In our previous guides, we’ve covered defining user personas and using them to guide your design process. Now, let's take the next step: exploring the problem space through experience mapping. 

Start by capturing how your persona currently experiences the problem. This understanding will help you uncover the root causes—whether it’s a broken process or a mismatch in user expectations—and guide you toward more effective solutions. 

How to Explore the Current Experience 

Why You Should Consider Experience Mapping  

Experience mapping is a collaborative tool that creates a shared understanding of the problem and current solutions within your team, highlights pain points to help you prioritize areas for improvement, and provides a clear structure for designing new, user-centered capabilities.  

Utilize narrative tools like textual scenarios and storyboards alongside experience maps.  From here you’ll work through reframing the problem with what you learned about “How Might We” statements to support your innovations. 

Guarantee Success:  

Your alumni community is brimming with peers who have revolutionized their product and design relationships. See how others partner with or manage design teams. Find extended resources in the Design course materials and Design resource bundle.