Follow that map…to a better way of working!

Audience journey maps help us identify key opportunities to improve our websites and services. Highlighting important touch points, these maps illustrate the thoughts, feelings and actions, experienced as people strive to achieve a goal – such as choosing a program or tracking progress toward graduation. In doing so, they reveal concrete insights into ways we can better support and guide our audiences.

Many of us use these maps to inform our projects, often aimed at improving central sites and services. At McGill, we followed this approach when we began journey mapping in 2018. The many benefits were clear but eventually, we began to consider we might be underutilizing their potential power to transform the ways we work.

In this session, we will explore the missing opportunities journey maps present. We’ll consider not just how to use them to inform and transform your content strategy, but also how to use them as a tool for change management and shifting organizational culture. A resource that can foster empathy, encourage collaboration and maybe even break down those silos!

Attend this session to gain ideas, tools and techniques to supercharge how you use your audience journey maps.

1. Land acknowledgement This event is taking place on land which has long served as a site of meeting and exchange amongst Indigenous peoples, including the Niitsitapi and the people of the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta, which includes the Siksika, the Piikani, the Kainai, the Tsuut’ina and the Stoney Nakoda First Nations. The area is also home to Métis Nation of Alberta, Region III. We acknowledge and thank the diverse Indigenous peoples whose presence marks this territory on which peoples of the world now gather.

2. Follow that map… to a better way of working #PSEWeb 2024 Slides:

3. Presenter Hi, I’m Joyce Joyce Peralta Manager, Digital Communications at McGill University user experience | web governance | web strategy linkedin.com/in/joyceperalta @theotherlondon

4. What is a journey map?

5. Student journey: Actions

6. Benefits of journey mapping Develop empathy to maintain user focus Identify opportunities for improvement Create strategic alignment through a shared frame of reference

7. Journey mapping process Identify goals and areas of interest Who? What journey? Establish a team Collect existing data Conduct additional research Analyze data and produce a visualization that illustrates the user journey 

8. Understanding audience journeys

9. Shared understanding of audience journeys

10. Community of practice Community governance Community

11. A better way of working

12. Shared learning and discovery

13. Shared learning benefits Establishes a shared frame of reference Facilitates inclusive discussion Creates opportunities for innovation

14. Encourage shared learning Build accessible maps Use platforms that facilitate collaboration and discussion Use common markup language

15. Current students experience map

16. Facilitating collaboration

17. Benefits of collaboration Increase understanding of audience experiences Build appreciation for diverse perspectives Make shared choices based on audience preferences

18. Facilitate collaboration Be intentional about the purpose of your discussions Equalize participant experience Build psychological safety

19. Facilitate discussion

20. Pursuing a common purpose

21. Identifying shared goals Illustrates our connections to challenges Highlights opportunities to provide support Facilitates cross-departmental reflection and discussion

22. What to do Identify an ideal future state Look for connections between diverse perspectives/domains Apply established methods of reflection and discussion

23. Current student journey timeline

24. Institutional benefits Illustrates challenges Highlights opportunities to provide support Facilitates reflection and discussion

25. Journey maps can improve your audience experiences.

26. Recap of the benefits of journey mapping Develop empathy to maintain user focus Identify opportunities for improvement Create strategic alignment through a shared frame of reference

27. Journey maps can transform the way you work.

28. Follow that map…to a better way of working. Provide opportunities for shared learning and discovery. Facilitate collaboration. Generate enthusiasm and excitement around pursuing a common purpose.

29. Questions?