Consequences of Bad Mapping

How, do we approach mapping experiences? Put simply, it’s a matter of selection. Maps are purposefully focused. As the mapmaker, it’s up to you to decide which aspects to include and which to leave out.

Cartographic maps, for instance, are selective in what they show. Consider Harry Beck’s famous map of the London Underground, first published in 1933. It is sparing in what it includes: Tube lines, stops, exchanges, and the River Thames—nothing more.

This map also distorts the train lines, relying only on horizontal, vertical, and 45-degree angled lines. Stops are spaced equidistantly as well, when in reality the distances vary greatly. That’s OK: maps are abstractions of the real world.

Beck’s map has remained virtually intact for over 70 years, with only minor updates. Its brilliance lies in what it doesn’t show: streets, buildings, curves in lines, and actual distances between stops. The longevity of Beck’s map is due to its appropriateness—it fulfills a specific need extremely well.

Likewise, mapping experiences requires choice. Distortions will necessarily occur, but if your definition of the effort is on target, the overall message will be valid. And of course, the framing of your project must be relevant to the organization and address its goals.

Once you’ve decided on the people to focus on—assume readers in this example—there are different experiences to choose from. Consider these three potential experiences for a news magazine reader:

Purchasing behavior One point of view is to look at how readers purchase the news magazine: how they first heard of the magazine, why they bought it, if they make a repeat purchase, and so on. Mapping an experience from this point of view makes sense if there is a need to optimize sales. A customer journey map would be a good fit.

News consumption Another point of view might be to look at how readers consume news in general. This would situate the magazine within a broader spectrum of human information behavior. This point of view could be beneficial if the magazine is looking to expand its offering. A mental model diagram could be useful in this case.

Day-in-the-life You could also look at a day in the life of typical readers: how does a news magazine fit into their daily actions? Where do they come in contact with the magazine? When? What else do they do to find and read news? An experience map may be appropriate for mapping this experience.

Each of these points of view has a different unit of analysis—purchasing, consuming news, or a daily routine. And each can be beneficial depending on the needs of the organization. Understanding the point of view of the diagram is critical in determining your approach and resulting message.

Typically, any given diagram reflects a single point of view. A clear perspective generally strengthens the message of a diagram. It’s common to include a reference to a SEO persona in the top corner of an experience map to clarify the point of view for the diagram’s audience.

But a map may coordinate multiple points of view. Still, you’ll have to define whose experiences and which experiences to include. Oftentimes, a primary point of view is defined and secondary perspectives are aligned to that.

There’s no right or wrong answer to the question of how to determine a point of view for your mapping effort. What you decide to illustrate depends on your stakeholders’ needs. Strive to align the point of view of the map with the goals of the organization.

Scope Scope is fairly straightforward to understand: you need to answer the question, “When does the experience begin and when does it end?” Think about scope as the left and right sides of a chronological diagram. Sometimes the scope of a mapping effort may seem self-evident, but additional concerns can extend the start and stop points you’ll define.

Consider the previous example of riding a roller coaster. Does it begin when you get strapped into the car or while you’re waiting in line? Or does it begin before you even get to the amusement park, while you’re still at home, or even before that? And when does it end—when you get out of the roller coaster car or when you look at the photos of yourself during the ride?

But scope is deeper than just the beginning and end of an experience. It also requires a tradeoff in granularity. A map of an end-to-end experience reveals the big picture but leaves out detail. On the other hand, a detailed diagram may illustrate specific interactions but cover less ground.

The equally spaced Tube stops on Beck’s map of the London Underground, for instance, allow the entire system to fit on one page. Actual spacing would have put the end stations far off the page. Given his scope—to show the entire system—this lack of fidelity was necessary.

Or, imagine you’ve been contracted by the tourist bureau of a city in the US to improve the experience of visiting tourists, with a specific goal of increasing the mobile services offered.

One approach could be to scope the entire visit, starting from planning at home, to visiting the city, and all the way to follow-up actions afterward. This would give you a broad picture across different touchpoint types across the entire service ecology for multiple stakeholders.

In another approach, you could limit the effort to only experiences in the city with mobile services. This journey might begin at the point of arrival and end when departing the city, but would provide greater depth on mobile touchpoints for a particular user type.

Both approaches are valid depending on the needs of the organization, as well as its interests and gaps in knowledge. Are you focused on a discrete problem or do you need a view of the entire system? The point is to be explicit about the tradeoffs you’re making up front and set the right expectations. Setting the right scope will guide subsequent comprehension of the experience, as well as what strategic opportunities might emerge.