Mapping Customer Experience Ecosystems

Quietly, something important just happened: the Ecosystem Integrity Index (EII) is now open source. Every team can now reliably set targets and report against a comparable, trustworthy measure of ecosystem health to their stakeholders. That might sound technical. It’s not. It’s a fundamental shift in ecosystem visibility. For years, one of the biggest constraints on nature-based finance hasn’t been intent or capital, it’s been measurement. We’ve had strong data on pressures (land use, climate, extraction). We’ve had deep insight into species responses. But we’ve lacked a unified, scalable, publicly available way to assess ecosystem condition itself. EII begins to change that. This release includes: – Global coverage at 300m resolution – Current-state ecosystem mapping – A Python API for accessible data use – Google Earth Engine integration for scalable analysis Why this matters: – You can’t price risk you can’t see. – You can’t invest at scale without comparability. – And you can’t govern what you can’t measure. Open, system-level metrics like this don’t just support better science, they unlock better markets, better decisions, and better incentive structures. Check it out: https://lnkd.in/gSPQcRwg

How do you and your teams synthesise and select which customer needs or pains to progress in your #product, #design, or #innovation projects? Imagine you've just completed some great customer discovery research, including observing, interviewing and being the customer. You've built some good empathy for who your customers are, what is important to them, what pains them, and what delights them. Then you unpack your findings into some form of empathy map, and you've got 100s of sticky notes everywhere. You've then started to narrow them down to the most promising and interesting observations, but this still leaves you with a sizeable collection and you want to add some rigour to your intuition on which ones to take forward first. Well, here are 3 different methods that I’ve used and iterated over the years: Number One – The Opportunity Scale This first one is the simplest and is inspired by how Alexander Osterwalder et al rank jobs, pains and gains in their book Value Proposition Design, 2014. As a team, you take your short list of observations from your empathy map and rank them from how insignificant/moderate to how important/extreme the need/pain is for the customer with the most important/extreme being prioritised to explore further first. Number two – The Opportunity Matrix A The opportunity matrix increases the rigour and confidence of your prioritizing by adding ‘strength of evidence’ as another dimension. Strength of evidence at this stage of journey can be determined by the number and type of data points. For example, if you heard from several customers that a pain point was extremely painful then you could be more confident this was worth solving than one highlighted by only one customer. Likewise, observing customers do something provides stronger evidence than customers saying they do something. Here you prioritise the most important needs with the strongest evidence first. Something to watch out for is when your team selects an observation that has strong evidence but isn’t that important of a need or pain to customers. Teams can be blinkered by numbers and end up over-investing in time wasting-opportunities. Number three – The Opportunity Matrix B The third method swaps out evidence for fulfilment of the need - how satisfied are customers with their ability to fulfil the need/solve the pain with the solutions they use today? By matching this with the importance of the need/pain we can select those observations that we understand to be the most important and unmet for our customers. You can then overlay the strength of evidence across this ranking to make your final selection even more robust. And to take it to a whole new level and really de-risk your selection you can test your prioritised observations, written as need statements, in quantitative research with customers. This is something that Antony Ulwick shares in his book Jobs To Be Done, 2016. I hope you find these methods useful. #designthinking #humancentreddesign

