Journey maps, user mapping, and many other methods all aim to produce a map of some facet of the user experience.

Arguably all user research aims to find out truths about user needs, customer insights, etc etc. But these are usually based on quite limited data (usually broad, but shallow, or narrow but deep) and can in fact be thought of as maps (simplifications) of a complex space.

In this context it is useful to reflect on the fact that 2D representations of a 3D world are always inaccurate – even while being phenomenally useful.

Producing a good map requires a clear understanding of the purpose that the map will be used for. Making choices about what to represent and what not to represent must be based on that purpose.

The London Underground map is a great example of this fact, as is the ‘normal’ Mercator projection of a globe into two dimensions (which keeps latitude and longitude orthogonal to each other at the expense of an accurate presentation of land mass (size and shape).