Product Decisions with Experience Maps: A Real-World Case Study
The Challenge
Ever been in a product meeting where everyone’s talking, but no one’s really on the same page? Yeah, me too. Too many times to count.
Picture this: You’re deep into design and refinement, and suddenly it hits you — you’re missing critical context. The room erupts into a cacophony of conflicting opinions. Decision-making grinds to a halt. And before you know it, you’re falling back on the infamous HiPPO (Highest Paid Person’s Opinion) approach. Sound familiar?
This was exactly the pickle my team and I found ourselves in. We were consistently discovering — way too late in the game — that we lacked the right context to make decisions confidently and swiftly. We were relying on individual opinions, but when these clashed (which they often did), we ended up delaying processes and defaulting to the HiPPO trap.
The result? A product development process that was less efficient than we wanted, less user-centric than we aimed for, and more frustrating than trying to assemble IKEA furniture without the instructions.
But what if there was a way to gather comprehensive context earlier in the process, ensure equal input from all team members, and make more user-centric decisions?
Enter experience maps — our secret weapon that promised to address these very issues. Inspired by Teresa Torres’ work in “Continuous Discovery Habits,” we adapted the concept of experience mapping to create a workflow that not only solved our immediate challenges but also brought some unexpected perks to our team dynamics and product outcomes.
In this blog post, I’ll take you on our journey of implementing experience maps. I’ll share our approach, the positive effects it had on our process, and the surprising insights we gained along the way. And because sharing is caring, I’ll also show you how you can apply this approach to level up your own product management game.
Let’s dive into how experience maps transformed our product development process and how they might just be the game-changer you’re looking for.
The Approach: How Experience Maps Work
So, how exactly did we go about implementing experience maps? Well, grab a coffee (or your beverage of choice), and let me walk you through our process.
First things first, what exactly is an experience map? Here’s the key: it’s not about your product or service at all. Surprise! An experience map is a visual representation of a user’s journey as they navigate solving a specific task or job. It’s about understanding their world, their challenges, and their thought processes — completely independent of any specific tool or technology.
This is crucial because it forces us to step out of our product-centric bubble and truly see things from the user’s perspective. We’re not mapping out clicks and swipes or screens and features. We’re mapping out real human experiences, emotions, and pain points. It goes way deeper than any product workflow ever could.
We based our approach on Teresa Torres’ concept, but like any good recipe, we added our own secret sauce. Here’s how we did it:
1. Gather the troops
We started by expanding on Teresa’s “Product Trio” concept. Our product team included:
— Product Manager
— Head of Product
— Product Designer
— CTO
— Distinguished Engineer
— Project Manager
Why such a diverse group? Because each brings a unique perspective to the table.
2. Set the scene
We kicked things off with a meeting to explain the process to this “Product Team”. The key was to choose a specific capability and phrase it as a Jobs-To-Be-Done statement. For us, it was “How do security analysts resolve security incidents?” Sounds simple, right? But trust me, it opened up a whole new world of insights we hadn’t considered before.
3. Emphasize the visual
We stressed that this was a “drawing” exercise, not a “writing” exercise. Why? Because sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words.
Now, when I say “drawing,” I don’t mean you need to be the next Picasso. Terese gives a good example in her book, since we did the workshop in Miro, we had different styles of elements we used:
As you can see, it’s not about artistic skill — it’s about visually representing the user’s journey, emotions, and pain points. These rough sketches can reveal insights that pages of text might miss.
4. Individual input first
To avoid “Group Thinking” (I’ll unpack that thorny issue later), we all completed our drawings separately. We used Miro for this — and yes, I’ve got a template you can steal borrow if you want to try this yourself.
5. Come together
After our solo drawing sessions, we reconvened to share and discuss our masterpieces. It was like a mini art gallery, except instead of pretentious comments about brush strokes, we were having aha moments about user experiences.
6. Synthesize
This is where we combined everyone’s input, identified common patterns and revealed some expected, and unexpected questions. Here’s a screenshot of the outcome, just to give you a glimpse how this looked like.
7. Action time
With our beautiful experience map in hand, we discussed the scope, and then our Product Manager and Product Designer got to work on wireframing.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Georg, this sounds great and all, but how long does this take? We’ve got deadlines to meet!”
I hear you. The beauty of this process is its flexibility. Our initial explanation meeting was quick, and the individual drawing sessions could be done asynchronously. The real time investment was in the discussion and synthesis, but trust me, the time invested up front saves you a world of pain down the line.
The key is to make this a regular part of your process, not a one-off exercise. We started doing these mapping sessions at the beginning of each major feature development. It became our go-to method for aligning the team and ensuring we were all working towards the same goal.
In the next section, I’ll dive into the positive effects this approach had on our team and our product. Spoiler alert: it’s not just about better products — it changed the way we work together too. Plus, I’ll unpack what I mean by “Group Thinking” and why it’s a sneaky creativity killer that can seriously hinder innovative product development.
The Positive Effects: What We Learned and Gained
Let’s dive into the “why” of experience mapping. What did we actually gain from this process? The benefits were more far-reaching than we initially expected.
1. A Shift from Solutions to User Needs
One of the most profound shifts was in our team’s mindset. We moved from “What solutions should we build?” to “What problems are our users trying to solve?” It’s a subtle but powerful change.
Learning: Fall in love with the problem, not the solution. Your users don’t care about your fancy features; they care about getting their job done.
2. Avoiding the Groupthink Trap
As Teresa Torres says in her book, “Groupthink occurs when a group of individuals underperform due to the dynamics of the group.” By having everyone create their maps individually before coming together, we managed to sidestep this creativity killer.
