Journey Map

A Future State Journey Map is a UX tool used to visualize the ideal experience a user will have with a product or service in the future. Unlike a current state journey map, which focuses on existing pain points and behaviors, a future state map outlines the desired improvements, innovations, and optimized user interactions.

In UX it is very important since it helps us with these points:

Defines the Ideal User Experience: Helps teams envision how users should interact with a product after improvements.
Guides Design & Development: Provides a clear roadmap for product evolution, ensuring all teams align on the same vision.
Identifies Opportunities: Highlights gaps and areas where user experience can be enhanced.
Enhances Innovation: Encourages forward-thinking design solutions that improve usability and engagement.
Reduces Friction & Pain Points: Helps anticipate and eliminate potential user frustrations before implementation.

By creating a Future State Journey Map, UX teams can strategically plan and design better user experiences, ensuring that products evolve to meet user needs effectively.

To start our journey map, we followed the same approach we used when creating the persona.

I placed Eduardo’s photo and added a brief biography—enough to empathize with him but not too much detail, as that information can already be found in his persona.

I also included his expectations, as we want to understand what Eduardo hopes to experience when using our app.

In the feeling section, it is essential to capture Eduardo’s emotions at every stage of the process.

We divided this into sections, starting with the question: ¿Why did Eduardo decide to download the app? and covering his feelings throughout the entire experience, even after using the app. We want to understand how he felt at every moment.

Following the same sections we created, I outlined the following:

Tasks: What Eduardo does in each stage?
Touchpoints: What helped Eduardo achieve his goal?
Pain Points: What challenges or difficulties did Eduardo face?
Opportunities: What could help Eduardo avoid these pain points?

Discovery

In this section, we explore why Eduardo decided to download the app and what led to his decision.

I describe how he discovered the app through social media, ads, or even recommendations from friends.

In the pain points we have that Eduardo might receive misleading information about how the app actually works.
That is why, as an opportunity, we offering coupons to encourage new users and providing clearer, more transparent ads.

Installation

In this section, we describe how Eduardo downloads the app and the steps he must take.

We detail the touchpoints, as well as pain points, such as long download times, which could be caused by external factors (e.g., a weak WiFi signal) or internal factors (e.g., poor app download optimization).

As an opportunity, we suggest to improving download optimization and providing a guided walkthrough with a simple and clear user registration process.

Exploration

This section explains how Eduardo navigates through the app, exploring every corner.

This part is crucial, as it allows us to determine if the app is intuitive and if the menus are clear. Even a small change in the placement of a menu or an icon that is not self-explanatory can quickly become a pain point.

An opportunitie can be a clean, intuitive app design that ensures smooth navigation.

Order

Eduardo decides to place an order from his cart because he found the app easy to navigate, quickly found what he was looking for, and the payment section felt secure.

A pain point can be unavailable products or difficulty placing an order, especially for users unfamiliar with similar apps.
And clear messaging and a clean, user-friendly design, as an opportunity.

Loyalty

In this final section, we describe how Eduardo becomes a loyal user of the app thanks to an overall positive experience.

However, we aim to go further by suggesting opportunities such as offering a loyalty program and coupons to further encourage continued use.

And here we have the journey map all together.