Service Ecosystem Mapping
The Problem.
My client’s organization has numerous programs and services managed by various program offices that operate at the national level. Like many large organizations, each office operates independently, lacking a unified system to understand customer experiences. A comprehensive, department-wide approach was needed to better serve the organization’s public and partner customers. The organization needed a consistent way to communicate who their customers are and the experiences they face when engaging with the organization’s programs and services.
The Process.
My team began with some foundational desk research to better understand the breadth of our client organization’s programs and services as well as the types of customers those programs and services served. We followed this desk research with individual working sessions with subject matter experts, mapping the relevant journeys unique to the programs and services they are experts in. In total, our team identified 88 journeys that customers take with the organization’s programs and services. Our team then focused on capturing the lived experiences of the organization’s customers through site visits and interviews. We prioritized 9 of the 80 identified journeys for this further research. Our team recruited participants, planned for and conducted the site visits, and conducted one-on-one interviews with participants. These conversations allowed us to build out the journeys drafted with subject matter experts to include the realities of the customers’ experiences.
The Solution.
Following the site visits, our team synthesized the resulting qualitative data into an insights report, related opportunities for improvement, and a set of ecosystem maps to create a common language and mental model around the services and programs the organization provides and who its customers are. In addition, our team created a living database of journey map data to inform continued conversations and decisions around enhancing cross-department collaboration and cohesion on CX strategies, creating a customer-centric digital strategy for the organization’s online presence, and developing the organization’s voice of the customer program maturity by providing a framework to track CX scores consistently across customer type and service ecosystem. This customer research paved the path to streamline processes for further research with customers by building relationships with partners on the ground and establishing new processes to engage with the public.
