Approach Avoid Digital Mapping Services

Journey mapping is a way for you to visualize the human experience that people have with your organization.  Using the information from this website, journey mapping can provide instant value to the experience and improve the bottom line.  This is because of the detailed focus (Energy) applied.  Also, when you are using Approach Avoid knowledge, this will increase the effectiveness of the map even more.  

Journey:  A map will show a journey that a person goes on within an experience.  This can be a whole experience or just a specific aspect of one.  For business mapping services, we have customers, patients, employees, students, citizens, and fans.  As an example, a customer journey map can include the whole experience a customer goes through with your organization or it can be specific area of the journey (ex. the ordering process, a time frame, etc.).  Another example can be a product launch and one or various touchpoints you need to focus on.

Touchpoints:  At Approach Avoid, we consider every input that a human brain receives through the 5 senses a touchpoint.  Since the amount of inputs to the human brain is staggering, we will focus on the major inputs.  Examples of touchpoints for a customer can include specific advertising, a website, employee interaction, product display, email, checkout, waiting time, etc.  Touchpoints can be divided into both Physical Touchpoints and Digital Touchpoints.  Digital Touchpoints are those that we encounter online.

Lanes:  For a map, on the left side there will be lanes.  Below is a list of example lanes in a customer map:

7 Starter Concepts of Approach/Avoid:

     Physical and Cultural Survival

     Human Perception/Inputs to the 5 Senses

     Brain Predictions 

     Memory/Past Experiences

     Emotions

     Energy 

     Actions

Touchpoints

Customer Activities

Customer Goals

Customer Expectations

Organization Goals

Past Experiences

Key Performance Indicators

and more...

Stages:  For a map, on the top there will be phases that the person goes through on their journey.  For a customer map, some examples can include:

Awareness

Attention

Interest

Consideration

Evaluation

Purchase

Reaction/Feedback

Support

Loyalty

Advocacy

A map can be done for a particular person (ex. customer), a type of person (customer type), or it can be done for people in general (all customers).  

Since the human brain predicts based on past experiences, the more information you have on a person the better the map will be.  That being said, by definition, any map done well will increase your success.  This is because, with Approach Avoid, you are getting closer to the basic drives of human behavior.  As humans, we are:

- Driven to survive

- Limited on Energy

- Predicting and Interpreting the world through the 5 senses

Before we get into the maps, let's summarize important information from this website.

This is where you will see how learning more about Approach Avoid can help you build better and more productive journey/experience maps.  

Let's summarize some of the top highlights of this site and share how you can use this information to enhance the human experience and your bottom line.

Summary of 7 Starters and how they can be applied to Mapping

Note:  Since these 7 are so important to human behavior, it is recommended that these in some form should be in all larger maps (Another option is to build maps with single categories - We will provide examples).    

Approach Avoid - Consider reviewing our basic research area for Approach Avoid 

- We are all hardwired to make Approach/Avoid decisions based on inputs

- Positive Affect (PA) - Appetitive stimuli - positive reward cues, signals of safety.  Enthusiasm, interest, pleasantness, or relief can be termed Positive Affect.

- Negative Affect (NA) - Aversive motivated states.  Avoidance motivation or withdrawal that is elicited by aversive stimuli - threat cues, punishment, etc.  Experienced as negative emotions ranging from anxiety , anger, frustration, and disgust.

- The spectrum of approach and avoid varies widely depending on the individual.  A particular input is approach for some and avoid for others.  Also, changes in the brain mean that it could be approach today but avoid tomorrow. 

- BAS>  A behavioral approach system (BAS) is believed to regulate appetitive motives, in which the goal is to move toward something desired. 

- BIS> A behavioral avoidance (or inhibition) system (BIS) is said to regulate aversive motives, in which the goal is to move away from something unpleasant.   

- Dopamine is a molecule that leads to motivation and action. 

- The habituation of the action of consumption leads to the Wanting of things being stronger than the reward of having them. 

Questions for Brainstorming:

How is the subconscious of a customer (patient, employee, etc.) approaching and avoiding at each major touchpoint?

The brain prioritizes negative over positive for survival.  What can be done to reduce negative surprises (prediction errors) at each major touchpoint?

7 Starters

1. Survival

- Survival is the primary motivation for living organisms.

- Survival is both physical and cultural (Important features include self-esteem and community)

- Example of the brain overlap between physical survival and cultural survival:

     - Insular Cortex>  Does both physical and cultural disgust

- Self-esteem takes the edge off our hostile reactions to people and ideas that conflict with our beliefs and values. 

- A person has to feel a valued part of a culture.  In Group and Out Group are important for survival. 

Questions for Brainstorming:

What are both the current physical and cultural risks at our organization that are inducing avoid?

How can we improve safety, certainty, and self-esteem to improve approach?  How can we improve approach to our organization's culture goals?

2. Human Perception and 5 Senses

- Inputs that come to the senses do so without meaning - we make that meaning.

- Our senses only see a sliver of the world - What is USEFUL to us.

