software.architecture

A holistic view about software architecture.

Making the Most of What You Already Have

How to Start CX Research with Existing Information.

A practical guide to working with internal data to build an evidence-based understanding of your customer experience Many organizations already sit on a wealth of information – but they fail to use it properly when starting a CX mapping initiative. Instead of reaching for external surveys or reinventing the wheel, it’s often smarter to start by looking inward and analyzing what’s already there. The evaluation of existing information sources is a highly efficient and often underestimated first step in customer experience research.

Research First

Why Customer Experience Mapping Doesn’t Work Without Real Insight.

Solid Customer Experience Mapping doesn’t start with visualization — it starts with understanding. Many CX mapping projects begin with a workshop, a few Post-its, and a blank board. The team notes internal assumptions about customer needs and sketches a journey that’s mostly based on guesswork. The problem? Without solid research, every map remains a wishful internal narrative. To truly understand customer experience, you need more than process knowledge or product logic.

Don’t Just Draw Journeys — Drive Them

Why CX Mapping without strategic focus is wasted effort — and how to do it right from day one.

Setting the Course for Success Once a Customer Experience Mapping project has been initiated, it’s essential to determine a clear direction. Without strategic alignment, the project risks losing focus, missing valuable insights, or delivering limited value in the end. The key factors in defining the project strategy include: Business goals and strategic alignment: What challenges and objectives should the mapping support? Level of formality: How detailed and methodical does the project need to be?

Experience Mapping

The art of visualizing and understanding customer interactions

Why Experience Mapping is Essential for Businesses In an increasingly digital and customer-focused economy, businesses face the challenge of fully understanding their customers’ expectations and needs. Only those who thoroughly analyze the entire customer journey can make targeted improvements and build long-term customer relationships. This is where Experience Mapping comes into play – a method that allows businesses to visualize all customer interaction points with their company. Through this visual representation, businesses can not only identify where value is created for the customer but also pinpoint areas where friction occurs.

The Principles of Alignment Diagrams

A Practical Tool for Better Decision-Making

More than just visualization Alignment diagrams are more than just visually appealing illustrations—they are powerful tools that help businesses align themselves more effectively with their customers. They bring structure to complex processes, create clarity, and support informed decision-making. A well-crafted alignment diagram doesn’t happen by chance—it follows clear principles that maximize its impact. The key guidelines below highlight what makes alignment diagrams truly effective. The Key Principles of Alignment Diagrams 1.

Value Orientation as the Key to Successful Product Development

From Features to Value: Rethinking Software Development with a Human-Centered Approach

Price is what you pay – value is what you get. With this striking statement, Warren Buffett pinpointed a fundamental challenge for businesses: What does value truly mean, and how can it be sustainably created for customers? Technological excellence and functional superiority are necessary but by no means sufficient conditions for a product’s success. Far too often, companies focus on internal metrics such as efficiency gains, market share, or revenue growth – while overlooking the most critical question:

Types of alignment diagrams

Visualizing Customer Experiences to Drive Business Success

Deep Dive: Exploring the Three Key Types of Alignment Diagrams In our previous article, Alignment Diagrams: Indispensable for Understanding the Needs of Your Customers, we introduced the concept of alignment diagrams as a strategic tool that helps businesses shift from an internal focus to a customer-centric perspective. We explored how these diagrams enhance decision-making, foster innovation, improve collaboration, and strengthen customer loyalty. We also provided a high-level overview of the three primary types of alignment diagrams:

Alignment diagrams

Indispensable for understanding the needs of your customers

Why we need tools to understand our customers Alignment diagrams are an indispensable tool for consistently aligning companies with the needs of their customers. They enable a systematic shift from a company’s often internally focused perspective to the customer’s point of view – a crucial step for achieving long-term success in a dynamic, increasingly customer-centric world. Moreover, alignment diagrams promote cross-departmental alignment by developing a shared mental model within the organization, thereby creating the foundation for coherent, customer-oriented collaboration.

The Human as the Benchmark – Why People, Not Processes, Define Success

How software development can truly become user-centric.

The Focus of Software Development Is Misplaced

Why technology-first thinking leads to failure.