Demian Farnworth, Copyblogger
The ultimate challenge for data scientists is to use the data to create stories. Data scientists worth their salt can use spreadsheets and visualisation tools to support analysis.
So says Laura Patterson in her article Why Your Data Scientists Need to Be Better Storytellers.
Their real value, she suggests lies in their ability to transform data into a narrative experience for both internal and external communication. Tough sledding, unless you have the right tools.
Tools like empathy maps, asset pillars, storyboards, personas, and worldview interviews. But even with these tools, the insights can lead to fragmented, isolated stories. Your message, forgive the pun, is all over the map.
What you need is a way to merge all this data and these stories into one Big Story. But before we get into that, what exactly do I mean by Big Story?
Well, at this point, all I mean is the complete story of the customer journey with your product or service. From start to finish. It’s how a customer finds, interacts, and ends the relationship with you and your product.
That’s the Big Story. The only story, really, that matters. And it involves everyone in your company. Not just the developers, analysts, and marketers.
And to date, the best way to understand this journey is through the experience map.
The benefits of an experience map
“[The experience map] is the sum-totality of how customers engage with your company and brand,” says Adam Richardson, “not just in a snapshot in time, but throughout the entire arc of being a customer.”
And according to UX designer, Luke Chambers, it’s an idea that was borne out of the user experience. He unpacks some key benefits of the experience map:
- Create consistency in your messages
- Discover and capitalise on critical “moments of truth” for the user
- Unite isolated departments across your company’Ignite a corporate focus on the customer.
Read Demian’s full (big) story on how to use customer experience maps to develop a winning content marketing strategy at Copyblogger …