While customer journey maps and process maps are both powerful tools in experience design, they serve very distinct purpose and offer unique insights. Yet, it’s common for people to mix up the two. In this article, we’ll explore the key differences between a customer journey map and a process map, helping you understand when and how to use each for better CX strategy.
1. Focus and Perspective
A customer journey map primarily revolves around the customer’s actions and emotions, from their perspective. It traces the end-to-end journey of a customer from their initial awareness of a product or service through their purchase decision, post-purchase experience, and potential loyalty or advocacy. The maps emphasize customer touchpoints and their emotional responses at each stage.
A process map, on the other hand, takes a more internal and operational approach. It outlines the steps and actions involved in a specific business process, highlighting the roles, responsibilities, and workflows for the organisation or business to deliver the customer experience. Process maps are often used to streamline operations and reduce inefficiencies to enhance experience for the customer.
2. Details and Information Captured
Customer journey maps focuses on the qualitative aspects of the customer experience. They capture emotions, pain points, and moments of truth, to a holistic view of the customer’s journey and their interactions with the brand. Customer journey maps can be rich in narratives, personas, and customer feedback.
Process maps break down each customer interaction and step in a process, focusing on timelines, dependencies, and inputs/outputs. Process maps aim to identify bottlenecks, redundancies, and areas for improvement in an objective and systematic manner.
3. Purpose
Customer journey maps help businesses understand the customer’s perspective and identify opportunities for improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. They help organizations align their efforts with customer needs and desires.
Process maps show how best to optimise internal operations. They help organizations enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and ensure compliance with standards and regulations. Process maps are essential for initiatives to improve the ways of working.
4. Visualisation
Customer journey maps are often depicted using visual storytelling techniques to create empathy with the customer, incorporating customer personas, empathy maps, and emotional journey lines to illustrate the customer’s experience visually.
Process maps are typically represented as flowcharts and swimlane diagrams to depict the sequence of steps and decision points in a process. Process Maps are about providing clarity and precision.
5. Audience
Customer journey maps are valuable for a wide range of stakeholders, including customer support teams, marketing departments, product designers, and executives who want to improve the customer experience.
Process Maps are more likely used by operations teams, quality assurance departments, and process improvement specialists who aim to streamline internal processes and workflows.
And there we have it…
While both Customer Journey Maps and Process Maps are essential tools in experience design, they serve different purposes and offer distinct perspectives. Customer journey maps provide insights on how customers interact with the business from their perspectives, while Process Maps focus on the efficiency and effectiveness of internal processes.
Related Articles:
3 Reasons Why Customer Journey Maps And Process Maps Often Get Confused (+How To Avoid Them)
What Are The Types Of Customer Journey Maps (+Why Do You Need Them)?