Software for Navigating a Customer Journey as a Customer?

May 19, 2017 9:35 AM

Is there software that allows an end user to step through a customer journey without making them work there way through a flow chart or customer journey map?

I work in a field in which very small nuances in a customer's journey can result in wildly different sets of capabilities required to satisfy their needs. We have these journeys mapped out reasonably well, but I'm looking for a tool that would allow a customer to click through a series of questions to navigate them.

I have a pretty good idea of what I want, and am ready to whip up a quick prototype to see if this could be as valuable as I think it could be. But it seems like the sort of thing that might already exist as a standalone product or an extension of a mapping tool. If so, I'd love to know if something is out there that would suit me, or that I could at least draw inspiration from.

A wildly simplified description of what I want.

Screen 1: You are going to adopt an animal. Will it be...
A. The first animal in this home?
B. An additional animal?

(Option B would then take you down a series screens with that in mind. But customer chooses A, and...)

Screen 2: Get excited for the first new animal in your home! Do you have any kids?
A. Yes
B. No

(Option A would take you down the Yes path, but they pick B...)

Screen 3: Does your home have weight restrictions for animals?
A. Under 25 lbs
B. Under 50 lbs
C. Etc etc etc

It wouldn't need to be terribly sophisticated, but would ideally not be totally linear as some questions would need to be asked on all paths, just not necessarily at the same time.

From an end user standpoint, it would resemble an online quiz, but I suppose the more accurate comparison would be something like 20Q.

Thanks in advance!

posted by SpiffyRob to Technology (6 answers total)

It sounds like you're looking for a "wizard" type interface. That term might help you find design patterns. But the scenario you're describing could be achieved in some other ways too -- maybe with a quick one-page "tell us about your dog" onboarding UI, or through a series of ...dog filters. (Size, breed, temperament, etc.)
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 9:40 AM on May 19, 2017

But you don't really need specialized software for this. Is there a particular platform (like Wordpress) that you're already using? You might be looking for plug-ins that support product (dog) display and filtering, or help shoppers choose the right product...even if it's not a product per de.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 9:43 AM on May 19, 2017

Response by poster: Sorry to threadsit, but I may have shot myself in the foot with such a simplified example. This isn't about landing on a single product, but rather, navigating a complex series of business processes and technical capabilities without exposing the guts of that to the customer.
posted by SpiffyRob at 9:44 AM on May 19, 2017

My assumption is that you basically need pages with big dumb hotspots to click that, when clicked, will take someone to another page - and a space to build that logic out.

I'd consider a prototyping tool like Axure or, heck, even Sketch with the new-fangled prototyping plugin to make this happen. The latter could also lay it out nice and visually for you (but not the end user) too.
posted by hijinx at 10:24 AM on May 19, 2017

As far as whipping up a prototype, if you don't find some sort of plugin for the mapping tool you use, the first thing that occurred to me is that this might be somewhat like the genre of "text adventure" or "interactive fiction". Twine is a free tool that can create a series of questions like this.

There's a twine MeFi tag showing some applications and an AskMe from a couple of years ago Concurrent Dialogue Trees in Twine/Twine-likes?
posted by XMLicious at 11:15 AM on May 19, 2017

Sounds like you might want a complex survey? I've used Surveygizmo, and they have two things that might be what you need if you use them in combination: Question Logic (if/then and dependent questions), and Piping (Previous answers as options in new questions).

You can pass variables into surveys in the URL (or embed the survey in your site), and have multiple ways for people to conclude or exit the survey.
posted by reeddavid at 11:28 PM on May 19, 2017