The Hidden Problem With Customer Journey Mapping

🎯 Customer journey maps have been the standard for years. But what if they're built for a world that no longer exists?

Dave and Peter challenge the linear, step-by-step approach to understanding customer experience. From showers on Emirates flights to adaptive payment systems, they explore why our traditional mapping tools might be keeping us from seeing breakthrough opportunities.

In a world where technology can create truly individualized experiences, a "cohort of one", how do we rethink the way we understand and design for customer needs?

What We Cover:
Why traditional journey maps focus on the "critical path" and miss everything else
The shift from cohorts and personas to individualized experiences
How decreasing costs change what's possible (and what we consider)
The privacy paradox of hyper-personalization
Balancing data-driven insights with human-centered design
Why we bring our preconceptions to customer experience conversations

Key Takeaways:
✅ Privacy and ethics matter more than ever - As we move toward individualized customer experiences, we must balance personalization with appropriate use of customer data while maintaining human touch.
✅ Traditional customer journey mapping focuses on the critical path - We've been optimizing a narrow, linear experience when customers actually want many different paths. The tools and conversations around CX need to evolve.
✅ Adaptive systems are becoming possible - What was previously too costly or time-consuming is now feasible. This fundamentally changes the cost-benefit analysis of serving individual customer needs in real-time.

Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
0:34 - The shift from cohorts to individuals
2:44 - Privacy and personalization tensions
5:31 - The Emirates shower example
8:21 - When digital experiences become adaptive
11:21 - Breaking free from linear thinking
13:43 - The changing cost-benefit equation
15:36 - Key takeaways

Perfect for product managers, CX professionals, and anyone leading digital transformation initiatives.

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#CustomerExperience #CX #ProductManagement #DigitalTransformation #CustomerJourney #UX #Innovation