands clear, intuitive navigation to prevent user overwhelm. Lastly, the continuous evolution of digital technology means that user journey maps must be regularly updated to incorporate new features and functionalities. In sum, while online banking offers convenience, mapping its user journeys requires careful consideration of user diversity, security, functionality, and technological advancement.

To map the customer journey for a complex services, I prefer using service blueprints over traditional journey maps as it offers a more holistic view, allowing you to optimize the experience for both customers and employees involved in the process. However, when using journey maps, I adopt the "As-Is" versus "To-Be" approach. This involves first outlining the current journey of a user persona to identify existing pain points and then mapping out the ideal future journey. By comparing these two maps, you can clearly see the gaps and areas for improvement, leading to a more efficient and user-friendly experience.