Building a Student Service Journey Touchpoint Map

Student Service Journey
(Touchpoint) Mapping
This tutorial takes one facet of
Service Design,
Service Journey/Touchpoint Mapping,
• simplifies it, and
• applies it to student services.

|| Detailed information is provided as slide notes. ||


Think of a Student Service Journey as the path students will follow as they
move from awareness of your service, to the service exchange, and follow-
up support services.

Touchpoints are the points along the journey where students interact with
your service through some form a media, a representative, or you.

As you work your way through this tutorial, focus on one service you
provide, as and use it as your service design prototype.

By the end of this tutorial, and with the use of additional Session 4
resources, you should be able to build your Student Service Journey map.

Building a Student Service Journey Map | Dr. Mark L Joyce | April 2012 1


Think of a service journey as having three stages.



Stage 2: During
Service Exchange
(face-to-face)

Stage 2 – What Happens During the Service Exchange
Stage 2 is the actual service exchange. This is where you meet directly with students and provide your service.
Service exchanges can also be done virtually but focus on a face-to-face service exchange, for now.

Big Stage 2 Service Design Idea: Service Exchanges Are Jointly Created In The Moment!
It’s important to remember that both you and your students contribute to and make this service
exchange happen.
 You both bring prior experiences to the exchange. These prior experiences shape your
expectations.
 You both contribute to the service exchange, thereby creating a current service exchange
experience in the moment.

Spontaneous Service Assessment & Evaluation
You will both spontaneously assess & evaluate your satisfaction with the service exchange by comparing the
experience with your expectations.
The service exchange experience will exceed your expectations, meet your expectations or fail to meet your
expectations.

More Intentional Service Assessment & Evaluation
Service assessment & evaluation for sustaining, replicating or improving service delivery success will require more
formal intent and procedures, including, but not limited to, assessment & evaluation of each Student Service
Journey touchpoint through observations & student surveys/interviews.



Stage 1: Before Stage 2: During
Service Interactions Service Exchange
involving (face-to-face)
• your service media
• your representative(s)
• you
• peer word-of-mouth

Stage 1: What Happens Before the Stage 2 Service Exchange
Everything that happens in Stage 1 has the goal of getting the students to engage with you in your Stage
2 Service Exchange.

The number of Stage 1 touchpoints will vary, but each one must move students one step close to the
Stage 2 Service Exchange.

Your Calls to Action
Q: What is the action you will call students to take?
A: Engaging with you in the Stage 2 Service Exchange is the action that you want students to take.

Service Interactions: Touchpoint stepping stones to your Stage 2 Service Exchange
Students interact with facets of your service through service interaction touchpoints in Stage 1.

Stage 1 Service Interaction touchpoints can be informational and motivational, but must always end
with an imperative call to action.
The call to action could be to learn more through the next touchpoint/series of touchpoints or it could
be a call to schedule an appointment or sign up.


Stage 1, continued


• you

Students planning their course of study would benefit from the former. Those with registration
experience will appreciate a direct path to the latter.
Eventually you will need to decide how you will differentiate your

• content for“first-timers”/novices vs. those with some experience/expertise.
• print/digital content for those students who are new vs. returning users of your service.

Forms of Service Interactions
Students my become aware of your service and learn more about it through
• your print and/or digital service media
• your representative(s) including, but not limited to front desk personnel, tutors, and others
representing you and your service
• you, especially if you wear all the hats
• peer word of mouth – others who have used your service. This is the service interaction over
which you have the least control.
The control you do have is in the form of your name, niche, meme and theme. You do want
to control those messages!


Stage 1, continued


• you

The Big Stage 1 Service Design Idea: Build with a Bias Toward Action
The planning, delivery, assessment and evaluation of your student service does not begin and
end with your Stage 2 Service Exchange!
Much of what contributes to your success lies in well-differentiated Stage 1 Service Interactions.



Stage 1: Before Stage 2: During Stage 3: After
Service Interactions Service Exchange Service Follow-Up
involving (face-to-face) • follow through
• your service media • transfer/application
• you

Stage 3: What Happens After the Stage 2 Service Exchange
Stage 3 Service Follow-Up is the most neglected component of service delivery.
Once your Stage 2 Service Exchange has been completed, how do you follow-up on what has be
instructed or agreed upon?
• Did the student follow through and do what was agreed upon? Does it matter? To whom?
• Did the student transfer and apply what was instructed to the contexts targeted by the
instruction?
• Is following transferring and applying skills developed (as opposed to covered?) in
tutoring optional?
• Is transfer and application of skills instructed or covered in a voluntary workshop
optional?


Stage 3, continued


• you

How Do You Define Success?
Success has to be defined, designed, assessed and evaluated holistically in terms of
• Stage 1 – successfully getting people to sign up (and prepare for?) your Stage 2 Service
Exchange
• Stage 2 – providing instruction, advising, counseling, etc. that exceeds expectations. What
would make it remarkable?
• Stage 3 – providing follow-up support through personal contact or in the form of content
websites/portals and/or job aids.
• What personal support are you providing through periodic personal contact?
• What performance support are you providing to support the development of intrinsic
motivation and self-directed competence?
• What are you doing to make the information provided and content
instructed available 24/7 for review by students with whom you’ve had Stage
2 Service Exchanges? What’s available for novices? For those with some
experience or expertise?
• What preparatory support are you providing in Stage 1 to optimize the time spent
together in your Stage 2 Service Exchange?


