EVENING RITUAL UX PROJECT
PERSONAL JOURNEY MAPPING
Exploring user behaviors, needs, and opportunities for innovation through a structured journey mapping exercise during my MFA program at George Washington University
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Analyze a daily evening ritual through a UX research lens, using journey mapping to deconstruct each step into actions, emotions, tools, and pain points.
By treating a personal routine as a user journey, I was able to identify friction points, moments of delight, and opportunities for innovation within a familiar process.
This exercise strengthened my ability to conduct qualitative research, empathize with users, and translate observations into actionable design insights — all critical skills for UX research and service design.
My Role
Conducted self-observation research to document the sequence of steps, environmental influences, and emotional states associated with the ritual.
Mapped the journey across eight stages, highlighting actions, tools, time spent, and sensory elements for each.
Synthesized findings into key insights and framed opportunities for improving flow, emotional experience, and efficiency.
Reframed the ritual as a user-centered experience, connecting product use, behaviors, and emotional needs to potential design opportunities.
The Challenge
Daily rituals often contain hidden friction points that users either tolerate or work around without questioning.
The challenge was to objectively analyze a personal process to uncover inefficiencies and unmet emotional needs, which is a key UX skill when working with products, services, or systems that users take for granted.
The goals were to:
Identify pain points and barriers that disrupt the flow of the evening ritual.
Understand the role of products and sensory elements in shaping emotional and physical well-being.
Map opportunities for a more seamless, satisfying experience, translating personal insights into design opportunities that could inform product, service, or environmental interventions.
Research & Discovery – Journey Mapping Steps
1. Define the Journey
I selected my evening wind-down routine for analysis, framing it as an end-to-end user journey. This process involved eight distinct steps: Anticipation Tea, Hair, Teeth, Shower, Contacts, Moisturize, Next Day Prep, and Reading. Each was mapped for time spent, sequence, and context to understand its role in the overall flow.
2. Document Actions, Products & Environment
For each step, I documented:
Actions: brewing tea, applying hair products, brushing teeth, prepping for the next day.
Products & tools: Cococurls hair products, Keurig for tea, organic moisturizers, Kindle Paperwhite, aromatherapy oils.
Environmental influences: music, aromatherapy, and lighting changes to promote relaxation.
3. Capture Emotional States
I paired each step with thoughts and emotional reactions:
Positive: a sense of well-being, satisfaction from using organic products, and enjoyment of sensory rituals like aromatherapy.
Negative: frustration with time-consuming steps (e.g., hair care), and disruption of relaxation when switching from winding down to planning tasks.
4. Identify Pain Points & Barriers
Key friction points included:
Task sequencing issues: performing next-day prep during the relaxation steps disrupted the mental flow.
Time-intensive steps: hair care and moisturizing, though important, felt overly long and occasionally rushed.
Cognitive load: juggling relaxation with logistical tasks created a tension between “doing” and “resting.”
5. Frame Opportunities for Innovation
Opportunities emerged to reorder tasks for a smoother experience, introduce more integrated sensory enhancements (i.e., continuing aromatherapy with pillow sprays), and streamline high-effort steps (i.e., faster prep tools or simplified routines). These opportunities could translate into product innovations, digital tools, or service touchpoints for improving evening routines.
Key Insights
Sequencing influences emotional flow: Moving logistical tasks (like next-day prep) to the beginning of the routine improved the transition into relaxation.
Sensory design matters: Aromatherapy, sound, and lighting played a key role in shaping the user experience and should be leveraged for emotional impact.
Efficiency drives satisfaction: Even minor reductions in effort/time could meaningfully improve overall satisfaction with the process.
Impact & Outcome
This exercise produced a comprehensive visual and narrative journey map, highlighting opportunities for improving the flow, emotional tone, and efficiency of the routine.
Key outcomes included:
A structured, evidence-based breakdown of a complex personal process.
Actionable recommendations for improving both the sequence and emotional quality of the journey.
A refined approach for applying UX research methods to everyday experiences, demonstrating how journey mapping can uncover latent needs and inspire design solutions.
Why This Matters for UX Research
This project demonstrates my ability to:
Apply core UX research methods (self-observation, empathy mapping, journey mapping) to uncover insights.
Translate qualitative data into actionable opportunities for design and innovation.
Think like both a researcher and designer, balancing emotional needs with functional improvements.
This exercise demonstrated how journey mapping can uncover where products, services, or actions work well, where they create friction, and where they can be improved, providing critical insights for driving better user experiences in UX research and service design.