Evaluating Customer Journey Map, Emotion Capture
Card and Mental Model for a Better Grasp of
Changing Experience
Sen Lin
(316) 42172997
Delft, the Netherlands
[email protected]
ABSTRACT
answer is “How can we map ‘dynamic elements of
experience’ in a more insightful way?”
Many methodologies have been frequently used for
mapping out the user experience. However, these
models and theories often measure people’s
experience in a static state while experience is a
dynamic process and should not be limited to a
certain moment. In this paper, we explore the
dynamic elements in experience that trigger the
change. Based on that, Customer Journey Map,
Emotion Capture Card and Mental Model as three
representative methods are tested in a real case. The
evaluation of their capabilities in capturing dynamics
of experiences are presented as the evidence, for
indicating how designers can map changing
experiences overtime in a better way.
Within this paper, the dynamic elements in experience
are being discussed. Then Customer Journey Map,
Emotion Capture Card and Mental Model are tested
through a real case, using the dynamic elements
previously listed as the evaluation criteria in order to find
their pros and cons in grasping the changing experiences.
Furthermore based on the reflection, possible direction of
improvement is suggested.
EXPERIENCE STRUCTURE
Experience has different definitions which can mean
immediate personal feelings and emotions, a past history
of earlier interactions also the knowledge and skills
people gained from that past [2]. The user experience we
focus on in this paper is more related to the personal
feelings during a period of time. The conceptual model
of passenger experience adapted from Harrison et al. in
Figure 1 shows the relationship between user
expectations, perceptions and satisfaction [3] which also
has correlation with the basic model of product emotions
adapted from Desmet [4]. The emotion or feeling at one
moment is attributed to the perceived stimulus from
human-product interaction in that context and the
concern raised by past experience [5].
Keywords
User experience, dynamics, method, customer journey,
emotion
INTRODUCTION
The experience economy has already come [1] while user
experience is nowadays indeed a hot issue and key factor
in the saturated consumer markets. Donald Norman
introduced the term “user experience” in mid-1990s and
it has been used broadly in many fields as a new black
horse in business culture. The rise of user experience (or
UX) raised the attention of companies and many of them
have dedicated teams consist of UX designers
specialized in it.
In general, designers apply certain kinds of
methodologies to map out the overall experience with
various models focusing on different aspects after
conducting user research and interviews. They collect
users’ feedbacks on several moments and after that they
try to map out the overall experience with these points.
This sometimes could be inaccurate because emotion or
feeling is not only influenced by the context where the
interaction takes place at that moment. The past
experience also has an impact on the future. For instance,
a frequent flyer accepts it as natural to get the travel
package offering by the airline while a new passenger
will be surprised when receiving it. That is to say, factors
distributed in different periods instead of a same timeline
lead to the changing experience overtime. If we are able
to capture this kind of “dynamics” of experiences,
designers could gain insight into more related and correct
factors that cause the low satisfaction of users as well as
opportunities. Hence the key question this paper aims to
Figure 1: A conceptual model of passenger experience
(adapted from Harrison et al., 2012)
Figure 2: Basic model of product emotions (adapted from
Desmet, 2002)
From the two models of experience and emotion, it can
be apparently concluded that the present satisfaction is
influenced by both current perceived stimulus and
1 previous experience. It is important to trace the dynamic
elements in these phases as they are the triggers that
cause the transition of experience. And they are the
sections that create the framework of experience
mapping diagrams as well. The conceptual model for
aircraft passenger comfort in Figure 3 indicates the interrelationship among those related elements in the big
context [6]. Based on this, the model from Harrison and
Desmet, the dynamic elements can be concluded.
the experience. Designers can gain a deep insight into the
real case happened to users through their quotes of
thinking.
7. Emotions
An emotion is elicited by an evaluation of an event or
situation so it is the interpretation of an event [4].
Emotions are intuitive outcome of experience and have a
large impact on users’ appraisal of satisfaction [7].
