To gain micro-level data on the specific challenges vulnerable to exclusion groups face, how they deal with these challenges, what they need to improve this for them and learn from their resilience as an empowering quality.
What is it: CJM is a tool to gain a deeper understanding of the interactions between the customer and the provider and the steps customers take along their journey. CJM, in DIGNITY, combines three amplifying research methods: executing a survey before the journey, observing the participant while asking for ratings (1 out of 10 score)during the journey, and an in-depth interview about why they gave a certain score after the journey. (Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the observation was replaced by an interview based on a past experience.
By combining numerical ratings during the journey and an interview after the journey makes it possible to gain micro-level data on the specific challenges vulnerable to exclusion groups face, how they deal with these challenges, what they need to improve this for them and learn from their resilience as an empowering quality.
When to use it: When you need micro level data on specific challenges vulnerable to exclusion groups face.
Flexibility: The method is highly flexible in terms of journeys, target groups or even inclusion research.
QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE
Time / Duration: LONG. The time needed greatly depends on the number of interviewees, the ability to find them, and the capacity to analyse the result. For 6 participants, it is estimated at least two weeks needed to execute the CJM.
Cost: Personnel resources (two weeks of work for someone who can easily find their participants and has some basic skills in analysing interviews).
OPTIONAL: possible reimbursement/incentive for participants.
Materials: Customer Journey Map (template available).
Customer Journey Map guidelines (see “Supporting Files”).
OPTIONAL: recording material, presentation material, etc.
Expertise: MEDIUM. Ability to reach target group, ability to conduct interviews and some basic skills in qualitative analysis.
Stakeholders involved: End users (vulnerable-to-exclusion groups).
Nº of participants: At least 6 participants.
With 40 participants in one target group you are not likely to find much new information.
1. Define the journey
2. Define the target group
3. Define the activities and touchpoints
4. Contact target group
5. Executing customer journey mapping
6. Transcribe the interviews
7. Analyse the results
8. Draw the conclusions
Main outcomes: The research goal of CJM is to investigate the user perspective of vulnerable-to-exclusion groups who make a journey involving a digital aspect. Through CJM, it proved possible to gain an understanding on what different public transport users perceive as challenging and the full course of actions that are taken or – maybe more interesting – are not taken and these outcomes are shared in a qualitative database of transcripts.
Tips / Remarks / Suggestions: Find someone who can get you in touch with the vulnerable to exclusion groups. Some pilots really struggled with finding participants, and others had no problems whatsoever due to stronger networks.i.
If you don’t have the time to execute the full method, the vulnerable to exclusion workshop can also result in valuable insights with less time, but these are not on the same level as the ones from Customer Journey Mapping.
Limitations of the method: Due to covid, we could not do the observations during the journey. To solve this problem, we also developed a Customer Journey Mapping method that can fit within Covid restrictions.
