Abstract
The proliferation of complex problems in a world of increasing indeterminacy,
not least within developing contexts, places new demands on stakeholders,
educators, students, practitioners and theorists.
A user, or customer, journey is a schematic representation of the path a user will
take through lifecycle stages, touchpoints, channels, interaction modes, emotional
states, content and functionality. User journeys have become a frequently applied
tool for research and design in the practical fields of Design Thinking, Service
Design, User Experience Design and Information Architecture Design. In our
paper we position User Journey Design as both a tool and a rigorous selfreflective,
data-driven process through information gathering, synthesis and into
design, which assists the student designer in navigating the complexities of
indeterminate problems.
Initially the paper present a history and review of the literature, application and
limitations of User Journey Design in practice today which explores related
literature from Design Thinking and the nature of indeterminacy in design
(Buchanan, 1992, Brown 2008, Cross 2006,) to set the context for an approach
that broadens the relevance and application of User Journey Design.
This paper then present two examples of student design work that demonstrate the
application of user journey design in the resolution of complex problems.
User Journeys provide a structured approach to synthesizing large amounts of data
in self-reflective, humanistic ways, where the path through complexity can be
traced back from artifact to the original problem-formation. It is in this respect
that User Journey Design not only provides an approach to solving problems that
emerge through complexity, but also narrows the gap between practice, research
and teaching.