Gain a data-driven understanding of your customer through Importance-Performance Maps. In today's competitive business world, differentiating your brand by understanding and delivering what truly matters to your customers is crucial. That’s where Importance-Performance Maps (I-P Maps) come in, providing a powerful visual tool to drive strategic decisions. What exactly is an I-P Map? It's a two-by-two grid that allows you to evaluate how well your brand performs in the areas that are important (as well as *not* important) to consumers. The vertical axis represents the importance of various attributes in consumers' eyes, while the horizontal axis shows your brand's performance in those areas. You can include other brands in your market, too, in order to see how your brand stacks up against the competition along those. When done correctly, every critical attribute of your offering -- whether it's product quality, customer service, or pricing -- is plotted on the I-P Map based on these two dimensions. Why does it matter? I-P Maps reveal your brand's strengths and areas where improvement is needed. Here's a breakdown of the quadrants: - Keep It Up (High Importance, High Performance): These are your strengths—attributes that are both highly important to customers and where your brand performs well. Maintain focus here to keep your competitive edge. - Concentrate Here (High Importance, Low Performance): These are critical areas where your brand is underperforming, despite their high importance to customers. Improving performance here can significantly boost customer satisfaction. - Low Priority (Low Importance, Low Performance): Attributes that are less important and where performance is lower. These areas may not require immediate attention but should be monitored for any shifts in customer priorities. - Possible Overkill (Low Importance, High Performance): Here, your brand may be over-delivering in areas that are not as important to customers. Resources invested here might be better allocated to areas of higher impact. How do I use I-P Maps? Use I-P Maps to make informed decisions backed by data that align with customer expectations. Fix those areas of underperformance that are important to consumers. Stop investing in attributes of your product or service that consumers just don't care about. Prioritize investment in product offerings, elevate aspects of customer service, or reallocate resources to close competitive gaps or strengthen your advantages. Use I-P Maps to make informed choices that improve your business performance in impactful and efficient ways. Art+Science Analytics Institute | University of Notre Dame | University of Notre Dame - Mendoza College of Business | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | University of Chicago | D'Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University | ELVTR | Grow with Google - Data Analytics #Analytics #DataStorytelling

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐩 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐢𝐞𝐬 Imagine walking into a discount store. You expect minimal frills, functional service, and low prices. Now, picture stepping into a high-end ⌚luxury brand store. Your expectations shift—you anticipate impeccable service, premium products, and an experience to match. This difference in expectation mirrors what customers experience every day, whether they’re choosing fast food over fine dining or economy seats over first-class luxury. It’s in the gap between what’s expected and what’s delivered that customer loyalty is born—or lost. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 The higher your brand's position in the mind of the customer, the more extraordinary their expectations. Luxury isn’t just a price tag—it’s a promise of an elevated experience. And when that promise isn’t met, dissatisfaction grows exponentially. 🤔Consider this simple formula: ✅Higher experience than expectation = success ❌Lower experience than expectation = failure McDonald’s customers don’t expect white-glove service—they want fast, consistent meals. A Michelin-starred restaurant, however, carries the weight of diners’ high expectations for exquisite food, perfect service, and an unforgettable atmosphere. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐬 𝐊𝐞𝐲 No matter your industry, your team’s ability to meet—or exceed—customer expectations is critical. Their behavior must align with the brand’s promise. In a discount store, friendliness and efficiency might suffice. In a luxury boutique, customers expect personalized attention, deep product knowledge, and a sense of exclusivity. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥’𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. Lessons from Everyday Comparisons 🏬 Uniqlo vs. Prada: Practicality vs. Prestige. ✈️ Economy vs. Suites: Convenience vs. Comfort. 🍽️ Fast Food vs. Fine Dining: Speed vs. Sophistication. Each comparison highlights how expectation sets the bar, and the experience delivered determines loyalty. 🤔 Remember To build loyal customers, focus on closing the gap: * Train your staff to embody your brand’s promise. * Understand the expectations your customers bring with them. * Strive to exceed those expectations with every interaction. Because in the end, whether it’s a cup of coffee or a luxury suite, customers don’t just buy products—they buy experiences. 📌 Want more content like this? Follow me Andrew Calvert, PCC Follow Serendipity Engine

Bad customer experience (CX) is costly. But worse than the cost is the damage it can do to your business. We’ve all seen the fallout from poor customer interactions—lost sales, negative reviews, and damaged reputations. That’s why it’s crucial to prioritize and enhance CX. Here are key strategies to implement: ➡ Map the Customer Journey: Each click and interaction shapes their perception. Create detailed personas to uncover needs, behaviors, and pain points. ➡ Process Inventory: Identify inefficiencies, like delayed shipping, by mapping the customer journey and tracing issues back to their roots. ➡ Ethnographic Research: Study customers in their natural settings to gain insights data alone can't capture. Align strategies with genuine customer expectations. ➡ Cultivate a Customer-Centric Culture: Follow Tesla’s lead—ensure every employee is driven to enhance CX, fostering continuous feedback and adaptation. ➡ Leverage Data: Use a 360-degree view of each customer to predict needs, personalize interactions, and exceed expectations. Don’t cut corners when it comes to improving CX. Focus on these strategies to drive loyalty and revenue. It’s worth it.

