A Guide to Maps & Models for UX Designers

Originally gathered together for my students, this booklet was intended to help them differentiate between the different kinds of diagrams I was teaching and to help them understand when you might use each kind.

This mini guide is intended to be an overview of the landscape of models and diagrams one might make to help clarify complex situations or software. It is not exhaustive but does go into detail about different kinds of maps, models and diagrams, what they would be used for and for most of them I include step by step instructions for how to work through making one. The mini guide also contains multiple examples of each kind of diagram from my own consulting professional practice.

By making these diagrams we can determine what is in or out, what elements or actors we need to pay attention to and we can start to see relationships between the concepts of a topic or system.

The later models show how you might visualize the taxonomy in a system and how to map user and system tasks, and experience journeys. The radial time and task diagrams and service blueprints explore what people actually need to do at different stages in a lifecycle.

Other diagrams include sitemaps, timelines, schedules, data (information) models and other kinds of information that when presented visually can become more clear and help you have tactical discussions with development and content teams.