METHODS FOR EXPERIENCE MAPPING
Experience mapping is a collaborative, iterative process
for synthesizing and visualizing the holistic customer
experience which can help create value for both users and
organization [8].
Design teams apply different methods to map out
experience, among which Customer Journey Map,
Emotion Capture Cards and Mental Model are most
frequently used for capturing feeling and emotions [8].
Customer Journey Map is “the process of creating a
graphical representation of the steps and stages a
customer goes through to experience a product or
service.”
Figure 3: Conceptual model for aircraft passenger comfort
(Ahmadpour, N., Robert, J.-M., Pownall, B., 2014)
Emotion Capture Cards (ECC) refers to the procedure
that researcher notes the emotion and corresponding
concern of a user on a separate card by using the
laddering-type interview technique [9] asking for a
specific experienced emotion [10]. Many ECCs can be
collected for the experience mapping.
DYNAMIC ELEMENTS IN EXPERIENCE
1. Personal Characteristics
The characteristics of users unlike most other elements
are uncontrollable as the properties. On the one hand,
they are stable because psychological, physiological and
socioeconomic factors [6] will not change abruptly. On
the other hand, they are dynamic because various people
just have very different personalities and background
which can be the inner triggers.
Mental Model is a two-layer model which the top part of
the model is a visual depiction of the behavior of a
particular audience, representing root motivations, while
the bottom part of the model shows various ways of
supporting matching behaviors [11]. It shows what
people need to conduct the behavior in detail in their
experience.
2. Expectations
An expectation is something that people wish to happen imaginatively. Expectations are generated from past
experience and related to the characteristics as well. In
addition, expectations are also influenced by the personal
impression of the organization or brand, such as public
relation and brand reputation [6].
EVALUATION WITH EXPLORATORY TEST
I conducted a test with the topic “First-time Netherlands
Railway Experience of International Students” on two
people, by applying the three representative methods
(Customer Journey Map, ECC and Mental Model). The
goal of the test is to evaluate the capability of current
methods on capturing the dynamic elements listed above.
The large version of the diagrams are included in
Appendix 1, 2 and 3.
3. Goals
Goals are the end results people want to achieve while
expectations are more like the imagination of experience.
Goals vary from different stages and people.
4. Environmental Factors
Customer Journey Map
Environmental factors include physical, social and
situational factors [6]. They are the main stimulus of
perceived experience with touchpoints and are changing
through time and location.
Customer Journey Map is one of the most prevailing
methods for experience mapping. Figure 4 and 5 are the
graphical maps of two customers’ experiences. Goals,
actions, touchpoints and emotions are listed in the
journey maps which show the overview of steps and
interactions of the customer going through the timeline.
It clearly points out the strengths and weaknesses of each
stage, especially those that affect the user experience.
Opportunities and improvements can be pointed out for
further development of service blueprint.
5. Actions
Actions are what people actually do and interact during
the experience. Usually it is interesting to compare
actions with expectations and goals.
6. Thinking
Thinking is the thought process behind actions. It
expresses user’s detailed feeling and opinions towards
2 However, Customer Journey Map is not able to dig
deeper into the inner part of users revealing the vivid
characters. Dynamic elements like characteristics,
expectations and thinking are lacked because of the
breadth it provides.
Figure 7: Experience Map of Yee Jek Khaw’s First-time
Netherlands Railway Experience
Mental Model
Mental model offers a deep understanding of people’s
motivations and thought processes along with the
emotional and philosophical landscape in which they are
operating [11]. The relationship between the behavior
and support section generates opportunities. Mental
Model is hierarchical which displays the hierarchy of
behavior, emotions and philosophy in a journey. It dives
deep into the human behavior to bring the actual needs
of users to light and it depicts the whole of the user’s
environment. And that is why it doesn’t focus on things
at psychological level (expectations, emotions, thinking)
but behavioral level (actions, environmental factors).
