Programmatic Journey Mapping
Programmatic journey mapping is a process that uses AI and machine learning to automate the creation of customer journey maps. It focuses on integrating real-time data and feedback for data-driven decision-making.
I've been wrestling with the problem of how a business could properly leverage journey mapping to pinpoint their next investment in their physical or digital customer experience.
Today, businesses find using qualitative data in journey maps too challenging. They want something more concrete.
What is programmatic journey mapping?
Programmatic journey mapping is the concept of a canvas-based journey map using customer research, data, and feedback powered by AI and ML, identifying the most critical and addressable investment opportunities across lines of business.
The programmatic journey map canvas can be arranged by customer or product segment. It displays customer and user journey maps based on real-time interaction with a brand's products and services.
The most common programmatic concepts center around automation, real-time processing, scalability, personalization, and, most importantly, data-driven decision-making.
- Automation - User research data.
Let's dust off old customer research and upload it. Eliminate duplicative research—no more manual interpretation sessions. Generate universal insights across customer segments and associated customer journeys. - Real-time processing - Customer feedback.
Introduce a score for stages of journey maps based on customer feedback. Connect feedback tools like Medallia, Qualtrics, Salesforce 360, and others. - Scalability - Infinite canvas.
Create an infinite amount of different customer and user journeys in a click. Never build a customer journey map manually ever again. A ton of potential here. - Personalization - Future-state personalization.
Identify what key customer and user journey areas require an enhanced, deeper personalized experience. - Data-driven decision-making - customer and user journey areas - Exploit customer trends.
This is the core concept behind programmatic journey mapping. If done right, it should identify and prioritize the most important and addressable investments your line of business needs to invest in first and in what order.
Why journey mapping today isn't working
From what I've seen across the tech industry, correctly mapping an entire customer or product segment is rare. It requires a unique set of skills that takes a long time to build up across CX and UX teams.
Why journey maps suck right now:
- Intangible (It's a bunch of stickies)
- Mysterious (Where did this qual data come from?)
- Low trust (Why wasn't I invited to participate)
- End-to-end ("Wow, our LOB is complex)
- Human capital (How much time did you spend on this?)
- How does this help me? (What are we supposed to invest in?)
Can programmatic journey mapping work?
It's possible based on the journey mapping exercises, workshops, and research I've conducted over the last ten years. I learned that customer & user tasks and goals are mostly the same for each individual industry. 🤯
Here are some industries that could immediately benefit from programmatic journey mapping.
The finance industry
For example, J.P. Morgan builds a customer journey map and an associated user journey map for their customer and financial product segments.
Do you think there is any difference in the customer and user journey maps that Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have created?
No, of course not.
These are precisely the same tasks and goals for all three of those companies in the finance sector.
Why? Because they serve the same people, and their customers' needs may vary slightly but still fall within the same basket of financial customer parameters.
Why start with the finance industry? Because the finance industry is a leader in the use of automation. Examples are where finance has automated business processes, stock trading, fraud detection, and building predictive models by automating data ingestion from many sources.
The retail industry
When I think of the retail industry, I immediately think of two retail giants in the home improvement sector.
Lowes and Home Depot.
Both retailers serve the following customer segments:
- Pros (Residential and commercial contractors)
- DIY customers
- Do-it-for-me customers
- Commercial customers (Colleges etc)
The market believes Home Depot has made better investments in the pro-customer segment than Lowes. (And it shows in the balance sheet)
Again, this is an example of how similar companies fight for the same customers in an industry and invest in improving their customer experience by focusing on precisely the same customer tasks and goals.
Summary
Journey mapping is a technical process. At this point, I have taken this technical (but manual) process to its most effective and efficient form. I realize that the next step is to leverage tech and more advanced software to help create and manage journey maps. All this is to get journey maps to their full potential so that this artifact can take its rightful place in the investment strategy process of a line of business.
From my perspective, programmatic journey mapping is the future and would be an excellent fit for AI, especially machine learning. For years, UX has desired to sit at the table of decision-makers. This will never happen until technology takes qualitative data from artifacts like journey maps. Combines it with quantitative data (such as finance) and is presented as an investment package to executive leadership. The reality is that most designers are craftsmen, not business-centric designers.
Are you interested in programmatic customer journey maps? The field is wide open; I invite you to contact me. I love this stuff and would also like to hear other people's perspectives.
Written by Leo Vroegindewey, B2B CX Consultant
Get in touch to improve your customer experience and increase sales. Let's talk about how I can help your business grow. Email me.