Great journey maps start from the intersection of user touchpoints. A customer journey map shows a customer's experiences with your organization, from when they identify a need to whether that need is met. Journey maps are often shown as straight lines with touchpoints explaining a user's challenges. start •—------------>• finish At the heart of this approach is the user, assuming that your product or service is the one they choose to use in their journey. While journey maps help explain the conceptual journey, they often give the wrong impression of how users are trying to solve their problems. In reality, users start from different places, have unique ways of understanding their problems, and often have expectations that your service can't fully meet. Our testing and user research over the years has shown how varied these problem-solving approaches can be. Building a great journey map involves identifying a constellation of touchpoints rather than a single, linear path. Users start from different points and follow various paths, making their journeys complex and varied. These paths intersect to form signals, indicating valuable touchpoints. Users interact with your product or service in many different ways. User journeys are not straightforward and involve multiple touchpoints and interactions…many of which have nothing to do with your company. Here’s how you can create valuable journeys: → Using open-ended questions and a product like Helio, identify key touchpoints, pain points, and decision-making moments within each journey. → Determine the most valuable touchpoints based on the intersection frequency and user feedback. → Create structured lists with closed answer sets and retest with multiple-choice questions to get stronger signals. → Represent these intersections as key touchpoints that indicate where users commonly interact with your product or service. → Focus on these touchpoints for further testing and optimization. Generalizing the linear flow can be practical once you have gone through this process. It helps tell the story of where users need the most support or attention, making it a helpful tool for stakeholders. Using these techniques, we’ve seen engagement nearly double on websites we support. #productdesign #productdiscovery #userresearch #uxresearch

Most customers don’t actually know their goals. We spend so much time trying to “uncover” customer goals, but what if there’s nothing to uncover? Not because customers don’t care. Not because they’re not strategic. But because they’ve never been asked to think that way. Most customers are thinking: “𝘐 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮.” Not: “𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.” Also, the initiative with your tool is new and something they don't do very often so they don't have same level of experience you and your company has. That’s where you come in. You’ve seen hundreds of accounts. You know what success should look like. You know the goals that actually drive results and the benchmarks that show if they’re on track. So here’s how to shift the conversation: 𝟭. 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿:  • Save time  • Save money  • Drive leads  • Boost productivity 𝟮. 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀:  • Open rate  • Cost per lead  • Leads per month  • Resolution time 𝟯. 𝗔𝗱𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝘀: Poor → Good → Best (ex: <5 Leads/mo, 6-15 Leads/mo, 16+ Leads/mo) 𝟰. 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲. If they’re generating 1 lead a month, don’t aim for 25. Example: “𝘎𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘦 10 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴/𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘘1, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦 2 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 20 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴/𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩.”) The opportunity isn’t to 𝘢𝘴𝘬 for customer goals. It’s to help them 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 the right ones together and guide the path forward. Because the CSM isn’t just a partner. You’re the strategic coach they didn’t even know they needed. How do you guide goal setting with your customers? #customersuccess

If you're a Business Analyst, here's a truth bomb 💣— your project's success heavily depends on your stakeholders... even the silent ones. 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥-𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨: 👨💼 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭: A BA worked on a Digital Payment Portal revamp. He gathered requirements from product managers and UI/UX teams and felt confident. But mid-sprint, the Compliance team raised concerns about missing KYC flow updates and halted progress for 2 weeks. Why? He never identified them as stakeholders in the first place. 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝: A missed stakeholder can mean a missed requirement, delayed delivery, or worse—a failed project. ✅ 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐌𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠: 🔹 Identify – Know who is impacted, who has influence, and who can derail or accelerate your project. 🔹 Analyze – Understand their interests, power, influence, communication preference, and decision-making capacity. 🔹 Map – Use tools like a Power-Interest Grid to prioritize engagement: High Power + High Interest = Manage Closely Low Power + Low Interest = Monitor ❌ 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐁𝐀𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞: 👉 Only talking to obvious stakeholders (like Product Owners) and missing backend teams, compliance, legal, or customer support. 👉 Assuming stakeholder priorities are static. They evolve. 👉 Ignoring stakeholder influence. Some low-profile roles have high informal power. 👉 Not revisiting the stakeholder map when project scope changes. 🎯 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐀𝐬: ✅ Conduct Stakeholder Workshops early. ✅ Leverage organizational charts, project documents, and internal referrals to uncover hidden stakeholders. ✅ Use a Stakeholder Matrix to track their influence, interest, and engagement level. ✅ Keep communication two-way. Ask: “What does success look like for you?” ✅ Revisit the map at every major milestone. 🔁 𝐁𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞: Stakeholder mapping isn't a one-time activity. It’s a strategic, ongoing effort that can make or break your project. BA Helpline