Learning: Give people space to form their own thoughts before group discussions. You’ll be amazed at the variety of perspectives that emerge.
3. From Opinions to Patterns
While we didn’t suddenly have a wealth of user observations (as this was still input from our team, not customers), we did gain a more diverse set of views. This allowed us to identify patterns and see elements that appeared across all our individual maps.
Learning: Look for patterns across individual inputs. These shared elements often point to key user needs or pain points.
4. Improved Prioritization
With a clearer understanding of the user’s journey, prioritizing improvements became much easier. We could clearly see which pain points were the most impactful to address.
Learning: Not all user problems are created equal. Use your experience map to identify the most critical issues to solve.
5. Better Storytelling
The visual nature of experience maps made it easier to communicate user needs and product vision to stakeholders. It became a powerful tool for alignment and buy-in.
Learning: A picture is worth a thousand words, especially when trying to get executive buy-in for your product decisions.
Here’s a screenshot of a story map our designer created before starting with the wireframes:
As you can see, this visual representation helps everyone understand the user’s journey and the proposed solution at a glance.
The Art of Creating Effective Experience Maps
When it comes to creating effective experience maps, we found that flexibility is key. We didn’t set strict rules or best practices for the drawing process. Instead, we gave participants the freedom to express their ideas in whatever way felt most natural to them.
Learning: Accommodate individual preferences in the mapping process. By giving people the leeway to express themselves freely, you’ll get more authentic and insightful maps.
Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
Implementing a new process isn’t always smooth sailing. Here are some challenges we faced and how you can avoid them:
1. The perfection trap: Don’t get bogged down trying to create the perfect map. Remember, it’s a tool for insight, not a work of art.
Solution: Set a time limit for the initial mapping session. You can always refine later. For us it was 1 hour for the entire map.
2. Treating it as a one-time exercise: Creating an experience map and then filing it away defeats the purpose.
Solution: Make experience mapping a regular part of your product development cycle. Revisit and update your maps as you learn more about your users.
3. Focusing too much on your current solution: It’s easy to map the journey through your existing product, but this can blind you to alternative solutions. This includes your competitors solutions as well, don’t look at them yet.
Solution: Start with the user’s goal, not your product. Map how they might achieve this goal without any specific tool.
Remember, the goal of experience mapping isn’t to create a pretty diagram — it’s to gain insights that lead to better product decisions. Keep that in mind, and you’ll be well on your way to creating maps that truly make a difference.
Wrapping Up: Your Next Steps in the Experience Mapping Journey
Well, now that I’m concluding this post, I realized that we covered a lot of ground. From the initial problem of late-stage discoveries and HiPPO-driven decisions, to the implementation of experience maps and the positive effects they’re bringing to our team. Let’s take a moment to recap the key takeaways:
1. Experience maps shift focus from solutions to user needs, helping teams fall in love with the problem.
2. They combat groupthink by encouraging individual input before group discussions.
3. They reveal patterns across diverse perspectives, even without direct customer input.
4. They improve prioritization by clearly showing which pain points are most impactful.
5. Visual storytelling through experience maps enhances stakeholder communication and buy-in.
Implementing experience maps has initiated a transformation in how our team approaches product development. We’re becoming more aligned, increasingly user-focused, and growing in confidence with our decision-making. The discussions we’re having are richer, more meaningful, and happening much earlier in the process. It’s an ongoing journey, and we’re excited about the continued improvements we’ll see as we refine our approach.
If you’re intrigued and want to give experience mapping a try (and I hope you are!), here are some steps to get you started:
Start Small, Think Big
You don’t need to revolutionize your entire product development process overnight. Start with a smaller problem or a fragment of the entire user journey. This makes the process less overwhelming and allows you to refine your approach.
Structure the Output
When defining what you’re mapping, I recommend using the Jobs-to-Be-Done (JTBD) framework. This approach, created by Bob Moesta, helps frame the problem from the user’s perspective. You can learn more about JTBD here: https://therewiredgroup.com/learn/complete-guide-jobs-to-be-done/.
Share the ‘Why’
As a Product Manager, it’s crucial to communicate the reasons and desired outcomes you want to achieve by introducing experience maps. Help your team understand why this approach is helpful and how it can improve your product development process. This understanding will drive better engagement and more meaningful contributions from everyone involved.
Embrace the Visual
Remember, this is about drawing, not writing. Encourage your team to express their ideas visually, no matter their artistic skill level. It’s about capturing insights, not creating masterpieces.
Make It a Habit
The real power of experience maps comes from making them a regular part of your process. Consider incorporating them into the start of each major feature development cycle.
Keep Iterating
Our journey with experience maps is ongoing, and I’m sure yours will be too. Stay curious, keep experimenting, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Continuously refine your approach based on what works best for your team and products. Remember, continuous discovery is key to successful product management. If you want to dive deeper into this concept, I highly recommend Teresa Torres’ book “Continuous Discovery Habits.” You can read more about it here: https://www.producttalk.org/2021/05/continuous-discovery-habits/.
To help you get started, I’ve created a Miro template that you can use for your own experience mapping sessions. You can find it on Miroverse: https://miro.com/miroverse/experience-mapping/?social=copy-link
I’d love to hear about your experiences with this approach! Have you tried experience mapping before? Did this post inspire you to give it a shot? Let me know what you think — drop a comment here on Medium, connect with me on LinkedIn, or share your thoughts on the Miro template. Your feedback and experiences can help us all improve our product development processes.
Remember, the goal isn’t to create the perfect map, but to gain insights that lead to better product decisions. So grab that metaphorical pen (or actual stylus) and start mapping!
