Customer Journey

---
context: fork
name: customer-journey
description: "Maps customer journeys with touchpoint analysis, lifecycle stage management, and experience optimization from awareness through advocacy. Use when user asks about customer journey, journey map, touchpoint analysis, lifecycle management, customer experience, onboarding, retention, CX, 고객 여정, 터치포인트, or 라이프사이클."
lang: [en, ko]
platforms: [claude-code, gemini-cli, codex-cli, cursor]
level: 3
triggers:
  - "customer journey"
  - "user journey"
  - "touchpoint"
  - "customer experience"
  - "journey map"
agents:
  - "architect"
  - "frontend-developer"
tokens: "~4K"
category: "marketing"
source_hash: c1894955
whenNotToUse: "Internal employee workflows, developer tooling UX, or B2B SaaS admin interfaces where customer lifecycle and marketing touchpoints are not the subject of analysis."
---

# Customer Journey

## When This Skill Applies
- Mapping end-to-end customer journeys
- Identifying touchpoints and moments of truth
- Designing lifecycle stage transitions and triggers
- Optimizing customer experience at each stage
- Building journey-based automation workflows

## Core Guidance

### 1. Journey Mapping Process
```
Define Personas -> Map Stages -> Identify Touchpoints -> Capture Emotions -> Measure Metrics -> Find Gaps -> Design Improvements -> Validate
```

### 2. Lifecycle Stages

| Stage | Goal | Entry Criteria | Exit Criteria |
|-------|------|---------------|---------------|
| Awareness | Capture attention | First interaction | Engagement signal |
| Consideration | Build trust | Content engagement | Intent signal |
| Decision | Convert | Demo/trial/pricing | Purchase/signup |
| Onboarding | Activate | Account created | First value achieved |
| Adoption | Deepen usage | Core feature used | Regular usage pattern |
| Retention | Maintain | Active user | Renewal/continued use |
| Expansion | Grow | Engaged user | Upsell/cross-sell |
| Advocacy | Amplify | Satisfied user | Referral/review |

### 3. Journey Map Template

```
STAGE: [Stage Name]
--------------------
Goal:        [What customer is trying to achieve]
Touchpoints: [Channels and interactions]
  - [touchpoint 1]: [description]
  - [touchpoint 2]: [description]
Actions:     [What customer does]
Thoughts:    [What customer is thinking]
Emotions:    [How customer feels] (scale: frustrated -> neutral -> delighted)
Pain Points: [Friction or frustration]
Opportunities: [Improvement areas]
Metrics:     [KPIs for this stage]
  - [metric 1]: [target]
  - [metric 2]: [target]
```

### 4. Touchpoint Categories

| Category | Channels | Owned/Earned/Paid |
|----------|----------|-------------------|
| Digital | Website, app, email, social | Owned |
| Content | Blog, video, podcast, webinar | Owned |
| Advertising | Search ads, display, social ads | Paid |
| Social Proof | Reviews, testimonials, case studies | Earned |
| Sales | Demo, call, proposal, negotiation | Owned |
| Support | Help center, chat, tickets, phone | Owned |
| Product | In-app experience, notifications | Owned |
| Community | Forums, events, user groups | Earned/Owned |

### 5. Moments of Truth

| Moment | Stage | Description | Impact |
|--------|-------|-------------|--------|
| First Impression | Awareness | Initial brand/product encounter | Sets expectations |
| Aha Moment | Onboarding | First experience of core value | Activation predictor |
| Habit Moment | Adoption | Usage becomes routine | Retention predictor |
| Pain Moment | Any | Friction, error, or frustration | Churn risk |
| Delight Moment | Any | Exceeds expectations | Advocacy trigger |