🗺️ Customer Journey Mapping: More than just sticky notes on a wall! When you bring people together to map a customer journey, you’re not just drawing boxes and arrows - you’re uncovering the truth about how your customers actually experience your service. Here’s how to run a simple yet powerful session: 1️⃣ Set the scene Start with a clear journey to map (complaints, repairs, onboarding, arrears - pick one). Agree the start and end points so everyone’s aligned. 2️⃣ Bring the right people Customers, frontline colleagues, back-office teams, leaders. If they touch the journey, they should have a seat at the table. 3️⃣ Walk the steps Document the journey as it really happens today, not how the process map says it should. Capture every stage in the customer’s shoes. 4️⃣ Surface the feelings At each step, ask: how does the customer feel here? Frustrated, confused, reassured, delighted? Emotions are often the missing layer. 5️⃣ Spot the gaps Write down pain points, blockers, and duplication. But don’t forget to highlight the moments that work well as you’ll want to protect these. 6️⃣ Layer in evidence Add data, feedback, and insights to back up the journey. This turns sticky notes into a business case for change. 👉 What to document: ✅️ Steps & touchpoints ✅️ Customer thoughts & feelings ✅️ Pain points & opportunities ✅️ Supporting data & insights ✅️ “Moments of truth” - the make-or-break points in the journey Done well, a journey map becomes more than a workshop artefact. It’s a living tool that guides design, investment, and transformation. Because when you see your service through your customer’s eyes, it becomes impossible to design it any other way.

One of the best things I did as a product leader at Depop was make every team stick their customer journey map on the wall where they sat. It took a little encouragement at first. But soon the walls were overflowing with customer quotes, pain points, prototypes and mental models. You didn't need to ask how a team thought about a problem. You could walk over and see for yourself. Stakeholders couldn't make feature suggestions without the full context staring them in the face. Everyone was more aligned. As with other product artefacts, not all CJMs are created equally, so here's a brief guide to making a GREAT one: 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗣 A CJM breaks the user journey into steps, then captures what happens at each one: • What they see • What they touch • How it makes them feel Touchpoints are every interaction: app screens, emails, support calls, physical product, sales conversations. Not just the app. Look at it from the customer's POV. Thoughts and emotions are the consequence of the touch points. Look for areas of delight to double down on, and frustration to ease. 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗗 𝗢𝗡𝗘 1. Pick a persona. One user type, one goal. Start narrow. 2. Break the journey into steps from the customer's point of view, not yours. 3. Add touchpoints. Include everything: digital, physical, human. 4. Add thoughts and feelings. What do they like? Where do they get stuck? 5. Enrich with data. Quant, customer quotes, feature ideas. 6. Identify where to act. Fix the abandonment cliffs and you polish delight moments. You can do a rough draft on your own in 1-2 hours. But you get much richer insights and alignment by building this in a cross-functional workshop. 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗢𝗡 𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗦 • "Once and done". You run the workshop, create the artefact and then never use it. • Detached from reality. You document what you think, not what your customers' think. • Product focus. You map the screens, not the holistic flow from the customer POV. • Qualitative only. You don't include hard metrics that help you size problems. Free Miro + Figma templates + guide: https://lnkd.in/eK8u8ZkS 13x real examples (Spotify, Airbnb, eBay, Uber + more): https://lnkd.in/e-THGRYw Webinar walk through: https://lnkd.in/ebHa3FKK Product Discovery course: https://lnkd.in/etJAQnP6 --- Hustle Badger gives super practical advice to Product Managers and anyone who wants to master AI. → Courses → Templates → Playbooks → Community