Mental Model is quite scientific and rational in
comparison with Customer Journey Map and Experience
Map. It is not intuitive and inspiring enough for grasping
the dynamics of experience.
Figure 4: Customer Journey Map of Xinjie Zhang’s Firsttime Netherlands Railway Experience
Figure 5: Customer Journey Map of Yee Jek Khaw’s
First-time Netherlands Railway Experience
Emotion Capture Cards (Experience Map)
The Experience Maps in Figure 6 and 7 are made based
on the Emotion Capture Cards I collected through the
laddering-type interviews with customers. I collected 9
ECCs with quotes, feelings and the general context
happened to customers. Mapping all these “milestones”
in an integrated map provides an approach to access
customers’ real concerns, such as expectations, thinking
and complaints. Comparing to Customer Journey Map,
Experience Map zooms into vital moments uncovering a
rich and truthful profile of a character. What’s more, the
use of raw quotes provides designers with great help to
gain empathy immersing into the context.
Figure 8: Mental Model of Xinjie Zhang’s First-time
Netherlands Railway Experience
While Experience Map targets on the emotional and
feeling part of the overall experience laying emphasis on reverting the detailed context, it fails to review the
experience from the Macro perspective. Lacking
evidence of the broad environmental factors may lead to
fixation of problem solving and adhere to the small
details when deciding the transition part.
Figure 9: Mental Model of Yee Jek Khaw’s First-time
Netherlands Railway Experience
DISCUSSION
From the evaluation of the three methods. We can come
up with two main problems of current experiencemapping methods:


Proportion of scope and focus means the length of time
and the completeness of details that the method would
Figure 6: Experience Map of Xinjie Zhang’s First-time
Netherlands Railway Experience
3 Proportion of scope and focus
Alignment at single moment
like to present. Customer Journey Map and Mental
Model mainly show the complete experience (in different
ways) while Experience Map from Emotion Capture
Cards chooses to focus on highlight points. If we could
combine methods with different scope and focus, then
experience could be either zoomed in and out which
enables designers to control the overall experience and
discover the subtle triggers.
Figure 11 (Appendix 5) is an example of how Experience
Roadmap works simply. It is a zoomed-in part focusing
on the experience of buying tickets. We can find out that
the expectation and action in the stage of Planning also
have impact on the stage of Buying Tickets. In addition,
the characteristics in the persona part explain the inner
reasons why other elements occur. More importantly,
designers can gain more insights on how the things
happened during the process of making the linkages.
Alignment at single moment is the common format for
most experience mapping tools. However, as discussed
before, the factors which lead to the changing experience
are scattered from the past to now. Paying attention to
only one moment is not precise enough to indicate the
future development. Building connections with all
possible factors throughout the timeline will generate
rich insights while roadmap could be an analogue. If we
can add the dynamic elements listed or more into the
experience map and make linkages from bottom to top,
we can then have a clear understanding of why and how
the emotion or feeling comes into being.
However, making a complete Experience Roadmap in
detail is lots of work and the map will become very
complex and messy. So before zooming in, a general map
showing overall emotional changes should be made to
have a big picture of the experience. After that, designers
and researchers can decide to lay emphasis on a certain
part and conduct the detailed roadmap
REFERENCES
1. LaSalle, Diana and Terry A. Britton (2003). Priceless.
Turning Ordinary Products into Extraordinary
Experiences. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
RECOMMENDATION: EXPERIENCE ROADMAP
2. Pieter Jan Stappers and Froukje Sleeswijk Visser
(2007). A gentle introduction to context. Context and
Conceptualization ID.
After reflecting on the problems of methods being used.
I make a draft of “Experience Roadmap” as an
exploratory try to deal with these barriers by applying the
logic of roadmapping to experience-mapping. Also it
combines the advantages of Customer Journey Map,
Emotion Capture Cards and Mental Model.
