Let me start with the obvious: almost every organization I work with believes they’re doing journey management.
- They’re mapping stuff.
- They’ve got sticky notes.
- There’s a tool involved. Maybe even two.
- Everyone’s super busy.
But here’s the catch: being busy mapping isn’t the same as managing.
In fact, most journey management programs I come across are drowning in well-intended effort — but not actually delivering impact. That’s why Miranda and I dedicated an entire podcast to the 10 pitfalls we see over and over again. Because sometimes, knowing what not to do is just as important as knowing what to do.
So let’s walk through the ten together. Not from a theoretical, fancy model perspective. But from real life, what-I-see-every-week reality.
1. No clarity on the three levels of journeys
This one? The mother of all CX chaos.
If you’ve ever been in a workshop where half the people are talking about onboarding and the other half about the entire B2B proposition… yep, this is the culprit.
- Level 1 (Macro) – Big buckets: target groups, product categories, sometimes even legal mandates.
- Level 2 (Meso) – The actual journeys: applying for a mortgage, buying a mobile phone, submitting a claim.
- Level 3 (Micro) – Specific interactions within those journeys (e.g., filling out an online form).
If you don’t distinguish these, you either stay way too high-level (abstract strategy that nobody can act on) or get stuck in the weeds with no big picture.
Pro tip: Make your Level 2 list first. It’s the bridge between vision and execution. And yes, I will keep saying that until everyone has one.
2. No data on Level 2
You made your list. Great. Now comes the real work: making it actionable.
Most organizations think they’re data-driven, but here’s what usually happens:
“We picked this journey because it felt important.”
Or: “My manager said we should do this one.”
Here’s the thing: your gut is lovely, but data gives you legitimacy. Especially when you’re trying to mobilize other departments who have 27 other priorities.
So ask:
- How many customers go through this journey each year?
- How many calls or complaints does it generate?
- Is there a law or internal priority tied to it?
- Is it a painful journey, even if the volume is low?
And yes, painful but low-volume journeys matter too — think of bereavement journeys in insurance or government.
Use the data. Prioritize with logic. Your future self will thank you.
3. Too fast, too deep
I know how tempting it is.
You get this beautiful insight from qualitative research. A very specific, painful point in the customer experience. And you think: “Let’s fix it!”
But slow down, dear CX friend.
Because unless you’ve connected that pain point to your broader journey data (Level 2), you’ll be challenged internally. “Nice insight, but how big is the issue?”
Here’s the rule: Don’t improve a micro problem until you’ve proven the meso journey matters.
(Yes, you can tattoo that if you want.)
4. The never-ending analysis cycle
I love research. I have a PhD. I’ve taught at business schools.
But hear me clearly: analysis is not impact.
Too many organizations get stuck in a loop:
Qualitative research → Insight → Need more research → Refine insight → Wait, let’s ask customers again…
Stop.
If your employees can already tell you what’s going wrong — listen to them.
If the issue is painfully obvious — fix it.
If you have some data but not everything — start anyway.
CX is a doing sport. You don’t win by watching training videos.
5. Too much focus on customers (wait, what?)
I know. Shocking. The CX lady is telling you to focus less on the customer.
But what I mean is: CX isn’t a goal — it’s a means.
If you only focus on customer data, your improvements might sound tone-deaf to the rest of the organization. Like asking the finance team with a 10-project backlog to “add a lovely customer surprise moment.”
Balance customer data with:
- Operational impact (efficiency, work pressure)
- Employee experience
- Legal and organizational priorities
This isn’t fluffy compromise. It’s strategic CX that sticks.
6. No dashboard — or a one-sided one
Let me guess: you’re improving a journey… but you don’t have a baseline dashboard?
Oops.
Or worse: you do have one, but it’s just NPS.
Double oops.
A real journey dashboard needs to show:
- Customer signals (complaints, NPS, drivers)
- Employee signals (workload, sentiment, ease of executing)
- Organizational signals (volume, conversion, legal deadlines)
If you only measure one perspective, your change story will be incomplete — and easy to ignore.
7. Too much theoretical framework
Service Design is great.
MVPs are great.
Prototypes are great.
But only if you’re innovating.
Most of CX is not innovation. It’s improvement.
And for improvement, you don’t need to build a prototype of “being on time.”
You just need to… be on time.
Skip the design sprint. Fix the pain point. Measure the impact. Keep going.
8. Too many journeys, no execution
Repeat after me: mapping ≠ managing.
The worst thing you can do is map 30 journeys and not improve a single one.
Instead:
- Pick 1-3
- Mobilize the right teams
- Use driver analysis
- Improve
- Measure
- Share results
You’ll gain way more credibility (and momentum) than by presenting your beautifully mapped-but-untouched library of journeys.
9. No common sense
You don’t always need a survey.
If it takes a customer 12 minutes to log in, we don’t need data to prove it’s bad.
If employees are crying over Excel spreadsheets — don’t send a pulse survey asking if they feel “energetic at work.”
Sometimes you just need to ask:
👉 Would I want my best friend to go through this journey?
If the answer is no — fix it.
10. Measuring too often or too little
Goldilocks had it right. Measurement should be just right.
Too little → No baseline, no learning, no improvement story.
Too much → Survey fatigue, noisy data, operational chaos.
Best practice?
- Set a baseline before improving.
- Track quarterly, unless it’s digital and you’ve got daily data.
- Balance qualitative and quantitative.
And please stop tracking NPS per agent with 3 responses a week. That’s not insight — that’s sabotage.
One last tip? Don’t start with tooling.
Yes, journey management tools are shiny. But unless you’ve got your way of working clear, the tool will just digitize your chaos.
Start with Miro. With Excel. With a team.
Learn what works.
Then scale.
