name: 'step-04-journeys' description: 'Map ALL user types that interact with the system with narrative story-based journeys'

Path Definitions

workflow_path: '{project-root}/_bmad/bmm/workflows/2-plan-workflows/prd'

File References

thisStepFile: '{workflow_path}/steps/step-04-journeys.md' nextStepFile: '{workflow_path}/steps/step-05-domain.md' workflowFile: '{workflow_path}/workflow.md' outputFile: '{planning_artifacts}/prd.md'

Task References

advancedElicitationTask: '{project-root}/_bmad/core/workflows/advanced-elicitation/workflow.xml'

partyModeWorkflow: '{project-root}/_bmad/core/workflows/party-mode/workflow.md'

Step 4: User Journey Mapping

Progress: Step 4 of 11 - Next: Domain Requirements

MANDATORY EXECUTION RULES (READ FIRST):

🛑 NEVER generate content without user input
📖 CRITICAL: ALWAYS read the complete step file before taking any action - partial understanding leads to incomplete decisions
🔄 CRITICAL: When loading next step with 'C', ensure the entire file is read and understood before proceeding
✅ ALWAYS treat this as collaborative discovery between PM peers
📋 YOU ARE A FACILITATOR, not a content generator
💬 FOCUS on mapping ALL user types that interact with the system
🎯 CRITICAL: No journey = no functional requirements = product doesn't exist
✅ YOU MUST ALWAYS SPEAK OUTPUT In your Agent communication style with the config {communication_language}

EXECUTION PROTOCOLS:

🎯 Show your analysis before taking any action
⚠️ Present A/P/C menu after generating journey content
💾 ONLY save when user chooses C (Continue)
📖 Update frontmatter stepsCompleted: [1, 2, 3, 4] before loading next step
🚫 FORBIDDEN to load next step until C is selected

COLLABORATION MENUS (A/P/C):

This step will generate content and present choices:

A (Advanced Elicitation): Use discovery protocols to develop deeper journey insights
P (Party Mode): Bring multiple perspectives to map comprehensive user journeys
C (Continue): Save the content to the document and proceed to next step

PROTOCOL INTEGRATION:

When 'A' selected: Execute {project-root}/_bmad/core/workflows/advanced-elicitation/workflow.xml
When 'P' selected: Execute {project-root}/_bmad/core/workflows/party-mode/workflow.md
PROTOCOLS always return to this step's A/P/C menu
User accepts/rejects protocol changes before proceeding

CONTEXT BOUNDARIES:

Current document and frontmatter from previous steps are available
Success criteria and scope already defined
Input documents from step-01 are available (product briefs with user personas)
Every human interaction with the system needs a journey

YOUR TASK:

Create compelling narrative user journeys that leverage existing personas from product briefs and identify additional user types needed for comprehensive coverage.

JOURNEY MAPPING SEQUENCE:

1. Leverage Existing Users & Identify Additional Types

Check Input Documents for Existing Personas: Analyze product brief, research, and brainstorming documents for user personas already defined.

If User Personas Exist in Input Documents: "I found some fantastic user personas in your product brief! Let me introduce them and see if we need to expand our cast of characters.

From your brief: {{extracted_personas_from_brief_with_details}}

These are great starting points! Their stories already give us insight into what they need from {{project_name}}.

Beyond your identified users, who else touches this system? Based on your product type and scope, we might need:

What additional user types should we consider for this product?"

If No Personas in Input Documents: Start with comprehensive user type discovery: "Now that we know what success looks like, let's map out ALL the people who will interact with {{project_name}}.

Beyond primary users, who else touches this system? Consider:

End users (the primary focus)
Admins - manage users, settings, content
Moderators - review flagged content, enforce rules
Support staff - help users, investigate issues
API consumers - if dev tool or platform
Internal ops - analytics, monitoring, billing

What user types should we map for this product?"

2. Create Narrative Story-Based Journeys

For each user type, create compelling narrative journeys that tell their story:

Narrative Journey Creation Process:

If Using Existing Persona from Input Documents: "Let's tell {{persona_name}}'s story with {{project_name}}.

Their Story So Far: {{persona_backstory_from_brief}}

How {{project_name}} Changes Their Life: {{how_product_helps_them}}

Let's craft their journey narrative - where do we meet them in their story, and how does {{project_name}} help them write their next chapter?"

If Creating New Persona: "Let's bring this user type to life with a compelling story.

Creating Their Character:

Name: Give them a realistic name and personality
Situation: What's happening in their life/work that creates the need?
Goal: What do they desperately want to achieve?
Obstacle: What's standing in their way right now?

How {{project_name}} Becomes Their Solution: {{how_product_solves_their_story}}

Now let's map their journey narrative."

Story-Based Journey Mapping:

"Let's craft this as a story with our hero (the user) facing challenges and finding solutions through {{project_name}}:

Story Structure:

Opening Scene: Where and how do we meet them? What's their current pain?
Rising Action: What steps do they take? What do they discover?
Climax: The critical moment where {{project_name}} delivers real value
Resolution: How does their situation improve? What's their new reality?

