Who should be involved

Journey mapping works best as a collaborative effort that brings together diverse perspectives. Start with a core team of people who can dedicate time to the process. Include someone who talks to customers regularly, like support or sales staff, as they bring real stories and pain points.

Design and product teams contribute by translating insights into actionable improvements. Marketing understands customer motivations and messaging. Technical teams identify what's possible to fix. Finance teams help evaluate the cost implications of improvements and the ROI of proposed solutions. Most importantly, include someone with decision-making power who can act on findings. Beyond the core team, involve customers through interviews or workshops. Their direct input prevents internal bias. Frontline employees offer reality checks on what actually happens versus what's supposed to happen. The key is balancing enough perspectives for richness without making the process unwieldy.

While larger organizations might have dedicated CX departments leading this effort, smaller companies can achieve the same collaborative approach by having a single UX professional coordinate input from various stakeholders. The facilitator's role, whether it's one person or a team of 10, is to ensure all necessary perspectives are included, not to work in isolation.