A while back, someone asked me on Twitter whether or not you could create effective journey maps in PowerPoint. My answer is an emphatic “yes!” Here’s why:

• PowerPoint is robust: Sure, PowerPoint doesn’t have all the fancy bells and whistles that design programs like Photoshop and Illustrator do—but as you can see in the image above, its drawing capabilities are more than sufficient to depict the ups and downs of customer journey. Add in some color coding and icons, and you’ve all the visualization tools you need to tell your customers’ stories.
• PowerPoint is easy to learn: Many business people today eat, breathe, and sleep in PowerPoint. But even if your job doesn’t entail creating presentations, PowerPoint’s text and drawing tools mirror those in Word and Excel and are therefore relatively easy to pick up.
• PowerPoint is everywhere: Despite competition from Google, Apple, and others, Microsoft reigns supreme in the business productivity department. That means that pretty much everyone in your organization is likely to have PowerPoint on their work machine—and therefore can easily see and/or contribute to your journey maps. Hurray for sharing!

Of course, we pull out our Illustrator design chops when the business needs warrant them. But in our consulting and coaching practices, we encourage our clients to use our PowerPoint template so that they can learn to create journey maps themselves.

You can create your own journey maps, too. Download our FREE PowerPoint journey mapping template and get started today!

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Check out Dave Gray’s fab post on why PowerPoint rules the business world.