Where do customers give up, and why do the teams that serve them miss it? A user journey map example is most useful when it shows the exact step where a person gives up. Customers often drop out at one step, and the team may never see that step on its own. Teams also work from different pictures of the same path, so they lack a shared view of the problem.
This article covers 14 groups of examples, each grouped by setting. The settings are consumer brands, retail, software, public services, banking and travel. Each example names its stages and pain points, and it shows what the team can change. The goal is simple: you leave with a map your team can use to act.
Key Takeaways
- The drop-off point is the stage where users stop, switch or give up.
- Emotion curves show likely exits, and stage numbers confirm them.
- Teams disagree when each person sees only the stages they own.
- Good maps mark bright spots as well as pain points.
- A fix works only when one named person owns it.
- A map that is never revised hides new drop-out after each release.
What Each Part of a Journey Map Reveals
A journey map shows what the user does, meets, feels and struggles with at each stage. It is a visual record of the steps a person takes toward one goal. Each stage holds a few rows, and each row answers one question about that stage. Read together, the rows show where the person slows down and where they stop.
Most maps hold five or six components. The common set includes actions, touchpoints, pain points, emotions, opportunities and a persona. Some teams skip the persona row and use general customer descriptions instead. Here is what each component shows:
- Actions: the steps the user takes at each stage.
- Touchpoints: the places where the user meets the product, brand or staff.
- Pain points: where the user feels frustrated, confused or stuck.
- Emotions: the feeling at each stage, which signals where interest falls.
- Opportunities: the fix that each pain point suggests.
A drop-out point is easiest to find when every stage appears in order. Skip one stage and the leak can hide inside the gap.
A persona gives the map a face. Uber uses a pair of personas, one for passengers who want smooth rides and one for drivers who want flexible income. Two personas help the team see that a fix for one group can hurt the other. The pair also shows that the same service can carry different pain points for each side.
The rows work best as a stage-by-stage view. A single pain point means little on its own. When the same pain point appears at the same stage across many users, the team has found a real problem. That stage-by-stage view is where drop-off first becomes visible.
User Journey Map Examples From Consumer Brands
The mobile plan switch map from the Nielsen Norman Group shows how a simple purchase can cause frustration at the compare and negotiate stages. It follows a user who changes phone plans in four stages: define, compare, negotiate and select. A line runs from low to high satisfaction across those stages, and a closing row lists improvement opportunities. The map shows that most of the harm happens before the user chooses anything.
Three consumer maps show how one stage can hold the drop-out. Each one follows a different user and exposes a different kind of friction. The table below sets them side by side.
| Map | Whose journey it follows | Where the friction sits |
|---|---|---|
| NN/g mobile plan switch | A user switching mobile plans | The compare and negotiate stages |
| Spotify music sharing | A listener who wants to share music | The share function, which most users did not know existed |
| Netflix finding a show | A made-up persona who searches by hand | The search step, where recommendations go ignored |
The Spotify map found that most users did not know the share function existed. Others worried that friends would judge their music habits. Sharing rose when the feature became visible. The lesson is that a useful tool can sit unused when no one sees it.
The Netflix map follows a fictional persona who skips the recommendations and searches by hand. The map lists the persona’s pain points, motivators and emotions at each step. Its frustration grows during the search, which is the stage where the persona is most likely to leave. Consumer apps show the same pattern: the drop-out sits in a step the team rarely watches. Teams often still disagree about where the path really starts and ends.
Why Teams Lack a Shared View of the Path
Teams disagree because each person sees only the stages they own. Marketing sees the first contact, product sees the tool, support sees the complaint and operations sees the delivery. Each group builds a picture from its own corner. The pictures do not match, and no one sees the whole route.
TurboTax offers a useful case. The team mapped two journeys: the customer’s experience and the tax professional’s experience. The dual view showed where each group got stuck. With both views on the table, the team could target improvements more precisely.
The common gap is the handoff. Each department owns one stage, but no one owns the move from one stage to the next. A customer who moves from a sale to setup to support can fall through that gap. The map should show the handoffs as clearly as the stages.
A map works best as a shared object. People add notes, move sticky notes and fix mistakes together. One mistake breaks this idea. Some teams build a separate map for each department and never compare them. Those maps look finished, yet they hide the handoff problems that cause drop-out.
