Journey Mapping Template

Once we’ve developed a set of personas, we can view them as representing audience groups at a single point in time — e.g. Michelle is looking for information on her partner’s health condition; Usman hopes to run a marathon to raise money for a meaningful cause. In reality, individuals are always moving through the world and changing as they do so.

What is Journey Mapping?

This Journey Mapping Template helps us understand how each of the audience groups we create personas for will change over time — Michelle could go on to register for the peer support forum on your website; Usman could decide to volunteer as a fundraising coordinator for his university students’ union.

As we know from our own life experiences, individuals are unique and unpredictable. However, we can look at the common trends amongst a group of users to help us create online experiences that will work for the majority of people. There are lots of examples of journey mapping tools online (often referred to as customer journey tools), but this one is specifically tailored towards charities.

Completing this template will help you consider both people’s material needs and their state of mind at different stages in their relationship with you. Use what you discover through the process to make improvements to all of your digital marketing channels — website, email, social media, digital advertising, etc. 

How to use the Journey Mapping Template

Time: 90 minutes to create journeys for all your personas (3-5).

Resources: Print-outs or digital copies of the Journey Mapping Templates; biros and coloured pens; magazines and glue sticks (optional) and data on your audiences from Google Analytics and social media insights.

Team: We suggest 4-8 people who work or volunteer for your charity and have a good understanding of your beneficiaries, supporters and other stakeholders. If that is not possible completing the template yourself is perfectly fine.

1. Work in pairs to fill out one Journey Mapping Template for each persona.
2. Once you have completed templates for each persona, present them to the rest of the group and add any additional information.
3. Review your journeys at least once a year and update any details that may have changed.

Template headings explained

• Persona name: Bring persona names over from the Audience Persona Template.
• Persona role: Also include the ‘role’ you gave each persona here.
• Needs: What are the different needs for each persona at the different stages of their journey?
• Touchpoints: Where can you offer support and interaction throughout the five stages?
• Feelings: People often come into contact with charities at different points in their lives?

Next steps