How to Map the User Journey and Build Apps Users Actually Love

Why Some Apps Just Work (and Others Don’t)

Have you ever used an app that feels like it "just gets you"? It’s smooth, intuitive, and almost fun to use — like the creator designed it just for you. On the flip side, some apps are so clunky and frustrating that you abandon them within minutes.

The difference often comes down to one thing: a well-mapped user journey.

A user journey map visualizes every step your customer takes, from their first interaction to achieving their goal. It highlights pain points, unmet needs, emotional triggers, and opportunities for improvement.

Why Some Apps Just Work (and Others Don’t)

Have you ever used an app that feels like it "just gets you"? It’s smooth, intuitive, and almost fun to use — like the creator designed it just for you. On the flip side, some apps are so clunky and frustrating that you abandon them within minutes.

The difference often comes down to one thing: a well-mapped user journey.

A user journey map visualizes every step your customer takes, from their first interaction to achieving their goal. It highlights pain points, unmet needs, emotional triggers, and opportunities for improvement.

Why Some Apps Just Work (and Others Don’t)

Have you ever used an app that feels like it "just gets you"? It’s smooth, intuitive, and almost fun to use — like the creator designed it just for you. On the flip side, some apps are so clunky and frustrating that you abandon them within minutes.

The difference often comes down to one thing: a well-mapped user journey.

A user journey map visualizes every step your customer takes, from their first interaction to achieving their goal. It highlights pain points, unmet needs, emotional triggers, and opportunities for improvement.

What is a User Journey Map (and Why Founders Should Care)

A user journey map is a visual blueprint of the customer's experience with your product. It tracks every click, scroll, hesitation, and decision, offering a real-world picture of what it’s actually like to use your app or website.

Why It Matters:

Spot user needs and pain points: Find where users get stuck, confused, or frustrated.
Optimize the experience: Remove friction before it turns into churn.
Build empathy: See your product through your users' eyes — not just your own ambitions.

Big Founder Wins:

Prioritize what matters: Align features with user needs, not just "nice-to-haves."
Catch blind spots: Identify broken flows or untapped opportunities.
Boost retention: Deliver seamless first impressions and daily experiences.

Real-World Example: Magic Link Signup vs. Traditional Signup

Apps like Slack and Notion use Magic Link signups to dramatically simplify onboarding — a key part of an effective user journey.

Traditional Signup Journey	Magic Link Signup Journey
User visits the app Click "Sign Up." Fills out a long form: full name, email, password (and often password confirmation). Receives an email to verify their address. Click the verification link. Returns to the app to log in separately.	User visits the app. Enter their email only. Instantly receives a link via email. Clicks the link and is immediately logged in — no password required.

Within the Traditional Signup Process each extra step adds friction, increases the cognitive load, and creates opportunities for users to abandon the process before they even experience your product.

With a Magic Link flow, there is no password creation, no separate verification step, and no extra login needed. This cuts out multiple tedious steps, removes the common pain point of password fatigue, and dramatically shortens the time-to-value for the user. Reducing signup friction — even by just one or two steps — can meaningfully improve user activation rates, boost first-time satisfaction, and lower your abandonment risk. And all of this comes from a strong user-journey mapping at the planning stage.

What is a User Journey Map (and Why Founders Should Care)

A user journey map is a visual blueprint of the customer's experience with your product. It tracks every click, scroll, hesitation, and decision, offering a real-world picture of what it’s actually like to use your app or website.

Why It Matters:

Spot user needs and pain points: Find where users get stuck, confused, or frustrated.
Optimize the experience: Remove friction before it turns into churn.
Build empathy: See your product through your users' eyes — not just your own ambitions.

Big Founder Wins:

Prioritize what matters: Align features with user needs, not just "nice-to-haves."
Catch blind spots: Identify broken flows or untapped opportunities.
Boost retention: Deliver seamless first impressions and daily experiences.

Real-World Example: Magic Link Signup vs. Traditional Signup

Apps like Slack and Notion use Magic Link signups to dramatically simplify onboarding — a key part of an effective user journey.