Locating Drop-Out Points With Emotion Curves and Metrics
A drop-out point shows up first as a dip in the emotion curve, and stage numbers confirm it. The emotion curve is the line that rises and falls with the user’s feelings. A steep drop in feeling at one stage marks a likely exit. The stage numbers then show whether users actually left.
Reading the Emotion Curve
Start with the emotion curve because it points to the place to look. Plot the feeling for each stage on one line. A deep valley marks a stage where users feel stuck, angry or unsure. That valley is the first place to check for an exit.
Do not stop at the curve. A dip shows where feeling falls, but not whether a person quit. Some users feel annoyed and still finish the task. The curve tells you where to look, and the numbers tell you what happened.
Pairing Feelings With Funnel Numbers
Next, pair the curve with stage metrics. Three numbers help most: completion rate, abandonment rate and return rate. Completion shows how many users reach the next stage. Abandonment shows how many quit at a stage. Return rate shows how many come back after the first use.
| Signal | What it suggests | Where to check it |
|---|---|---|
| Emotion curve drop | Feeling falls sharply at one stage, a likely exit | The emotion row, compared with the stage list |
| High abandonment at one stage | Users quit at that step | Stage funnel reports for forms or carts |
| Repeated support contact at one stage | Users cannot finish the step alone | Support ticket tags linked to that stage |
| Low return rate after first use | Users do not come back after one try | Repeat use reports grouped by first-use date |
When two or more signals point to the same stage, the drop-out point is likely there. A repeated support contact and a low return rate after setup, for example, both suggest a setup problem. The team can then test a fix at that stage. One mistake is to read a dip in feeling as a problem without checking whether users actually left. Retail maps show this kind of drop-out most clearly, because each step has a sale at stake.
Retail and E-Commerce Maps That Track the Path to Repeat Purchase
A retail map is most useful when each stage has its own metric. A stage with no number cannot show a leak. Two retail maps show how a team can split the path into stages and track what happens at each one. One follows an online shopper. The other follows a coffee shop regular.
Amazon’s Eight Stage Model
Amazon’s map uses eight stages: passive, need, want, find, buy, get, retain and re-engage. Each stage has its own metrics. The team tracks impressions, click-through rate, add to cart, purchase assists and repeat purchase rate. A drop in one number points to a stage that needs work.
The eight stages help because they separate a shopper who has a need from one who has a want. Those two people act differently on a product page. A map that lumps them together hides the stage where the shopper turns away. Each metric then gives the team a place to test a change.
Starbucks Visit Map
The Starbucks visit map follows a repeat customer through five stages: anticipate, enter, engage, exit and reflect. It shows what happens on one visit, from the first thought of coffee to the memory after the cup is empty. Sensory details and polite service lift the customer at several points. Crowded spaces drag the customer down at the enter and engage stages.
The lesson is that a retail visit has feelings as well as steps. A customer who feels rushed may not return, even when the coffee is good. The map makes that feeling visible. From in-store and online retail, the next view is the one behind the counter.
Software and Digital Product Maps
In software, the worst moment is often a feature built to help. A help screen, a setup wizard or a tip can slow the user down when it appears at the wrong time. Maps for software and apps show where these helpers turn into obstacles. They also show how users move from first login to steady use, and where some of them leave for good.
Teams that build software often work with a web development team to shape the interface. A good interface can cut friction, but only when the map shows where users stall. The checks below come from several software maps.
- A pop-up wizard meant to help became the worst moment on a SaaS onboarding map, because it returned again and again.
- A job stories lane gives context before pain points, so the team knows what the user was trying to do.
- A Zendesk-style outcome row tracks churn and reconsideration, so the team sees who leaves and who comes back.
- A HubSpot-style linear timeline uses color coding, and it places customer testimonials at each stage.
- A UXPressia-style map lists barriers and motivators for each stage instead of emotions.
The Indian Railways booking map shows the same idea in a public setting. Pain points during ticket booking led the team to add login options and better ticket notifications. Those changes followed the places where riders stalled, not the team’s own plan for the booking path.
