Mapping Experiences, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 6. Investigate: Make It Real

“You can observe a lot just by watching.”

—Yogi Berra

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Reviewing existing information
• Interviewing internally
• Creating a draft map
• Contextual inquiry and analysis
• Quantitative research
• Case study: Music curation—user research and diagramming at Sonos

I’m often stunned by how little some organizations know about the people they serve. Sure, they may have detailed demographic data, comprehensive purchasing statistics, and the like. But they fail to understand the fundamental needs and motivations of their customers.

Part of the problem is that people’s behaviors are often irrational. They act on emotions and subjective beliefs. These are harder to understand and quantify and are generally not part of the business vernacular.

Many organizations simply have a low appetite for understanding the customer experience. These same organizations might be willing to spend tens of thousands on market analysis reports—but getting out, speaking with customers, and observing them directly receives little attention.

Uncovering deep emotional connections to products and services is a messy endeavor, but this type of investigation gets at the why of customer behavior. It favors understanding over measuring, quality over quantity.

Creating diagrams of experiences breaks this pattern of organizational navel-gazing. It shifts the mindset from inside-out to outside-in. Of course, the diagrams themselves don’t create empathy, but ...