3. Deconstructing Expected Passenger Experience in
Airports, Philip Kirk, Anna Harrison, Vesna Popovic,
Ben Kraal. DRS 2014: Design's big debates, Umea,
Sweden, June 16-19, 2014.
4. Desmet, P. M. A., & Hekkert, P. (2007). Framework
of product experience. International Journal of
Design, 1(1), 57-66.
5. Schifferstein, H.N.J., Sleeswijk Visser, F. (2013).
Designing for user experiences in specific contexts:
Contributions from contextmapping. Advanced
design methods for successful innovation, 78-93.
6. Ahmadpour, N., Robert, J.-M., & Pownall, B. (2014).
The dynamics of passenger comfort experience:
understanding the relationship between passenger
and the aircraft cabin interior. DRS2014. Umea.
Figure 10: Basic Structure of Experience Roadmap
Roadmap is used to align technology investments with
innovation strategy. One feature of roadmap is that it can
map out all the factors needed bottom-up to achieve the
final goal [12]. Similarly, we can also connect the
essential dynamic elements to grasp the transition of
emotions. Figure 10 (Appendix 4) shows the basic
structure of Experience Roadmap. The dynamic elements
are listed aside in which emotion and feeling is at the top
as the intuitive outcome of experience. Bottom-up
linkages of different factors throughout the timeline are
made to indicate how certain emotion is aroused.
7. Diane M. Phillips, Hans Baumgartner (2002). The
Role of Consumption Emotions in the Satisfaction
Response. Journal of Consumer Psychology.
8. Jim Kalbach. (2016). Mapping Experiences: A
Complete Guide to Creating Value through Journeys,
Blueprints, and Diagrams.
9. Thomas J. Reynolds and Jonathan Gutman (1988).
Laddering
theory,
method,
analysis,
and
interpretation. Journal of Advertising Research.
10. Herbert L Meiselman (2016). Emotion Measurement.
11. Indi Young (2008). Mental Models: Aligning Design
Strategy with Human Behavior.
12. Robert Phaal (2015). Roadmapping for strategy and
innovation.
Figure 11: Part of Yee Jek Khaw’s Experience Roadmap
4 APPENDIX
CUSTOMER
JOURNEY
MAP
E
NE
HOME
PLANNING
AP
DEPARTURE STATION
BUYING TICKETS
CHECK-IN
STATION PLATFORM
ENTERING PLATFORM
TRAIN
WAITING
ARRIVAL STATION
ON THE TRAIN
ARRIVAL
GET OUT
Xinjie Zhang
Delft
GOAL
ACTION
Amsterdam
Find the right
train with right
time and location
Get the right
tickets
Search for 9292
Use friend’s OV
card to buy tickets
Get in quickly
Enter the right
platform
Find another friend
Have a rest
Get off asap
Find the right
way to go out
Text message
to friend
Take personal
things out
Pack the bag
Follow friends
Put on clothes
Check the ticket
Watch the timetable
board & screen
Read a book
Check the train again
Use the ticket
to check in
Walk downstairs
Negotiate with
Ducth friend to
help buy tickets
Wait at the door
Watch the scenery
Press open button
TOUCH
POINT
9292 App
Ticket machine
Ticket gate
Station
infrastructure
Mobile phone
Timetable board
Screen
Train infrastructure
Broadcast
Screen
Ticket inspector
Train door
Open button
Signs
Ticket machine
Cozy
EMOTION
Normal
Hurried
Stressed
Hurried
Relaxed
Normal
Little upset
Normal
CUSTOMER
JOURNEY
MAP
HOME
PLANNING
DEPARTURE STATION
BUYING TICKETS
CHECK-IN
STATION PLATFORM
ENTERING PLATFORM
TRAIN
WAITING
ARRIVAL STATION
ON THE TRAIN
ARRIVAL
GET OUT
Yee Jek Khaw
Delft
Utrecht
GOAL
Find the right
