The Toolkit / Research / The Map
Research · Tool 03 of 16
The Map
Invent the journeys they'd love.
Imagine ideal journeys for each hero, moment by moment, and the value each moment gives them.
The board
Ten sections on one page
Print it, fill it in, and score each section from 1 to 5. Your score is out of 50.
How to use it
The ten sections of the Map
What to do in each section, and what a 1, a 3 and a 5 look like. Score yourself honestly; the low scores tell you where to work next.
- 1
The hero
Who this journey is for.
Pick a hero from the Storyboard.
- 1Started
- A type of person.
- 3Good
- A hero from the Storyboard.
- 5Excellent
- A hero from the Storyboard, with their pain and their words open beside you.
- 2
From → to
Where they are, and where they want to be.
Copy the hero's from → to from the Storyboard. The journey must get them there.
- 1Started
- Left out.
- 3Good
- Copied from the Storyboard.
- 5Excellent
- Copied from the Storyboard, and the journey clearly ends at their “to”.
- 3
Today, as we understand it
The path they take now, if there is one.
If they have a path today, sketch its moments and the biggest friction. It may not exist.
- 1Started
- Left vague.
- 3Good
- Today's main moments and the biggest friction.
- 5Excellent
- Today's path moment by moment, from what they've said, with where it hurts most, or a note that no path exists yet.
- 4
The moments
First they go here, then there.
Invent the journey as a row of moments: where they are, and what happens.
- 1Started
- One moment, or a list of features.
- 3Good
- Three or more moments in order.
- 5Excellent
- A clear path of moments, each a real situation in their life, from where they start to where they end.
- 5
What they feel
At each moment.
Write what they feel at each moment.
- 1Started
- Left out.
- 3Good
- A feeling for most moments.
- 5Excellent
- A specific feeling for every moment, rising to the end.
- 6
The value they get
What each moment hands them.
Write what value they get at each moment: something they keep, learn or feel.
- 1Started
- None, or vague.
- 3Good
- Value named for most moments.
- 5Excellent
- Real value at every moment, specific enough to test.
- 7
Where it ends
The moment they arrive.
Describe the last moment, where they become who they wanted to be.
- 1Started
- A vague ending.
- 3Good
- A clear final moment.
- 5Excellent
- A vivid final moment that matches their “to”.
- 8
What must be true
The assumptions it rides on.
List what must be true for this journey to work, each with how confident you are.
- 1Started
- One vague hope.
- 3Good
- Two or three assumptions, with confidence.
- 5Excellent
- Every key assumption, with a confidence, written so the Simulator can test it.
- 9
How bold
From safe to bold.
Mark how bold this journey is. Keep plenty of bold ones, as long as they fit the story.
- 1Started
- Not marked.
- 3Good
- Marked.
- 5Excellent
- Marked, with a line on why it fits the hero's story.
- 10
Status
Draft, kept, tweaked or removed.
Keep the journey's status up to date as you weed out and refine.
- 1Started
- Not marked.
- 3Good
- Marked.
- 5Excellent
- Marked and dated, with why it changed.
How it works
- Made inStep 03 · JourneysInvent the ideal journeys those people would love, moment by moment, unconstrained.
- What it's forImagine ideal journeys for each hero, moment by moment, and the value each moment gives them.
- It feedsThe SimulatorTest the journey before you build it.
