Journeymaps and the MET Framework

There area a myriad of tools now out that purport to make journey mapping a simple drag and drop process. A few of them are quite good and will certainly get better. I’ve been using my MET framework in my journey mapping workshops to help participants understand the power of customer insights. MET is an acronym I’ve coined to help frame the  classification of opportunities on the journey map. MET is Meets, Exceeds or Transforms. As journeys are mapped out it can be a simple thing in a workshop to see how to fix the customer experience to meet customer expectations. Those moments on the journey surface quickly because they are obviously broken. Most journey mapping tools and workshops I’ve seen will stop there. Introducing two more facets of the framework to the discussion helps push farther. A moment on the journey map that exceeds a customer expectation is a moment of surprise and delight. Imagine a journey map for an airline where a moment that exceeds customer expectations might be a surprise upgrade because of a missed or cancelled flight. The first pass will almost always surface those moments that need to be fixed first. The second pass answers the “how do we exceed customer expectations”. The third pass is the real magic. Looking over those moments on the journey where we might be able to create a valued engagement – are there any where we might be able to transform our business? It is an exercise in self reflection whereby the customer experience surfaces those moments where the business has the chance to transform and pivot. It’s a moment that’s less obvious but has much deeper implications and possibilities. Thus MET is Meets customer expectations, Exceeds customer expectations, Transforms our business model. Backed up with data, both qual and quant, these transformative moments can be spun off into prototypes of all sorts and validated. The MET framework is easy to remember. Give it a try when you next do a journey mapping workshop.