Table-Based Journey Modeling

Let's have a look at how we can create a table-based Customer Journey (CJ) by using SAP Signavio Journey Modeler. In contrary to the design-based CJ (handled in the next lesson), the table-based CJ maintains information about linked processes, IT systems, organizational units, customer emotions, metrics, and other relevant information directly in the Model. This creates a holistic view of the entire CJ with all the associated information. With Journey Modeler, you can easily transfer data from Excel files into a journey model. You can also integrate operational or customer experience data sources, such as data from SAP Signavio Process Intelligence, Google Data Studio, or Tableau.

Journey models have a table structure and this allows you to add data from files that also provide it in table-format. With our Journey Modeler tool, you can copy and paste data from Excel that contains text, images, and information right into your journey model.

In the following section, we take a look at the individual elements:

Create a persona in the dictionary:

• Give your persona a name and add it in the title section.
• Add a more detailed description of your persona.
• Enter the persona's occupation and challenges.
• If you like, you can upload a custom picture to give your customer a "face", which helps to identify yourself better with the customer.

Add a new persona to your Journey by using the search function:

In a table-based CJ, it is not possible to define a visual trigger. The description of the trigger can be added to the persona or directly in the description of the CJ.

Create the first step of your persona:

• To describe what your persona is doing, use the text panel of the step section.
• Outline the goals to be achieved in this step.
• Create more steps: What are the next steps in the journey?

• To distinguish stages, steps, and goals, use different colors to highlight the elements.
• Use colors for backgrounds, individual steps, or outlines.

Images enrich customer journeys and make them more visually appealing to viewers. Steps, which are reflected in a well-chosen image, can help to emphasize the core topic of such a customer step, for example, 'Decide on the best option' or 'Try out the new product'.

Define touchpoints:

• Add a new section for the touchpoints.
• To represent the touchpoint, add a title and pick a suitable icon.
• You can link to the dictionary or add manually.
• Adjust settings and decide between a list or standard view of displayed items.

Add the customer's emotion in the sentiment section:

• Place the smiley according to the mood of your customer on the lines.
• The graph is automatically generated if you add more smileys.

The section "Linked Processes" enables you to integrate your business process models from SAP Signavio Process Manager.

• Link your process:
  • Add a new section to your CJ and select "Linked Processes".
  • Pick a step where a process is involved.
  • Navigate to the applicable process through the folder structure.
  • Adjust settings and decide between a list or standard view, as well as the number of displayed items.
• Link a specific shape or step of a process:

  Choose the process that you want to link and select an individual step. 

The sections "IT systems" and "Organizational units" enable you to integrate ownership automatically, provided by the linked processes or by adding them manually.

• Link IT Systems
  • Add a new section to your CJ and select "IT Systems".
  • IT systems are auto populated if they are included in a linked process model.
  • IT systems can also be added manually.
• Link Organizational Units
  • Add a new section to your CJ and select "Organizational Units". 
  • Units and roles are auto populated according to the linked process model. 
  • Responsibilities can also be added manually. 

The section "Linked Journeys" enables you to add further table-based journeys to specific steps. With the section "Linked Processes", you can also integrate design-based customer journeys or steps from SAP Signavio Process Manager, which we will handle in the next lesson.

Link other table-based customer journeys:

• Add a new section to your CJ and select "Linked Journeys".
• Navigate through the folder structure and search for the applicable CJ.

Link design-based customer journeys:

• Add a new section to your CJ and select "Linked Processes". 
• Rename the section. 
• Pick a step in your table-based journey, and navigate to the applicable design-based journey. 

Link a specific step of a design-based CJ:

Select the CJ that you want to link and choose an individual step by clicking on it. 

Reuse dictionary objects and build a single source of truth for object definitions.

Link Dictionary Objects:

• Add a Touchpoints section and rename, if necessary (for example, pain points).
• Search for a dictionary term via the quick search function.
• If you like, add an icon.

Make data-driven decisions to improve the customer experience.

Show operational and experience data within your journey models.

Note that a SAP Signavio Process Intelligence license is required for this connection.

Tip: You can combine a data-driven with a human-driven approach by manually setting up the actual or desired state of customer sentiment per step by using the predefined smileys shown previously.