Traditional Signup Journey	Magic Link Signup Journey
User visits the app Click "Sign Up." Fills out a long form: full name, email, password (and often password confirmation). Receives an email to verify their address. Click the verification link. Returns to the app to log in separately.	User visits the app. Enter their email only. Instantly receives a link via email. Clicks the link and is immediately logged in — no password required.

Within the Traditional Signup Process each extra step adds friction, increases the cognitive load, and creates opportunities for users to abandon the process before they even experience your product.

With a Magic Link flow, there is no password creation, no separate verification step, and no extra login needed. This cuts out multiple tedious steps, removes the common pain point of password fatigue, and dramatically shortens the time-to-value for the user. Reducing signup friction — even by just one or two steps — can meaningfully improve user activation rates, boost first-time satisfaction, and lower your abandonment risk. And all of this comes from a strong user-journey mapping at the planning stage.

What is a User Journey Map (and Why Founders Should Care)

A user journey map is a visual blueprint of the customer's experience with your product. It tracks every click, scroll, hesitation, and decision, offering a real-world picture of what it’s actually like to use your app or website.

Why It Matters:

Spot user needs and pain points: Find where users get stuck, confused, or frustrated.
Optimize the experience: Remove friction before it turns into churn.
Build empathy: See your product through your users' eyes — not just your own ambitions.

Big Founder Wins:

Prioritize what matters: Align features with user needs, not just "nice-to-haves."
Catch blind spots: Identify broken flows or untapped opportunities.
Boost retention: Deliver seamless first impressions and daily experiences.

Real-World Example: Magic Link Signup vs. Traditional Signup

Apps like Slack and Notion use Magic Link signups to dramatically simplify onboarding — a key part of an effective user journey.

Traditional Signup Journey	Magic Link Signup Journey
User visits the app Click "Sign Up." Fills out a long form: full name, email, password (and often password confirmation). Receives an email to verify their address. Click the verification link. Returns to the app to log in separately.	User visits the app. Enter their email only. Instantly receives a link via email. Clicks the link and is immediately logged in — no password required.

Within the Traditional Signup Process each extra step adds friction, increases the cognitive load, and creates opportunities for users to abandon the process before they even experience your product.

With a Magic Link flow, there is no password creation, no separate verification step, and no extra login needed. This cuts out multiple tedious steps, removes the common pain point of password fatigue, and dramatically shortens the time-to-value for the user. Reducing signup friction — even by just one or two steps — can meaningfully improve user activation rates, boost first-time satisfaction, and lower your abandonment risk. And all of this comes from a strong user-journey mapping at the planning stage.

Step-by-Step: How to Build a User Journey Map

Step 1: Align on the Vision and Goals

Before you map anything, you must first align on your destination.

Ask yourself:

What problem are we solving for users?
What does success look like — for the user and for the business?

At Bricks Tech, we start every project with a simple Business Requirements Document (BRD). This document lists each requested feature, states the exact user pain point it addresses, and helps prioritize features that actually matter. For example, a client once requested a Follower/Following list inside their app. Through our BRD process, we realized this feature wasn’t solving any user pain — it was simply a "cool" idea. By collaborating with the founder, we shifted focus toward features that directly impacted user value, streamlining development and maximizing real impact.

Creating this discipline early allows founders to avoid feature bloat and ensures that every feature built has a purpose.

Step-by-Step: How to Build a User Journey Map

Step 1: Align on the Vision and Goals

Before you map anything, you must first align on your destination.

Ask yourself:

What problem are we solving for users?
What does success look like — for the user and for the business?

At Bricks Tech, we start every project with a simple Business Requirements Document (BRD). This document lists each requested feature, states the exact user pain point it addresses, and helps prioritize features that actually matter. For example, a client once requested a Follower/Following list inside their app. Through our BRD process, we realized this feature wasn’t solving any user pain — it was simply a "cool" idea. By collaborating with the founder, we shifted focus toward features that directly impacted user value, streamlining development and maximizing real impact.

Creating this discipline early allows founders to avoid feature bloat and ensures that every feature built has a purpose.

