Summary: User journeys and user flows both describe processes users go through in order to accomplish their goals. While both tools are useful for planning and evaluating experience, they differ in scope, purpose, and format.
User journeys and user flows are both UX tools that capture how people accomplish goals with certain products or services. They share some similar traits. Both user journeys and user flows are:
- Used during design ideation or evaluation activities for the purpose of understanding and optimizing experience.
- Structured around a user goal and examined from the perspective of the user or customer (not a company or product).
- Captured and communicated via UX-mapping methods.
Their main distinction, however, is the level of detail and focus for each: User journeys describe a user’s holistic, high-level experience across channels and over time. User flows zoom in to describe a set of specific, discrete interactions that make up a common user pathway through a product.
What Is a User Journey?
User Journey: A narrative framework detailing the series of actions a customer undertakes to achieve a primary objective with a brand or product, often spanning multiple channels and extending over a period of time.
The fundamental aim of a user journey is strategic and overarching. To depict this journey accurately, one must grasp the user's experience through various touchpoints, as it often encompasses interactions with multiple channels or sources of information.
Take the journey of a new patient as an example. When someone is in the process of selecting and assessing a new doctor, they encounter numerous touchpoints across an extended period (spanning days, weeks, or months): exploring the practice's website for information, making a call to book an appointment, getting email updates, visiting the doctor's office in person, utilizing a patient portal for information access, and possibly making follow-up calls as needed.
The journey of a new patient involves multiple interactions over a considerable duration.
Given the intricate nature of the journey, incorporating insights into users' emotions and thoughts alongside their actions can greatly enhance the analysis and improvement of the experience.
Journey maps serve as a popular tool for depicting these journeys, offering a narrative and descriptive view. They go beyond merely listing the steps toward a goal, instead weaving a story centered around the user's experience.
These maps chart the course of customer or user journeys, illustrating not just the actions taken, but also the thoughts and emotions experienced by users as they navigate towards their objective over time and through various channels.
The most effective research techniques for journey mapping typically involve contextual approaches, like field studies and diary studies. These methods reveal long-term user goals and behaviors as they occur in real-time. Integrating these with user interviews helps to directly identify users' frustrations and needs.
What Is a User Flow?
Definition: A user flow outlines the sequence of interactions that represent the standard or optimal steps required for completing a routine task with a product.
In contrast to a user journey, a user flow focuses on more detailed objectives, honing in on specific actions within a single product.
Examples of goals suitable for user flows include: buying a tennis racket on a sports equipment website, registering for email notifications on a credit score tracking app, or changing a profile photo on a corporate intranet. These objectives are typically achieved in a short timeframe (ranging from minutes to a few hours) and involve a concise series of interactions.
User flows are often depicted using tools like low-fidelity wireflows, straightforward flowcharts, or task diagrams. These visual representations outline essential steps taken by the user and the corresponding system reactions, without delving into the users' emotions and thoughts as journey maps do.
Wireflows specifically illustrate the preferred or common route through various screens or pages necessary to complete a particular task.
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The optimal approach to gather data for mapping user flows is through usability testing, enabling observation of users engaging with the product in specific scenarios. Similar to user journeys, analytical tools that track user interactions, such as click heatmaps, serve as valuable supplementary sources for insights.
Integrating User Journeys and User Flows
Merging user journeys and user flows is beneficial for gaining a comprehensive understanding of user experiences at both the macro and micro levels. User flows offer an in-depth examination of particular segments within the broader user journey framework.
Taking the earlier example of the new-patient journey, certain activities involve digital interactions (like searching for information on the practice's website or viewing results in a patient portal). Mapping out user flows for these specific tasks allows for a detailed analysis of the micro-level experiences within the overarching journey.
Analyzing both user journeys and user flows together enriches the context and comprehension of the user experience.
However, many teams struggle to link these perspectives due to internal structural gaps, the absence of integrated measurement strategies, or simply the lack of resources and expertise required for such analysis.
To decide whether a user journey or user flow is more appropriate for your needs, consider these questions:
- Does the user experience span multiple channels or products (e.g., your company’s website)? User journeys are ideal for capturing multi-channel activities; user flows are best for detailing interactions within a single product.
- Is the goal achievable within minutes or hours, or does it extend over days, weeks, or months? User journeys suit longer-term activities; user flows are tailored for short-term objectives.
- Is it important to understand not just the actions but also the emotions and thoughts of users through complex decision-making processes? User journeys provide this holistic view; user flows focus strictly on the sequence of steps without delving into emotional or cognitive states.