### 6. Journey Metrics by Stage

| Stage | Primary Metric | Secondary Metrics |
|-------|---------------|-------------------|
| Awareness | Reach, traffic | Impressions, brand search volume |
| Consideration | Engagement, MQLs | Time on site, content downloads |
| Decision | Conversion rate, SQLs | Demo requests, trial starts |
| Onboarding | Activation rate | Time-to-value, setup completion |
| Adoption | Feature adoption | DAU/MAU ratio, session depth |
| Retention | Churn rate, NPS | Support tickets, renewal rate |
| Expansion | Expansion revenue | Upsell rate, cross-sell rate |
| Advocacy | Referral rate | NPS, reviews posted, case studies |

### 7. Journey-Based Automation

| Trigger | Stage | Automated Action |
|---------|-------|-----------------|
| First website visit | Awareness | Cookie + retargeting pixel |
| Content download | Consideration | Nurture email sequence |
| Pricing page visit | Decision | Sales notification + email |
| Account creation | Onboarding | Welcome sequence + setup guide |
| 7 days inactive | Adoption | Re-engagement email |
| Support ticket | Retention | Follow-up satisfaction survey |
| High NPS score | Advocacy | Referral program invitation |
| Usage milestone | Expansion | Upsell recommendation |

### 8. Journey Optimization Framework

| Step | Action | Output |
|------|--------|--------|
| Audit | Map current journey with data | As-is journey map |
| Identify | Find pain points and drop-offs | Problem inventory |
| Prioritize | Score by impact x effort | Priority matrix |
| Design | Create improved experience | To-be journey map |
| Test | A/B test improvements | Test results |
| Measure | Track journey metrics | Performance data |
| Iterate | Continuous improvement | Updated journey |

## Output Format
```
CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAP
====================
Persona:    [customer persona]
Stages:     [count]
Touchpoints:[total count]

JOURNEY
-------
[Stage]: [Stage Name]
  Goal:        [customer goal]
  Touchpoints: [channel list]
  Actions:     [customer actions]
  Emotions:    [emotional state]
  Pain Points: [friction areas]
  Metrics:     [KPIs + targets]
  Automation:  [triggered actions]

GAPS & OPPORTUNITIES
--------------------
Priority | Stage       | Gap              | Recommendation
---------|-------------|------------------|----------------
P1       | [stage]     | [pain point]     | [improvement]
```

## Quick Reference

**Stages**: Awareness, Consideration, Decision, Onboarding, Adoption, Retention, Expansion, Advocacy
**Moments of Truth**: First Impression, Aha Moment, Habit Moment, Pain Moment, Delight Moment
**Journey Metrics**: Stage-specific KPIs from reach to referral rate

---

## Cold Start

When the user has no existing customer data, journey map, or persona document:
1. What does the business do? (one sentence)
2. Who is the target customer? (demographics + psychographics)
3. What differentiates from competitors? (one sentence)
4. What is the primary goal? (awareness/leads/sales/retention)

Use answers to bootstrap the workflow. Mark assumptions with [ASSUMED].

## References

- See `${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/lifecycle-stages.md` for lifecycle stages
- See `${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/journey-map-template.md` for journey map template


## Rationalizations

The following table captures common excuses agents make to skip the rigor of this marketing practice, paired with factual rebuttals.

| Excuse | Rebuttal |
|--------|----------|
| "We already have a funnel, we don't need a journey map." | Funnels track conversion; journeys track experience, emotion, and friction. They answer different questions and both are required. |
| "Personas cover the lifecycle view." | Personas describe who; journeys describe when and where. Without stage-by-stage mapping, touchpoint gaps stay invisible. |
| "Touchpoints post-purchase aren't marketing's job." | Retention and advocacy stages drive LTV; abandoning post-purchase mapping caps revenue growth at acquisition ceiling. |
| "We interviewed 3 customers, that's enough input." | Journey mapping requires 8-12 interviews minimum per persona to reach saturation; smaller samples miss critical friction points. |
| "Moments of truth are too subjective to track." | Moments of truth can be instrumented via CSAT, NPS at stage, and session replay; subjectivity is a measurement gap, not an excuse. |