Step-by-Step: How to Build a User Journey Map

Step 1: Align on the Vision and Goals

Before you map anything, you must first align on your destination.

Ask yourself:

What problem are we solving for users?
What does success look like — for the user and for the business?

At Bricks Tech, we start every project with a simple Business Requirements Document (BRD). This document lists each requested feature, states the exact user pain point it addresses, and helps prioritize features that actually matter. For example, a client once requested a Follower/Following list inside their app. Through our BRD process, we realized this feature wasn’t solving any user pain — it was simply a "cool" idea. By collaborating with the founder, we shifted focus toward features that directly impacted user value, streamlining development and maximizing real impact.

Creating this discipline early allows founders to avoid feature bloat and ensures that every feature built has a purpose.

Step 2: Deeply Understand Your Users

Mapping the journey without deeply understanding your user is like building a map for a city you’ve never visited.

Knowing your users means understanding their:

Frustrations: What slows them down, confuses them, or leads to abandonment?
Desires: What would make their journey easier, faster, or more enjoyable?

The audience demographic also plays a critical role. For instance, if you are building a community feed for a 16+ audience, your product should likely lean toward short-form, visual-first feeds — much like TikTok or Instagram. But if you are designing for a 40+ professional audience, a text-heavy feed resembling LinkedIn or Twitter may be far more appropriate.

We use Figma’s FigJam to organize user personas, feedback, and insights through digital post-it cards. This method ensures that the whole team has constant visibility into who we are building for. But we are not alone in this - this is commonly used across the product management community to better align on goals.

Step 2: Deeply Understand Your Users

Mapping the journey without deeply understanding your user is like building a map for a city you’ve never visited.

Knowing your users means understanding their:

Frustrations: What slows them down, confuses them, or leads to abandonment?
Desires: What would make their journey easier, faster, or more enjoyable?

The audience demographic also plays a critical role. For instance, if you are building a community feed for a 16+ audience, your product should likely lean toward short-form, visual-first feeds — much like TikTok or Instagram. But if you are designing for a 40+ professional audience, a text-heavy feed resembling LinkedIn or Twitter may be far more appropriate.

We use Figma’s FigJam to organize user personas, feedback, and insights through digital post-it cards. This method ensures that the whole team has constant visibility into who we are building for. But we are not alone in this - this is commonly used across the product management community to better align on goals.

Step 2: Deeply Understand Your Users

Mapping the journey without deeply understanding your user is like building a map for a city you’ve never visited.

Knowing your users means understanding their:

Frustrations: What slows them down, confuses them, or leads to abandonment?
Desires: What would make their journey easier, faster, or more enjoyable?

The audience demographic also plays a critical role. For instance, if you are building a community feed for a 16+ audience, your product should likely lean toward short-form, visual-first feeds — much like TikTok or Instagram. But if you are designing for a 40+ professional audience, a text-heavy feed resembling LinkedIn or Twitter may be far more appropriate.

We use Figma’s FigJam to organize user personas, feedback, and insights through digital post-it cards. This method ensures that the whole team has constant visibility into who we are building for. But we are not alone in this - this is commonly used across the product management community to better align on goals.

Step 3: Map the Journey (And Think About All Users)

With your users clearly understood, now map the journey — step by step.

Most founders only think about the "happy path" — the ideal journey for a power user. But true product love comes from thinking deeply about edge cases, too.

For example, Slack’s notification system, famously mapped out in internal diagrams, carefully considers whether to even send a notification based on user behavior and user preferences. Some users may find too many notifications annoying, while others see it as helpful. Mapping such decision trees early ensures your app respects different user types.

We'll add a visual below showing Slack’s journey map to highlight how even "simple" flows involve careful, time-consuming planning to serve all users — not just the most engaged ones.

Step 3: Map the Journey (And Think About All Users)

With your users clearly understood, now map the journey — step by step.

Most founders only think about the "happy path" — the ideal journey for a power user. But true product love comes from thinking deeply about edge cases, too.