Link internal operational data:

• Select the section "Process Intelligence Widgets".
• Choose the step, where you want to show the data and analysis, by clicking on the plus sign.
• Insert the Widget ID copied from SAP Signavio Process Intelligence.

Connect with Tableau or Google Data Studio by embedding HTML snippets of a report into your Journey Model. Note that a Tableau/Google Data Studio license is required for this connection.

Link external operational data:

• Select the section "External Widgets".
• Choose the step, where you want to show the data and analysis, by clicking on the plus sign.
• Enter the URL taken from the respective system.

A key factor to building a clear picture of how your organization's processes impact the CJ is the management of complexity. For example, a complex talent acquisition process can negatively impact the applicant's experience and hence reduce an organization’s ability to attract talents.

With the complexity score, you get an impression of how challenging it is to complete the journey. It reflects the total operational complexity from linked BPMN processes and journeys. The complexity scores can help you measure this progress.

Find more information in the user guide: (Complexity score | SAP Help Portal)

Because a journey typically involves several processes, journey complexity considers the complexity scores of these processes. For journey and process complexity, model-based scoring algorithms are implemented in SAP Signavio Journey Modeler where it is distinguished between Journey Complexity and Journey Model Dimensions.

Journey Complexity considers the journey’s operational complexity, that is, the complexity of the underlying processes that are directly or indirectly linked (via value chain diagrams, processes, or other journeys).

The Journey Complexity score gives you an additional data point to evaluate your journey models.

• Journey complexity provides a measure of levels of uncertainty, and interdependence of a journey through an organization.
• Process complexity provides a measure of levels of uncertainty, and interdependence of a business process.

To provide an intuitive assessment of journey complexity, the complexity score is mapped to a 'T-shirt size', ranging from low to high, according to the following mapping, which has been informed by systematic estimates based on the complexity scores of thousands of process models (x is the score value):

• Low: 0 ≤ x ≤20

• Medium: 20 ≤ x ≤60

• High: 60 ≤ x

To determine the final complexity score of a process, all subscores are summed up, weighted, and then averaged.

• Flow and handover complexity: 35% each;

• IT system, data object, and linked process complexity: 10% each.

On the journey level, the complexity of each linked process is multiplied by 0.2 and finally, the entire score is computed by multiplying by 100 - based on our assessment. A complexity score of more than 100 will be achieved in rare cases.

The complexity score of a process model (for example, of a BPMN diagram) is determined based on the following elements:

• Flow: How many decision and parallelism splits are in a business process and how deeply are they nested?

• Handovers: How many handovers between roles are in the process?

• Linked processes: How many other processes are linked via link events to the process model?

• Documents and data objects: How many data objects (including documents, for example, we use "data object" as an umbrella term for BPMN data objects and documents) are in a process, and to what extent are these data objects accessed by multiple roles?

• IT systems: How many IT systems are there in a process, and to what extent are they accessed by multiple roles?

Journey Model Dimensions provide an at-a-glance overview of the size of the journey table (grid size), as well as the number of nonempty fields. Detailed counts, for example, of the number of linked personas and images are also provided.

The Journey Model Dimensions value shows the number of populated cells compared to the number of total cells in a JM.

The number is shown in a label above the JM. In this example, 95 cells are populated from a total number of 102 (note that the label is not shown in the SAP Signavio Process Collaboration Hub).

The detail panel shows detailed information in two parts. In the Structure part, you can view the total number of stages, columns, and rows. The Content part shows the different section types in the JM with their number.

For Linked Processes, each process is only counted once. This means that a process is counted only once in the following cases:

• Several cells link to the same process.
• One cell links the complete process and another cell links to an element of this process.

Cells with links that are not counted still count as populated in the calculation of the JM dimensions.

Every IT System and every Organizational Unit is counted once, no matter how many cells reference the same.

• Focus:
  • Everything at a glance in a table-based overview.
  • Useful when comparing simulation scenarios to understand the impact of potential change and further improvement.
  • Support decision-making for process change implementation.
• Limitations:
  • "Path of the journey" straight forward, cannot be "designed".
  • Visualization of the customer journey is less tangible for novices.