Journey Mapping is a qualitative method used to understand how people experience a service, process, or environment over time. Instead of describing how an organisation intends a process to work, Journey Mapping focuses on how it is actually experienced by the people involved. A journey map typically visualises a sequence of phases, key touchpoints, actions, perceptions, and emotional responses from the perspective of a specific group.

In higher education, Journey Mapping (JM) is increasingly used as a student-centred innovation tool to improve institutional processes and the overall student experience. Evidence from a systematic review on JM in HE indicates that JM helps universities identify, visualise, and improve end-to-end student interactions across key phases (e.g., enrolment, study progression, graduation), making hidden pain points and critical moments visible.

This interactive workshop addresses the practical application of Journey Mapping in higher education. It is designed for participants who are interested in experiencing how it works in practice. The workshop combines a short conceptual introduction with hands-on experimentation and evidence-based reflection, drawing on insights from a systematic literature review on Journey Mapping in higher education and interviews with experienced practitioners.

Rather than working with hypothetical cases, participants create a journey map based on a real and shared experience: the academic conference itself. By mapping the Conference Participant Journey – from the initial decision to attend through preparation and arrival to participation in the workshop– participants directly experience what Journey Mapping means.

Working in small groups, participants identify journey phases, key touchpoints, emotional dynamics, and critical moments that shape the overall experience. The aim is not to evaluate or optimise the conference, but to understand how Journey Mapping generates insights and what types of questions it enables organisations to ask.

In the second part of the workshop, findings from the systematic review and expert interviews are used to structure a guided reflection on common challenges, lessons learned, and success factors when applying Journey Mapping in higher education.

The workshop is suitable for academic and professional staff across higher education and does not require prior knowledge of Journey Mapping.

Format:

The 90-minute session combines short conceptual inputs with collaborative, hands-on activities. After a brief introduction to Journey Mapping and its use in higher education, participants work in small interdisciplinary groups to create a Journey Map of the conference participant experience. Guided templates are used to structure phases, touchpoints, emotional dynamics, and critical moments. A facilitated gallery walk allows groups to compare insights and identify recurring patterns. The workshop concludes with a structured reflection linking the hands-on experience to research findings and practical recommendations for initiating Journey Mapping projects in participants’ own institutional contexts.