Personas and user journeys provide a shared understanding of who you are designing for. That means you’ll spend less time arguing over personal preferences and instead focus on the needs of the people who will actually use the website or app.

User journeys break down a complex series of interrelated actions and feelings into a visual format that is comprehensive but also digestible and easy to share.

Nonprofit digital “engagement” is an overused buzzword that often lacks any meaning. There is a Venn diagram where your organization’s goals are in the left circle, your personas’ are in the right, and engagement is the overlap in the middle.

A user journey visually maps a persona’s experience with a digital product, relating to a specific goal. The purpose of the document is to uncover challenges and opportunities for optimizing the persona’s experience.