QUIRK’S: Frameworks for mapping customer decision journeys among the most viewed articles

Published on Quirk’s, we’re excited to announce that our article on “4 frameworks for mapping customer decision journeys” was among the most viewed articles on Quirk’s in 2017.

In this article, our Senior Manager Decision Journey Mapping, Alex Xiaoguang Zhu explained that we live in an omnichannel world where the path-to-purchase is complex, dynamic and easily disrupted by new options and inputs. If you are looking to undertake a digital customer experience transformation, it’s important to first go back to the basics by mapping the customer decision journey.

4 frameworks for mapping customer decision journeys

Customer decision journeys vary significantly from industry to industry depending on category engagement, length of decision-making process and stakeholder involvement. With the appropriate journey framework lens, brands can uncover paradigm-busting insights. There are a range of methodologies from internal workshops to primary research (qualitative and quantitative) and passive metering or digital behavioral data tracking that can be used when conducting customer decision journey mapping. But the most important task is choosing the right framework for your specific industry and situation. The following four frameworks illustrate how you can uncover actionable journey insights.

The planned journey

A planned journey is a longer decision journey where customers are more involved in research for products and services purchased relatively infrequently (e.g., financial services or big-ticket items). Viewing the journey through latent, evaluation and buying stages can reveal new ideas for optimizing the customer experience. Familiar or popular brands may dominate the initial consideration set in the latent stage but as consumers discuss choices with others and conduct research online, they may conclude that another brand better meets their needs in a later stage…