A study of avatar guidance in a health app, reported in the ACM Digital Library, tested onboarding help with 24 participants. Voice and gesture guidance improved perceived usability, learning and tutorial experience compared with no guidance. The study does not measure drop-off, but it shows that onboarding help can change how users feel. Teams build these maps for a shared audience, and the next section looks at public services.
Public Service and Healthcare Maps
Public service and healthcare maps are strongest when they mark the good moments as well as the bad ones. A map that shows only complaints can hide the steps that already work. Marking bright spots tells the team what to keep while it fixes the rest. The maps below show both kinds of marks.
The Department of Veterans Affairs patient experience map marked bright spots and pain points side by side. The pain points included scheduling, long wait times and navigation within the facility. Patients could find some steps easy but got lost in the building or sat for hours. The map gave the team a list of what to fix first.
A government relocation map shows a different gap. The city’s official website sat on a stretch of negative emotions. That feeling was a sign that the site did not meet what people expected when they moved. A person who cannot find the right page may call a office or give up.
The palliative care map follows a 73-year-old man with lymphoma. It shows a missed chance for earlier community palliative support. A specialist referral came only days before his death. The map tracked functional scores beside each contact, so the team could see how his condition changed alongside the care he received. Such maps show that a late referral is a gap in the path, not a single bad visit. Banking, travel and education maps follow next, where the drop-out sits before a purchase.
Banking, Travel, and Education Maps
The lowest satisfaction often sits in steps people take for granted. Banking, travel and education all have steps that look small to the staff but feel large to the person doing them. Maps for these settings show where people stall before they buy, switch or enroll. They also show how a person moves from one stage to the next.
Service design in banking and travel depends on knowing which steps feel easy to the staff but hard to the customer. Maps help the team see these steps side by side. Each setting below uses a different kind of stage.
Banking Maps From Discovery to Loyalty
Deloitte built a bank map that covers the path from discovery through loyalty. Online portals, mobile apps and wearables appear as channels. Mortgage applications and mobile banking setup appear as stages. Each channel shows where a customer can switch to another bank or stop altogether.
Mortgage and setup stages carry the highest risk. A customer who cannot finish a mobile banking setup may stop using the app. The map shows that the drop-out sits in the setup, not in the bank’s brand or rates. The fix then goes to the team that owns the setup step.
Airport, Transit, and Student Maps
An airport map found that passport control and waiting for take-off had the lowest satisfaction scores. Travelers felt most stuck in those two stages. The map pointed the team toward the waits that come before a flight, not the flight itself.
A public transport map shows that a first-time rider’s insecurity can cause strong ups and downs in feeling. The rider may feel calm at the stop and then panic at the wrong platform. A clear sign or a short route note can flatten that curve.
Carnegie Mellon built a future-state map for overseas students. The phases are admission, transportation and arrival on campus. The future state adds device-friendly channels and clearer information during the investigation stage. Students who cannot find the right information early may give up on the school before they arrive. The next question is how to choose a format for your own map.
Choosing a Format for Your Own Map
The best format is the one the team will actually revise. A detailed map that sits in a folder helps no one. A simple map that the team updates after each release can reveal new drop-out points. Pick a format that matches your team and the question you need to answer.
The table below compares four common formats. Each one suits a different kind of team or question.
| Format | Best used for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Linear timeline with color coding | Quick reading and handoff | Hides detours and side paths |
| Experience wheel with a persona at the center | Fast idea sessions with three levels of goal achievement | Can feel too simple for long processes |
| Zoomable hierarchy | Large projects, with a high-level map and detailed maps | Detailed maps can drift from the overview |
| Service blueprint with backstage lanes | Process and ownership of each step | Takes longer to build and read |
Many teams use the five stages of customer journey mapping as a starting set: awareness, consideration, conversion, loyalty and advocacy. The set is not fixed. A bank may need stages for setup and fraud checks, while a small shop may need only three. Change the stages to match the path your users take.
A good journey map has one persona, one goal and the stages across the top. Too many goals on one map blur the drop-out point. Build the map with research behind it, so each stage reflects what users really do.
Turning Map Findings Into Fixes With Named Owners
A finding becomes a fix only when one named person owns it. A group can agree that a stage is weak, but nothing changes until a single person is responsible. Ownership turns a note on the map into a change in the product, the page or the process. Use four steps to move from finding to fix.