For example, Slack’s notification system, famously mapped out in internal diagrams, carefully considers whether to even send a notification based on user behavior and user preferences. Some users may find too many notifications annoying, while others see it as helpful. Mapping such decision trees early ensures your app respects different user types.

We'll add a visual below showing Slack’s journey map to highlight how even "simple" flows involve careful, time-consuming planning to serve all users — not just the most engaged ones.

Step 3: Map the Journey (And Think About All Users)

With your users clearly understood, now map the journey — step by step.

Most founders only think about the "happy path" — the ideal journey for a power user. But true product love comes from thinking deeply about edge cases, too.

For example, Slack’s notification system, famously mapped out in internal diagrams, carefully considers whether to even send a notification based on user behavior and user preferences. Some users may find too many notifications annoying, while others see it as helpful. Mapping such decision trees early ensures your app respects different user types.

We'll add a visual below showing Slack’s journey map to highlight how even "simple" flows involve careful, time-consuming planning to serve all users — not just the most engaged ones.

Step 4: Identify and Obsess Over Key Moments

In every app, there are key moments that define how users feel about your product — often within the first few minutes.

Key moments to focus on:

Signup or login experience
First use and onboarding
First content creation or first transaction
Drop-off hotspots where users commonly leave

These aren't just steps — they are opportunities to build trust and loyalty. At Bricks Tech, we star these critical moments internally, and treat them as the most strategic parts of our user journey. We then double-check every detail to ensure that these experiences feel magical, unique, and best-in-class.

Building true novelty into these steps is what separates a product people tolerate from a product people fall in love with. As Mixpanel highlights in their expert guide on getting users to their 'aha' moment, identifying and perfecting these key moments early on can significantly improve user activation and long-term retention.

Step 4: Identify and Obsess Over Key Moments

In every app, there are key moments that define how users feel about your product — often within the first few minutes.

Key moments to focus on:

Signup or login experience
First use and onboarding
First content creation or first transaction
Drop-off hotspots where users commonly leave

These aren't just steps — they are opportunities to build trust and loyalty. At Bricks Tech, we star these critical moments internally, and treat them as the most strategic parts of our user journey. We then double-check every detail to ensure that these experiences feel magical, unique, and best-in-class.

Building true novelty into these steps is what separates a product people tolerate from a product people fall in love with. As Mixpanel highlights in their expert guide on getting users to their 'aha' moment, identifying and perfecting these key moments early on can significantly improve user activation and long-term retention.

Step 4: Identify and Obsess Over Key Moments

In every app, there are key moments that define how users feel about your product — often within the first few minutes.

Key moments to focus on:

Signup or login experience
First use and onboarding
First content creation or first transaction
Drop-off hotspots where users commonly leave

These aren't just steps — they are opportunities to build trust and loyalty. At Bricks Tech, we star these critical moments internally, and treat them as the most strategic parts of our user journey. We then double-check every detail to ensure that these experiences feel magical, unique, and best-in-class.

Building true novelty into these steps is what separates a product people tolerate from a product people fall in love with. As Mixpanel highlights in their expert guide on getting users to their 'aha' moment, identifying and perfecting these key moments early on can significantly improve user activation and long-term retention.

Step 5: Bring the Journey to Life — Every Detail Matters

Once the journey is mapped, it's time to design every screen and every microinteraction.

At this stage:

Wireframe every single screen users will encounter — including every pop-up, tooltip, dropdown, or hover state.
Focus on clarity: use real headlines, buttons, labels, and calls-to-action instead of placeholder content ("Lorem Ipsum" only confuses real user testing).

We use Figma to wireframe apps from first screen to last, ensuring that the experience feels cohesive, seamless, and intuitive before any development begins.

This step ensures that no piece of the user experience feels like an afterthought.

Step 5: Bring the Journey to Life — Every Detail Matters

Once the journey is mapped, it's time to design every screen and every microinteraction.

At this stage:

Wireframe every single screen users will encounter — including every pop-up, tooltip, dropdown, or hover state.
Focus on clarity: use real headlines, buttons, labels, and calls-to-action instead of placeholder content ("Lorem Ipsum" only confuses real user testing).

