These four prompts cover the stages of journey mapping where AI provides the most value: extracting structured data from interview transcripts, drafting map content for each stage, prioritizing pain points into an actionable matrix, and preparing a workshop agenda. Each prompt is designed to produce output that a researcher reviews and refines — not a finished artifact.
Research data extraction for journey mapping
I have conducted [N] user interviews about the [journey type] experience with [product/service]. Below are the transcripts or key excerpts.
[Paste transcripts or excerpts, labeled Participant 1, Participant 2, etc.]
Extract journey mapping data:
1. Suggest 4-7 journey stages based on how participants described their experience (use their language, not business terms)
2. For each stage, list:
- Actions: what users do at this stage
- Touchpoints: where the interaction happens (website, app, email, phone, in-person)
- Thoughts: what users are thinking (direct quotes where possible)
- Emotions: positive, neutral, or negative, with evidence
- Pain points: specific friction, confusion, or failure moments
3. For each pain point, note: how many participants mentioned it and how severe it is (blocks progress vs. annoyance)
4. Flag any stages where you have insufficient data to populate the map
Format as a table with columns: Stage | Action | Touchpoint | Thought | Emotion | Pain PointJourney map content drafting
Based on the following journey mapping data, draft the content for each cell of a journey map.
Journey: [describe the journey being mapped]
Persona: [describe the user type]
Stages: [list the stages]
Data: [paste the extracted data from Prompt 1 or your own analysis]
For each stage, write:
1. User actions (2-3 bullet points, in the user's voice: "I search for...", "I try to...")
2. Touchpoints (list each channel/tool involved)
3. User thoughts (1-2 sentences capturing internal monologue, based on interview quotes)
4. Emotional state (one word + one sentence explaining why)
5. Pain points (specific, evidence-based, with quote if available)
6. Opportunities (1-2 ideas for how to improve this stage)
Rules:
- Write from the user's perspective, not the company's
- Use plain language, not technical jargon
- Pain points must be grounded in research data — do not invent problemsPain point prioritization matrix
Here is a list of pain points identified during journey mapping for [product/service]:
[Paste list of pain points with: description, journey stage, number of users who mentioned it, severity level]
Create a prioritization matrix:
1. Score each pain point on two axes: User Impact (1-5) and Business Impact (1-5)
- User Impact: how much it affects task completion, satisfaction, or retention
- Business Impact: how much it affects conversion, revenue, support cost, or churn
2. Categorize each pain point: Quick Win (high impact, low effort), Strategic Priority (high impact, high effort), Monitor (low impact), or Deprioritize (low impact, high effort)
3. For the top 5 pain points, suggest a one-sentence design hypothesis: "If we [change], then [user outcome], because [evidence from research]"
4. Note any pain points that appear across multiple journey stages — these may indicate systemic issues rather than stage-specific problemsWorkshop preparation
I am running a journey-mapping workshop with [N] participants for [product/service].
Context:
- Journey being mapped: [describe]
- Persona: [who is the user]
- Available research: [what data we have — interviews, analytics, support tickets]
- Workshop duration: [2-4 hours]
- Format: [in-person / remote via Zoom+Miro]
Design the workshop agenda:
1. Introduction (10 min): what journey mapping is, why we are doing it, ground rules
2. Assumption mapping (20 min): each participant maps what they believe the journey looks like individually before seeing research data
3. Research data reveal (20 min): present actual research findings stage by stage, comparing with assumptions
4. Collaborative mapping (60-90 min): team fills in the map together — actions, touchpoints, emotions, pain points — with research data as the primary input
5. Pain point voting and prioritization (20 min): dot voting or forced ranking
6. Opportunity brainstorm (20 min): for the top 3 pain points, what could we do?
7. Close and next steps (10 min)
Include facilitator tips for each section, materials needed, and how to handle disagreements between departments about pain point ownership.