Stage 3, continued


• you

The Big Stage 3 Service Design Idea: The Stage 2 Service Exchange Is Not The Finish Line!
The end of the service exchange is not the finish line!

If it were, dutifully showing up and putting in seat time would be an adequate measure of
success, as is often the case with compliance.



Stage 1: Before … Stage 2: During … Stage 3: After
• you
The number of touchpoints before & after
the Stage 2 Service Exchange will vary.

You should have at least six touchpoints, touchpoints that address the

Six Service Journey Map Questions You Must Address.


Building a Student Service
Journey/Touchpoint Map
Service Interactions … Service Exchange … Service Follow-Up
Stage 1: Stage 2:
Stage 1:
Accept Call Service
Awareness
to Action Exchange

Break Out the Sticky Notes & Move Find a Bare Wall or Whiteboard
You may want to use different color markers to differentiate Stage 1, 2 & 3, unless you have three colors
of standard sticky notes.
• Use standard size sticky notes for your touchpoint labels.
• Use larger lined sticky notes for details about each touchpoint.


Map buildin: Stage 1, continued

Stage 1: Stage 2:
Stage 1:
Accept Call Service
Awareness
to Action Exchange

Three Touchpoints Anchor the Map
You’re going to Label and position three sticky note touchpoints. After them, the rest of the touchpoint
journey is fill-in the blanks!
Stage 1
• Touchpoint: Awareness
This is your far left Stage 1 touchpoint.

Details:
• What way or ways to you use to help students become aware of your service?
• What’s working? What’s not? How do you know?
• Is that your point opinion or the opinion of the students being served? (Remember
the 80:8 research!)


Map building: Stage 1 continued

Stage 1: Stage 2:
Stage 1:
Accept Call Service
Awareness
to Action Exchange

• Touchpoint: Complete the Call to Action
This will always be the last Stage 1 touchpoint.
Most of your Student Services require that a student
• sign-up or register for a workshop or event, or
• schedule an appointment to meet with you.

Details:
• Once a decision has been made to accept your call to action (committing to engaging
in your Stage 2 Service Exchange)
how are you making it easy for a student to quickly and simply do whatever you
require to sign-up, register, or schedule?
• How are you using digital technologies to simplify this procedure? Your running
record?
• What’s working? What’s not? How do you know?
• Is that your point opinion or the opinion of the students being served? (Remember
the 80:8 research!)


Stage 1: Stage 2:
Stage 1:
Accept Call Service
Awareness
to Action Exchange

Stage 2
• Touchpoint: Service Exchange
For Student Services purposes, there will usually only be one Stage 2 touchpoint

Details:
Details will vary with the service being provided. They might include such things
as outlines of
• an event
• a workshop
• an advising session
• a career counseling session

In each case, how has what to expect/not to expect, from the Service Exchange,
been made clear to the student?
Was this done prior to the Service Exchange (Stage 1 information) or at the
beginning of the Service Exchange (too late?)?
Remember the relationship between expectations and satisfaction!


Stage 1: Stage 2:
Stage 1:
Accept Call Service
Awareness
to Action Exchange

The Rest of the Journey
• Fill in the touchpoints between Stage 1: Awareness and Stage 1: Accept Call to
Action
For your service design prototype, focus on a single type of student, such as a first-
timer or novice to your service.
Later you can create parallel (possibly intersecting) journeys for more experienced
(repeat) students, as appropriate.

• Fill in the Stage 3 Follow-Up touchpoints appropriate to your prototype service

The 80:8 Research
80% of service providers felt they were doing a fine job of providing their services. Only 8% of
their service recipients agreed.
• Think about that for a moment in terms of the expectation > satisfaction relationship
• Think about that for a moment in terms of the importance of getting feedback for
improvement (not just satisfaction) from your students.

• Once you’ve sticky sketched your Student Service Touchpoint Journey, get some
feedback from students and modify your map, as needed.


The Action Method Revisited
Do you remember the three primary components of the Action Method?

• Action Steps (and the bias toward action focus of the next action)
• References – those resources you will use to support completion of
your project, in this case identification and detailing of your
touchpoints as part of a Student Service Journey Touchpoint Map
• Backburner Items – ideas that are not immediately actionable but
you want to capture for another time or project

As you build your Student Service Journey Touchpoint Map, practice
recognizing and capturing the many backburner items that will occur
to you as you work on different parts of your map.

Be prepared to quickly write them down or sketch them out for use
in the perhaps not too distant future!

Your Student Service Journey Touchpoint map is an excellent project with which to explore use
of the Action Method components!

Links with more details for review of the Action Method
Breaking Actions into Primary Elements
See document(s): Action-Method-I-Breaking-Projects-into-Primary-Elements


Application of your Service
Marketing Analyses & Planning

For Session 3: Marketing Matters, you developed
• a simple marketing plan for your service prototype
• a marketing calendar for your service prototype
• a name, niche, meme & theme for your prototype service
• a benefits list for your service prototype

Think of all the information contained within these four documents as
resources you can use to inform the flow of your touchpoints and the
content within each touchpoint in Session 4.


Building a Student Service Journey Touchpoint Map

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