We use Figma to wireframe apps from first screen to last, ensuring that the experience feels cohesive, seamless, and intuitive before any development begins.

This step ensures that no piece of the user experience feels like an afterthought.

Step 5: Bring the Journey to Life — Every Detail Matters

Once the journey is mapped, it's time to design every screen and every microinteraction.

At this stage:

Wireframe every single screen users will encounter — including every pop-up, tooltip, dropdown, or hover state.
Focus on clarity: use real headlines, buttons, labels, and calls-to-action instead of placeholder content ("Lorem Ipsum" only confuses real user testing).

We use Figma to wireframe apps from first screen to last, ensuring that the experience feels cohesive, seamless, and intuitive before any development begins.

This step ensures that no piece of the user experience feels like an afterthought.

Step 6: Test the Journey Ruthlessly

Planning is essential — but testing reveals the truth.

You must:

Build a clickable prototype and test it thoroughly on both mobile and desktop.
Role-play as your own user — experience the full journey yourself.
Gather feedback through real usability tests with potential users.
Watch for points of confusion, friction, or hesitation.
Once live, use analytics tools like Mixpanel and Hotjar to understand real-world behavior.

At the MVP stage, founders should take full ownership of this phase. Watch, listen, and iterate early. Later, as you scale, you can augment your insight with analytics, session replays, and A/B testing. But in the early days, your direct involvement was irreplaceable.

As Nielsen Norman Group explains in their guide to usability testing, even small-scale tests can uncover major UX flaws — long before costly development begins.

Final Thoughts

Mapping the user journey is more than a UX exercise. It's the foundation of apps users truly love. By understanding real needs, identifying friction points, and obsessing over key moments, founders can design intuitive, engaging experiences from day one. The better you map the journey, the better your product platforms in terms of retention, activation, and real user satisfaction.

Step 6: Test the Journey Ruthlessly

Planning is essential — but testing reveals the truth.

You must:

Build a clickable prototype and test it thoroughly on both mobile and desktop.
Role-play as your own user — experience the full journey yourself.
Gather feedback through real usability tests with potential users.
Watch for points of confusion, friction, or hesitation.
Once live, use analytics tools like Mixpanel and Hotjar to understand real-world behavior.

At the MVP stage, founders should take full ownership of this phase. Watch, listen, and iterate early. Later, as you scale, you can augment your insight with analytics, session replays, and A/B testing. But in the early days, your direct involvement was irreplaceable.

As Nielsen Norman Group explains in their guide to usability testing, even small-scale tests can uncover major UX flaws — long before costly development begins.

Final Thoughts

Mapping the user journey is more than a UX exercise. It's the foundation of apps users truly love. By understanding real needs, identifying friction points, and obsessing over key moments, founders can design intuitive, engaging experiences from day one. The better you map the journey, the better your product platforms in terms of retention, activation, and real user satisfaction.

Step 6: Test the Journey Ruthlessly

Planning is essential — but testing reveals the truth.

You must:

Build a clickable prototype and test it thoroughly on both mobile and desktop.
Role-play as your own user — experience the full journey yourself.
Gather feedback through real usability tests with potential users.
Watch for points of confusion, friction, or hesitation.
Once live, use analytics tools like Mixpanel and Hotjar to understand real-world behavior.

At the MVP stage, founders should take full ownership of this phase. Watch, listen, and iterate early. Later, as you scale, you can augment your insight with analytics, session replays, and A/B testing. But in the early days, your direct involvement was irreplaceable.

As Nielsen Norman Group explains in their guide to usability testing, even small-scale tests can uncover major UX flaws — long before costly development begins.

Final Thoughts

Mapping the user journey is more than a UX exercise. It's the foundation of apps users truly love. By understanding real needs, identifying friction points, and obsessing over key moments, founders can design intuitive, engaging experiences from day one. The better you map the journey, the better your product platforms in terms of retention, activation, and real user satisfaction.

How to Map the User Journey and Build Apps Users Actually Love

How to Map the User Journey and Build Apps Users Actually Love