- Rank the pain points by how many users reach them and how strongly they feel them.
- Name one owner for each fix, and write the owner’s name beside it.
- Write the fix as a change to a stage, such as a shorter form or a clearer setup screen.
- Set a date to recheck the stage’s numbers, and compare them with the first numbers.
A telecom map shows how this works. It follows a retail manager who switches providers. Only two steps were positive. The other steps carried high engagement, meaning the manager spent a lot of effort there. Language issues and an unfixed device setup caused most of the trouble. The fix went to the team that owns device setup, with a date for the next check.
The owner needs the map and the numbers. Without both, the owner cannot judge whether the fix worked. The next step is to see how the map itself is built.
Common Mistakes That Hide Drop-Out Points
The most common mistake is drawing the path the team wants users to take. That path looks clean and short. Real users take detours, pause, ask for help and sometimes leave. A map of the ideal path hides every one of those moves, so the drop-out point never appears.
Four mistakes cause most maps to miss the drop-out point. The table below lists each one and a fix.
| Mistake | What it hides | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Mapping only the ideal path | Every detour and abandonment | Map the path users actually take, using logs and interviews |
| Skipping user research | The real pain points | Interview users and test the map with them |
| Too many personas on one map | The goal, which blurs | Keep one persona and one goal per map |
| A map that never gets revised | New drop-out after a release | Revisit the map after each major release |
Mapping the Ideal Path Instead of the Real One
The ideal path comes from the team’s plan, not from the user. Teams often draw it during a meeting and treat it as fact. A better start is to watch real sessions and list where users slow down. Add those steps to the map, even when they look messy.
Building the Map Without Customer Evidence
Some teams build a map from opinion alone. They guess at feelings and invent pain points that sound right. Research fixes this gap. Harvard’s advisory on user research methods recommends interviews, surveys, expert reviews, usability tests and usage analytics. The advisory also explains that research should run through the whole project, not only at the start.
One exception applies. A map built from a single internal workshop can be a starting point, as long as research follows. Use the workshop to list likely stages and pain points. Then test each claim with real users before the team acts on it. The next section shows the steps for building the map itself.
How to Create a User Journey Map From Research
A simple user journey map is built in seven steps, and research runs through all of them. Start by setting the goal, then find out who the users are and what they do. Each step adds a layer to the map. A typical map covers three to seven stages for a single goal.
Follow these steps in order, and return to earlier steps when new facts appear:
- Set the objective, such as finding why new users stop during setup.
- Define the personas, using one persona for the goal.
- Get to know the audience through interviews or surveys.
- Define the journey phases, with three to seven stages.
- Map each phase with actions, touchpoints, emotions and pain points.
- Validate the map with real users and correct what they say is wrong.
- Identify confusion and areas of improvement, and mark the likely drop-out stage.
The process is iterative. Each new interview can change a stage or a pain point. The workshop and the research take the most time, so plan for them first. Teams often spend a half day to a full day on a mapping workshop, depending on the number of stages. The map then needs a home that the whole team can reach.
Tools and Templates for a Shared Map Everyone Can Edit
A shared, editable map keeps the team looking at one picture. When the map lives in one place, each person can add a note and see the same changes. Pick a tool that lets the whole team work on the map at once. The four kinds below cover most needs.
- A digital whiteboard with sticky notes, for running workshops with many people.
- A design tool with a template, for building a simple map that looks clean on screen.
- A platform that connects user pain points to tickets, so each pain point has a tracked owner.
- A dedicated journey mapping product with templates and stage lanes.
Some whiteboards can link a pain point to a tracked work item, so the fix does not get lost. A design tool such as Figma offers templates for a simple map and lets teammates comment on the same file. Choose the kind that fits your team’s habits and budget. The conclusion gives the next step for putting these tools to work.
Conclusion
The drop-out point appears first as a dip in feeling and is then confirmed by stage numbers. Watch the emotion curve, then check the completion, abandonment and return rates at the stage where the line falls. A map that shows the stage clearly gives the team a place to start.
A shared map and named owners turn findings into fixes. When every department sees the same stages, the handoffs stop hiding in the gaps. Each fix then has one person who answers for it and a date to recheck the numbers. Pick one journey this week, map its stages with the team, and mark the stage where the emotion curve falls first.
