Journey Mapping is, without a doubt, one of the most important tools we use. We spend a lot of time and effort to create the most impactful maps we can. 


It’s all part of the job:

* Dozens of workshops

* Hours doing user research

* And weeks of sensemaking.


The perfect journey map. Success! But what comes after the map? 


Unfortunately, in most cases, it’s used... and then stowed away.  The map becomes single-use artifacts, forgotten. Used once, then too difficult to keep updated for when a new design challenge comes along. But it doesn’t have to be that way.


And this brings us to our guest for this week's episode: Florian Vollmer. I dare to say that Florian has cracked the code when it comes to managing journeys on a large scale. How large? His team works with 100+ journey maps and 500+ innovation opportunities globally.


I couldn’t imagine it was possible when I first heard that. But today, Florian not only brings our stowed-away journeys back to life but integrates them with a hundred more. Effectively breaking down silos and fueling collaboration. Avoiding rework and overcoming internal resistance. No easy task. Florian needed to find the connection – something that tech, business, CX, and every other department would embrace.


In this episode, you'll hear how Florian transitioned from journeys as (very useful) single-use artifacts to being the backbone of ongoing CX innovation. We’ll learn about:

- How you can build a repository of journeys even when you don’t get the explicit task to do so.

- What the key criteria are for selecting the right journey management tool?

- And how you need to tweak the service design process when you want to reach 100% journey coverage.


No matter where you are in your service design journey (no pun intended), this conversation has the potential to take it to the next level! I really enjoyed the pragmatism in Florian's stories. Sometimes you need to let go of common practices and just do whatever it takes.


Enjoy the conversation.


- Marc


--- [ 1. GUIDE ] -—


00:00 Welcome to episode 168

03:45 Who is Florian

06:45 Lightning round

09:45 Operating at scale

13:15 What do you manage

14:30 Who is the team

16:00 How did it start

21:00 Finding broader adoption

26:00 Where do you find the time

28:15 What is the brief

31:15 Beyond service designers

34:00 Importance of tools

40:15 Crossing the tipping point

42:45 Simplifying complexity

46:45 Lessons learned

49:00 Taking more time

50:45 Meets sustainability

52:15 Big questions

55:15 Closing thoughts


--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

* https://www.linkedin.com/in/florianvollmer/

* Thinking in Systems (book) - https://amzn.to/40lcJAB

* DMI article - https://www.dmi.org/page/ADMC2022proceedings (pdf - page 254)


--- [ 3. SELLING SERVICE DESIGN WITH CONFIDENCE ] ---

Get your clients, colleagues, managers and CEOs as excited about service design as you are.


https://servicedesignshow.com/confidence