train with right
time and location
Get the cheapest
right tickets
Get onto the
platform
Enter the right
platform on the
right time
Check the train again
Find a seat where can
see the screen
Get off asap
Find the closest
way to go out
ACTION
Search NS.nl
& Google map
for trains
Check the
coin machine
Find the place
to tag ticket
Go downstairs
Watch the timetable
board & screen
Find the place with
less people
Pack the bag
Look at the
direction signs
Put on jacket
Take off bag &
take personal
things out
Ask reception desk
Prepare the coins
Exchange coins
in supermarket
Ask Ns staff
Find the exit
Wait at the door
Check Google
map
Check mobile phone
Buy tickets
Check the screen
TOUCH
POINT
NS website
Google map
Coin machine
Reception desk
Supermarket
Ticket machine
Ticket gate
Station
infrastructure
Timetable board
Screen
Train infrastructure
Broadcast
Mobile phone
Screen
Ticket inspector
Double check
the location
Exit sign
Train door
Mobile phone
Signs
NS staff
Google map
Ticket machine
Excited
EMOTION
Normal
Nervous
Annoyed
Worried
Unsure
Bored
Chaos
Overwhelmed
APPENDIX
E
EMOTION
CAPTURE
CARDS
I N
AP
E
A D
EXPE IEN E
HOME
PLANNING
AP
DEPARTURE STATION
BUYING TICKETS
CHECK-IN
STATION PLATFORM
ENTERING PLATFORM
TRAIN
WAITING
ARRIVAL STATION
ON THE TRAIN
ARRIVAL
GET OUT
EXPERIENCE MAP
Xinjie Zhang
Delft
Amsterdam
“Watching the scenery
and reading book
made me feel better.”
“Had no idea how to
buy tickets. Just learn it.”
My friends helped me buy
the tickets with OV card.
“Couldn’t find a
with my friends.”
Emotion
& Feeling
Relaxed
I sat alone with strangers.
A bit confused
Angry
“I had to change my schedule
in order to catch the train.”
The time of the most suitable
train was a bit earlier than the
time we plan to meet.
Normal
Normal
Nothing speical.
Followed my friends.
Nervous
Nervous
“Does the machine work?”
“Just I didn’t know if the train shown
on the screen is coming or leaving.”
I was quite nervous whether
the ticket gate would work.
I found it quite hard to
understand the screen.
Bored
Bored
“We waited at the door earlier
because we know lots of people
would gt off at Amsterdam.”
I waited at the door for several minutes.
EMOTION
CAPTURE
CARDS
HOME
PLANNING
DEPARTURE STATION
BUYING TICKETS
CHECK-IN
STATION PLATFORM
ENTERING PLATFORM
TRAIN
WAITING
ARRIVAL STATION
ON THE TRAIN
ARRIVAL
GET OUT
EXPERIENCE MAP
Yee Jek Khaw
Delft
Utrecht
“I was glad it
finally arrived.”
“Timetable board is confusing
due to the large amounts of
information and abbreviation.”
Emotion
& Feeling
“Why can’t I use the
notes to buy tickets.”
Annoyed
I didn’t have enough coins
so I had to exchange
some in supermarket.
“I used different apps to
find the right train.”
I used both NS website
and Google map.
Angry
Nervous
Nervous
“Scared that the gate
door would hit me.”
“The station lacked
enough signs I think.”
I had a slight delay after
tagging the ticket.
I was a bit lost at
the beginning.
Relaxed
I could not find the train
at the first glance.
“The announcement
is in Dutch.”
Nervous
Confused
Overwhelmed
“I had to detour
without any idea.”
Angry
“Hard to find a seat in the morning peak.
And the silent carriage was noisy.”
I walked 4 carriages to find a seat.
People around kept talking aloud.
Lots of construction was
going on in the station and
the map didn’t show it.
