The Traditional Purchase Journey Framework - On Steroids

This is a representation of the purchase journey as depicted in the results of the many repetitive workshop outputs I’ve seen over the years. The workshops use their conflated version of reality so they can cover the most ground in a single project - mostly from the brand perspective (even though the deny that). That doesn’t mean it’s good, it means it’s shallow, but practitioners are just being practical given the demands and constraints of their sponsors - both sides are to blame. Instead of rehashing my criticisms of journey mapping and analysis, this takes a look at how we can make the traditional approach better. It’s a Step 1 in the right direction.

Think of this content as the framework within which you will conduct your investigation. There’s no need to have workshops in order to pull out pain points. We have 50x the data to work with here, and it can be used to gain a statistical view of the value gaps in the market; not only with your customers, but those of your competitors. All parties are benchmarked against the exact same criteria. All you have to do is construct a proper survey.

Here are the parameters within which you will need to operate:

1. Agree to use a common and undifferentiated view of consumer journeys (we basically do that already)
2. Agree not to have a workshop until we resolve the problem space gaps and move to design - then we can workshop the winning concept that is squarely targeted on data-supported opportunities
3. Generate solution-agnostic consumer success statements (CSS) for each step (phase)
4. Prioritize the CSS’s in a survey of representative consumers (your customers and those of your competitors so you learn how to pull them in)
5. Evaluate the results against your currently provided pathway (as well as those of your competitors) - let the data show you the way
6. Adapt your channels, features and messaging to bridge the identified value gaps
7. Confound your competitors who can only see the features - and not the value gaps (portfolio of underserved needs) that you’re bridging

Of course, I have a much better and more scalable approach than this, which I will link to at some point 😉. Still, this is a far more robust framework heading into traditional journey research than anyone else is doing…I don’t care how pretty their slides are.

Job Steps

Caveat: These are not job steps - they are an attempt to make low fidelity journey mapping somewhat better. They do not follow any of the rules of job mapping, and are actually either brand focused or completely separate customer jobs. Each step is further supported by several performance metrics that customers use to measure success. These are what get prioritized in a survey. They are not pain points (yet).

Job Steps (1)

Contexts

When jobs have too high of a context, insights tend to be less actionable - or at least relevant for certain stakeholders. These contexts provide a means for narrowing the scope of your research in a consistent and structured fashion. Certainly, more contexts exist, and can be addressed with a specific request.

1. Retail Store - A consumer visiting a retail store to purchase a product. This involves evaluating products based on quality, price, and need, interacting with sales staff, and making a buying decision.
2. Online Shopping - Utilizing an e-commerce platform to buy a product. This requires navigating the website, comparing products, reading reviews, and considering delivery options.
3. Consumer Electronics Show - Attending a trade show to explore and purchase the latest consumer electronics. This context involves engaging with vendors, experiencing product demos, and making informed purchasing decisions.