Use This Narrative Format such as this example:

**Journey 1: Maria Santos - Reclaiming Her Creative Time**
Maria is a freelance graphic designer who loves creating beautiful logos but spends hours every week managing client projects, sending invoices, and chasing payments. She feels like she's running a small business instead of doing what she loves. Late one night, while searching for invoicing tools, she discovers CreativeFlow and decides to give it a try.

The next morning, instead of her usual 30-minute project management routine, she spends 5 minutes setting up her first client in CreativeFlow. The system automatically generates a professional invoice and even suggests follow-up emails based on her communication patterns. When a client asks for a project update, Maria can share a beautiful progress link instead of digging through emails.

The breakthrough comes when she lands a major corporate client who's impressed by her "organized and professional" project setup. Six months later, Maria has doubled her client base and spends 80% of her time actually designing - exactly what she always wanted.

3. Guide Journey Exploration

For each journey, facilitate detailed exploration:

"What happens at each step specifically?"
"What could go wrong here? What's the recovery path?"
"What information do they need to see/hear?"
"What's their emotional state at each point?"
"Where does this journey succeed or fail?"

4. Connect Journeys to Requirements

After each journey, explicitly state: "This journey reveals requirements for:

List specific capability areas (e.g., onboarding, meal planning, admin dashboard)
Help user see how different journeys create different feature sets"

5. Aim for Comprehensive Coverage

Guide toward complete journey set:

Primary user - happy path (core experience)
Primary user - edge case (different goal, error recovery)
Secondary user (admin, moderator, support, etc.)
API consumer (if applicable)

Ask: "Another journey? We should cover [suggest uncovered user type]"

6. Generate User Journey Content

Prepare the content to append to the document:

Content Structure:

When saving to document, append these Level 2 and Level 3 sections:

## User Journeys

[All journey narratives based on conversation]

### Journey Requirements Summary

[Summary of capabilities revealed by journeys based on conversation]

7. Present Content and Menu

Show the generated journey content and present choices: "I've mapped out the user journeys based on our conversation. Each journey reveals different capabilities needed for {{project_name}}.

Here's what I'll add to the document:

[Show the complete markdown content from step 6]

What would you like to do? [A] Advanced Elicitation - Let's dive deeper into these user journeys [P] Party Mode - Bring different perspectives to ensure we have all journeys [C] Continue - Save this and move to Domain Requirements (Step 5 of 11)"

8. Handle Menu Selection

If 'A' (Advanced Elicitation):

Execute {project-root}/_bmad/core/workflows/advanced-elicitation/workflow.xml with the current journey content
Process the enhanced journey insights that come back
Ask user: "Accept these improvements to the user journeys? (y/n)"
If yes: Update content with improvements, then return to A/P/C menu
If no: Keep original content, then return to A/P/C menu

If 'P' (Party Mode):

Execute {project-root}/_bmad/core/workflows/party-mode/workflow.md with the current journeys
Process the collaborative journey improvements and additions
Ask user: "Accept these changes to the user journeys? (y/n)"
If yes: Update content with improvements, then return to A/P/C menu
If no: Keep original content, then return to A/P/C menu

If 'C' (Continue):

Append the final content to {outputFile}
Update frontmatter: add this step name to the end of the steps completed array
Load {project-root}/_bmad/bmm/workflows/2-plan-workflows/prd/steps/step-05-domain.md (or determine if step is optional based on domain complexity)

APPEND TO DOCUMENT:

When user selects 'C', append the content directly to the document using the structure from step 6.

SUCCESS METRICS:

✅ Existing personas from product briefs leveraged when available ✅ All user types identified (not just primary users) ✅ Rich narrative storytelling for each persona and journey ✅ Complete story-based journey mapping with emotional arc ✅ Journey requirements clearly connected to capabilities needed ✅ Minimum 3-4 compelling narrative journeys covering different user types ✅ A/P/C menu presented and handled correctly ✅ Content properly appended to document when C selected

FAILURE MODES:

❌ Ignoring existing personas from product briefs ❌ Only mapping primary user journeys and missing secondary users ❌ Creating generic journeys without rich persona details and narrative ❌ Missing emotional storytelling elements that make journeys compelling ❌ Missing critical decision points and failure scenarios ❌ Not connecting journeys to required capabilities ❌ Not having enough journey diversity (admin, support, API, etc.) ❌ Not presenting A/P/C menu after content generation ❌ Appending content without user selecting 'C'

❌ CRITICAL: Reading only partial step file - leads to incomplete understanding and poor decisions ❌ CRITICAL: Proceeding with 'C' without fully reading and understanding the next step file ❌ CRITICAL: Making decisions without complete understanding of step requirements and protocols

JOURNEY TYPES TO ENSURE:

Minimum Coverage:

Primary User - Success Path: Core experience journey
Primary User - Edge Case: Error recovery, alternative goals
Admin/Operations User: Management, configuration, monitoring
Support/Troubleshooting: Help, investigation, issue resolution
API/Integration (if applicable): Developer/technical user journey

NEXT STEP:

After user selects 'C' and content is saved to document, load ./step-05-domain.md.

Remember: Do NOT proceed to step-05 until user explicitly selects 'C' from the A/P/C menu and content is saved!

step-04-journeys.md 12 KB History Raw