Experience Map — Maya Patel (grid view)

Visual layout for journey mapping (demo version)

See also: Narrative view of Maya’s commute

Sketch the same grid in Miro, MURAL, or on paper stickies.
Each cell = one sticky note or observation.

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Maya Patel’s Evening Commute

Lens ↓ / Stage →	Leaving Office / Class	Walking to Subway	Entering Station	In Subway Car	Delay / Reroute	Neighborhood Walk	Arrival & Check-In
Doing	Packs bag, checks phone, texts roommate	Chooses lit streets, keeps keys in hand	Navigates crowds, scans pass	Holds bag close, plans exit early	Reroutes or waits	Walks briskly, texts ETA	Unlocks door, texts “home safe”
Thinking	“It’s late, streets will be quieter”	“Better add 10 mins than risk shortcut”	“Rush hour might still be bad”	“What if I can’t get out in time?”	“I hate not knowing how long”	“Almost there — two blocks”	“Glad that’s over”
Saying	“I’ll text you when I’m on the train”	(silent — headphones in, no music)	“Excuse me” when passing	(silent — uses silence as shield)	Mutters frustration	Sends text: “5 mins out”	“Sorry if I made you worry”
Feeling	Mild apprehension	Alert, small anxiety spikes	Heightened vigilance	Stress peaks, pulse quickens	Frustrated + anxious	Anxiety peak then relief	Relief, guilt about burdening others

Building the experience map grid

This grid is not the final product — it’s a staging tool.
Here are three ways to bring it alive in class or on a Miro board:

• Color-code emotions
  Give each sticky a background color (e.g., green = calm, yellow = mild stress, red = peak anxiety).
  Once the stickies are laid out stage by stage, the color pattern will make the emotional peaks and valleys jump out visually.

• One sticky per bullet
  Each bullet in the grid (Doing, Thinking, Saying, Feeling) should become its own sticky note in Miro or on paper.
  This prevents overcrowding and keeps each observation movable.

• Compare variants
  Have students map the same commute at different times of day (e.g., Maya’s 9:30 PM walk vs. her 5:30 PM daylight walk).
  The contrast highlights how moderators like lighting, crowd density, and time of day shift the emotional landscape.

In other words: the grid is a bridge format. Use it to structure the raw data before translating it into a visual journey map where patterns — especially emotional spikes — become easy to see.