APPENDIX
EN A
MENTAL
MODEL
DE
HOME
DEPARTURE STATION
STATION PLATFORM
TRAIN
ARRIVAL STATION
Xinjie Zhang
Delft
Amsterdam
PLANNING
Check
the
schedule
Timetable
Find
right
train
Talk
with
friend
9292
BUYING TICKETS
Borrow
the
OV
card
Buy
tickets
Whats
app
OV
card
Messenger
Ticket
machine
CHECK-IN
Tag
the
ticket
Walk
in
Ticket
Ticket
gate
Signs
ENTERING
PLATFORM
Follow
friends
Walk
downstairs
Signs
WAITING
Find
friend
Watch
timetable
board
Watch
screen
Whats
app
Timetable
Messenger
NS staff
Escalator
Lift
ON THE TRAIN
Find
a seat
ARRIVAL
Read
book
Watch
screen
Wait
at door
Screen
Window
Screen
Handle
bar
Phone
Light
Phone
Wall
Desk
board
NS staff
Seat
Seat
GET OUT
Follow
friends
Press
button
Button
Signs
Ticket
gate
MENTAL
MODEL
HOME
DEPARTURE STATION
STATION PLATFORM
TRAIN
ARRIVAL STATION
Yee Jek Khaw
Delft
Utrecht
PLANNING
Check
the
schedule
Timetable
Find
right
train
NS.nl
Google
map
BUYING TICKETS
Exchange
coins
Prepare
for
coins
Wallet
Buy
tickets
Coin
machine
Coins
NS staff
Ticket
machine
Supermarket
NS staff
CHECK-IN
Tag
the
ticket
Walk
in
Ticket
Ticket
gate
Signs
ENTERING
PLATFORM
WAITING
Find
platform
Walk
downstairs
Watch
timetable
board
Watch
screen
Signs
Signs
Timetable
Screen
NS staff
Escalator
Lift
Find
a seat
and
quiet
place
ARRIVAL
Check
phone
Watch
screen
Wait
at door
Desk
board
Screen
Handle
bar
Phone
NS staff
Google
map
ON THE TRAIN
Phone
GET OUT
Find
way
out
Press
button
Button
Signs
NS staff
Wall
Seat
Seat
Mobile
phone
Google
map
Ticket
gate
APPENDIX 4 Structure of Experience Roadmap
EXPERIENCE
ROADMAP
HOME
PLANNING
DEPARTURE STATION
BUYING TICKETS
CHECK-IN
STATION PLATFORM
ENTERING PLATFORM
TRAIN
WAITING
ARRIVAL STATION
ON THE TRAIN
ARRIVAL
GET OUT
Yee Jek Khaw
Delft
Utrecht
Relaxed
EMOTION
& FEELING
Annoyed
Nervous
Angry
THINKING
ACTION
ENVIRONMENT
GOAL
EXPECTATION
PERSONA
Nervous
Confused
Nervous
Angry
Overwhelmed
APPENDIX 5 Part of Experience Roadmap
EXPERIENCE
ROADMAP
HOME
DEPARTURE STATION
PLANNING
BUYING TICKETS
CHECK-IN
Yee Jek Khaw
Delft
Utrecht
EMOTION
& FEELING
Annoyed
Nervous
Angry
THINKING
ACTION
ENVIRONMENT
GOAL
EXPECTATION
I used different apps to double check the train.
And I knew I should prepare some coins.
Scared that the gate door would hit me.
Search NS.nl & Google map
Prepare the coins
Check the coin machine
Ask reception desk
Exchange coins in supermarket
Buy tickets
Find place to tag ticket
Walk in
NS website
Wallet
Coin machine
NS staff
Supermarket
Coins
Ticket
Ticket gate
Google map
Coins
Wallet
Ticket machine
Ticket gate
Coins
Ticket
Find the right train with right time and location
Get the cheapest right tickets
Get onto the platform
Have all the time schedule in control
Get the coins and buy ticket quickly
Hope not miss the train
Hope I can get more coins from the coin machine
PERSONA
Why can’t I use the notes to buy tickets?
I didn’t know the coin machine was broken.
Time Strict
Get fully prepared