In this video, I'll be answering the most common questions
practitioners ask me about blueprinting.
From the research you need, to who you're including,
to how much time it's going to take.
Question one, what's the difference
between service blueprint and customer journey map?
My answer is this: think of service blueprints
as a sequel to journey maps.
The focus of a journey map is a customer and the user.
You're using journey maps to understand
what the customer is doing, thinking and feeling over time.
Now, if I extend that journey map to look at
what the business is doing in parallel,
it would be a service blueprint.
So remember, the focus of a journey map is the customer,
and the focus of a blueprint is the organization.
In both journey maps and service blueprints,
you're using the customer user swim lane actions
as your baseline.
Question two, what's the primary goal of blueprinting?
My answer is this: it depends on where you are
in the process, and what you're trying to achieve.
I like to think about it as goals along a spectrum
of the design thinking process.
In the early stages, you're using current
or as-is blueprints to understand breakdowns
and the problem you're trying to solve.
Think of it like this; understanding current pain points,
identifying opportunities, aligning on areas to focus.
Now as you're in the middle of the ideation phase
of your work, you're probably using to-be
or future state blueprinting to ideate new processes,
prototype future changes, measure potential impact.
And then as you move towards the end of a sprint
or a release cycle, the goal of blueprinting
is to provide implementation aids.
Your blueprint is communicating changes,
acting as a single source of truth
and benchmarking against those vision goals.
As with any mapping method,
you should be thinking about the goals in two ways.
The goals of the process used to create the map
meaning collaboration, co-creation,
and then conversely the map itself.
It acting as an artifact to communicate and direct.
So to build on this question, question number three,
what fidelity am I working in?
The nice thing with this question is
you can approach it the exact same way
as we just did with goals.
Ask yourself, "Where am I in this process?"
The earlier you are the lower fidelity you can target.
Not only are things still likely to change,
but you're really prioritizing the process
of making the blueprint.
And then conversely, later in the process,
the higher fidelity your blueprint should be.
Since more people will be seeing it,
and you'll be using it as an artifact itself.
Question number four,
who should be involved in service blueprinting?
Here is my answer; think of your blueprint as a checklist.
Enlist a knowledge holder from each phase
and each swim lane,
to ensure you have well rounded participants
and you don't leave out key parties.
The composition of your blueprinting team
should map directly to the context, scenario and goals
of your blueprinting initiative.
All right, question number five,
how long does it take to blueprint?
My quick answer is this,
it absolutely depends on the scope of your blueprint.
This is because the scope will likely change
a lot of other factors.
Such as the number of people involved,
the fidelity of your blueprint itself,
the amount of research you need, stakeholder oversight.
When we conducted research to understand
how practitioners are using service blueprinting,
we asked participants how long their most recent
blueprinting project was.
The majority of participants, regardless of their scope,
spent less than one month conducting research
and less than one month creating the blueprint itself.
Regardless, here's my recommendation: start small.
Start with a small focus scope that requires minimal
and accessible research.
You'll have the opportunity to become familiar
with the method and onboard others to the purpose
and process of blueprinting.
All right, last one.
The most frequently asked question I really get,
how do we sell blueprinting to our organization?
My answer is a three step protocol, so think a checklist.
First, I'm involving stakeholders early and often.
The earlier you can involve stakeholders, the better.
For two reasons really.
First, they develop co-ownership early, and as a result,
they'll go out of their way to help the effort succeed.
Second, they're more likely to believe in it.
Simply put, they trust the deliverable
because they witness the process.
Second, track success and use it as evidence.
And third, translate user needs into business impact.
Our job is to translate the insights from our blueprints
into what it means to the business.
Ask yourself, if we make this change,
what effect will it have?
Or if we understand this service breakdown,
then how is it actually going to affect our business?
Meaning time, money, resources satisfaction.
When presenting why you want to blueprint your organization,
clearly identify and communicate the impact it will bring
to the business, in business focus terms.
If you still wanna learn more,
I have so many free resources, articles
and research published on service blueprinting
on nngroup.com