A customer journey is a metaphor for “walking in the customer’s shoes” while using a service, for example, when shopping online. As the journey concept has expanded beyond commercial settings, its focus has broadened to include users, consumers, patients, and citizens.

A customer journey map is a visualization of a customer journey. There is no standard way to visualize customer journeys. The horizontal dimension is simple: it represents time. The vertical dimension is more of a wild west, covering anything from customer experience, emotions and channels to opportunities, departments, and systems.

At its core, CJML is a communication tool that provides a common lens for exploring the end-user perspective and experience. Its intuitive visual format helps get everyone on the same page. Typical uses include documentation (journey discovery), analysis (journey conformance), and service innovation (journey design or redesign).

No. CJML is designed for a broad audience, and anyone can create a fairly precise journey diagram (yes, we have done systematic studies confirming this). Some parts of CJML are more technical, particularly if you want computers to interpret and work with journey models. We also provide a range of tools to make working with CJML easier. Check out the Tools section.

CJML relies on formalism: clear definitions, principles, and rules. That does not necessarily make it more complex. On the contrary, it can simplify communication by giving teams a common language and a systematic approach.

To make CJML machine-readable, we have developed an XML-based format for customer journeys called xCJML. Some of our tools can import and export journeys in this format.

Yes. CJML is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license (CC BY-SA), the same license used by Wikipedia. You must credit the source when using CJML, and if you adapt it, you must share your modifications under the same terms. More information is available on the Creative Commons website.

Researchers at SINTEF Digital, Norway, have developed CJML over many years, based on requirements and feedback from industry partners and others. Read more about the history of CJML. An open access research paper describes how users were involved in the development of CJML.

We can answer simple questions about CJML by email. If you need more support, we can also take on anything from short consultations to larger projects. Feel free to contact us at CJML at sintef.no.

We don’t have a complete overview, as no registration is required and we don’t collect any personal data. However, we do know that the CJML specification has been downloaded by more than 30,000 users.

We welcome feedback on CJML! Feel free to send comments, suggestions, or ideas to CJML at sintef.no. We are a small team, so it may take us a little while to get back to you.

Not quite. We are continuously working to improve and refine CJML, so keep an eye out for updates.