Experience Map

I led an initiative at LinkedIn to analyze and optimize our design and development process. Over three months, I researched, interviewed stakeholders, and mapped out key areas of friction—both positive and negative—within the workflow. The result was the Experience Map, a tool that visualized friction points, areas where custom tooling could be leveraged, and key opportunities for improvement. This map became a guide for teams to enhance collaboration, reduce inefficiencies, and streamline product development, demonstrating how design systems can support not just UI but entire processes.

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As a product designer with a focus on design systems, I've always been deeply curious about processes—how they can streamline, support, and even shape the design work we do. But have you ever stopped to really analyze your design process? Not just following steps like "Design Thinking" or "Double Diamond," but going deeper—understanding how long those steps take, what activities fill each stage, and, most importantly, how efficient and effective the overall process is?

For a long time, I hadn’t either. Like many designers, I knew the buzzwords, I followed the common methodologies when I could, but when timelines got tight or projects got complicated, I adapted. If the process didn’t fit within those constraints, I would adjust or cut out steps entirely just to keep things moving. Sound familiar?

But everything changed when I worked at LinkedIn and was tasked with truly studying our design process. Over the course of three months, I conducted extensive research, interviews, and mapping exercises to analyze how products were designed and developed at scale. I wasn’t just looking for surface-level improvements—I wanted to know exactly where the process was slowing down, how we could streamline it, and what tools could help us do that. The result of this deep dive became the Experience Map.

Instead of walking through my standard design process here, I want to focus on this Experience Map itself because it became the cornerstone of the project—and honestly, the most challenging and rewarding part.

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The Experience Map: A Deep Dive Into Process

The Experience Map has three main components: 

1. A top navigationthat controls what’s visible in the other sections

2. A side information panel for details

3. The main content area, where the primary information is displayed.

Let’s break it down further.

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Friction Points: Not Always Negative

The first key area in the map focuses on friction points. Most people assume friction is always a bad thing, but I looked at it differently. For me, friction represents any point in the process where things slow down—this can be positive or negative. For example, some friction points highlight broken areas of the process that need fixing. But other friction points are where intentional slowing down ensures quality, proper communication, or alignment on project requirements. I call this "good friction."

To visually differentiate these types, I used two distinct icons: a red stop sign 🛑 for negative friction points and a green circle 🟢 for positive ones. Each friction point was not only color-coded for accessibility but also numbered for tracking. These numbers helped me create a structured view using AirTable, where every friction point was categorized with relevant tags, descriptions, and stakeholders impacted.

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Tooling and Areas of Opportunity

The map also highlights tooling and areas of opportunity. The tooling section shows where custom tools could be leveraged to improve the process. Each tool was represented by its logo, and selecting it would bring up more detailed information about how and where the tool could be used. This helps the team quickly identify resources already at our disposal.

Next are the areas of opportunity, represented by lightbulb icons. These were the actionable insights that emerged from my research—the short-term, impactful changes that would drive immediate improvements. 

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The Purpose of the Map: Driving Productivity

This map became an essential guide for my team, offering a clear view of where to focus our efforts. Whether it was eliminating bad friction, leveraging tools, or tackling areas of opportunity, the Experience Map helped us make smarter, more strategic decisions about our design process. It also became a valuable resource for aligning cross-functional teams and keeping everyone focused on productivity.

A Unique Challenge

While this project wasn’t a conventional design systems initiative, it pushed me to think in new ways about how to visually represent complex information. It also underscored the breadth of design systems work—this map wasn’t just about UI components or design tokens; it was about creating a framework for better collaboration and efficiency across teams.

In the end, this project expanded my understanding of how design systems can support not only design work but also the processes that fuel it.

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