- Negative is more important than positive.  Rather be safe than sorry.

- Emotion is built on basic motivational circuits that have evolved to sustain life.  We use emotions to take proper action.  We also learn over time with emotions for future experiences.

- We are all different in our brain wiring and we all have different past experiences to predict action.

Questions for Brainstorming: 

What can we do to improve our important touchpoints to increase engagement using the 5 senses?  How are we making each touchpoint "Useful" for our customers?    

3.  Brain Predictions

- We predict to enhance our chances of survival

- The meaning we make of inputs to the five senses come from past experiences

- Predictions and assessments have to be lightning quick.

Questions for Brainstorming:

Knowing the human judgement is so quick, how can we improve first impressions and be quicker on service recovery?  How are we using feedback to determine if our services match our customer brain predictions?  

4. Memory and Past Experiences

- Memory is not like a tape recording.  It changes over time. 

- Each person you meet has a lifetime of brain predictions and experiences they bring to each moment

- We can design better experiences for others by learning more of their past experiences.

Questions for brainstorming:

Think of each touchpoint and how a person is going to remember those moments for future approach/avoid.  

Reflect on what a subconscious is trying to memorize to help that person survive and thrive.

What are you doing to prevent negative memories of the moments you provide?  Feedback and what a customer does (their action) is so important to understanding the darkness of a customer's past experiences.  How can we use feedback and customer actions to help us better understand customer predictions for the future?

5.  Emotions 

- Emotion is built on basic motivational circuits that have evolved to sustain life.  We use emotions to take proper action.  We also learn over time with emotions for future experiences.

Questions for brainstorming:

How are we learning our customers emotions at each important touchpoint?

How can design and implement more emotional bonding with our customers at each important touchpoint? 

6.  Energy

- Excess Energy has been the driver in the growth of human population and wealth.  

- EROI =  Quantity of Energy Supplied/Quantity of Energy Used in the Supply Process  

- The natural tendency of all things is toward disorder. If you want order, energy must be invested. 

- More complex systems/things require more energy. 

- Every unit of GDP requires energy, materials, innovation, and technology

- On an individual level, we are limited on choices (one at a time), brain energy, and resources (money = claims on energy)

- Limited energy means we need to make choices - Example> It is metabolically costly for a brain to deal with things that are hard to predict. 

- The brain is expensive to run.

Questions for brainstorming:

Human Energy is Expensive - How are we improving energy at every major touchpoint?  Ex - How can we improve navigation throughout the customer experience to reduce energy use?

Routine - Think of a path through a forest.  Once the path is built, it is the quickest way through.  How can we make paths for each customer so they find our organization the easiest to navigate (Increase switching costs)

How can we constantly improve the perception of ROI of energy for each customer?

7.  Action

- Action is the result - the decision of the subconscious

- It is the priority set

Questions for brainstorming:

How are we currently tracking human subconscious actions?  How can this be improved? (both in measurement and increasing Approach)

Words

- Some of the most important words for human experiences can include Certainty, Meaning, Purpose, Useful, Autonomy, Hope, etc.

- You can design cultures with positive words.  It requires energy but the tradeoff can be powerful.

- Words matter - What we say and write impacts the brains of others.

Questions for brainstorming:

What words are the most important at our organization?  How can we design the culture where these words are reflected in every experience?

How can we improve language at all the important touchpoints - including employees?

Customer Experience

There are many options you can choose when developing a customer experience map.  Here are some ideas you can use to improve moments (touchpoints), the customer experience, and bottom-line results:

Full Customer Experience Map

One Touchpoint Focus Map

Multiple Touchpoint Focus Map

Top Touchpoints Map

Department Customer Experience Map

One Word Touchpoint Run

Our Values Map

Customer Culture Map

Product Launch Map

Patient Experience

Of all the experiences on this page, the Patient Experience touches Physical Survival the most.  There is always Physical Survival (safety, etc.) in any experience.  However, due to the importance of health in surviving, a Patient Experience map should have this as a top focus.  Here are some maps you can use to improve patient moments, the patient experience, and bottom-line results for your patients and your organization:

Patient Survival Map

Whole Patient Experience Map

One Touchpoint Focus Map

Multiple Touchpoints Map

Top Touchpoints Map

One Word Touchpoint Run

Our Values Map

Patient Focus Culture Map

Hospital Department Map

Patient Approach Avoid Map

Physician's Office Map

Dental Office Map

Urgent Care Map

Outpatient Clinic Map

Employee Experience

The Employee Experience can be mapped and improved in multiple ways.  As with other experiences, the whole journey can be mapped or individual parts of the experience.  Below are a few maps that can help you improve employee moments, experiences, and bottom-line results.

Onboarding Map

Department Maps

Recruitment Map

Performance Map

Benefits Map

Education/Productivity/Development Maps

Retention Maps

Offboarding Map

Culture Maps

Company Values Map

Whole Employee Experience Map

Mix - Customer/Employee Map

Student Experience

Student maps can be of any age and any type of school.  It is about the human experience and when that is the focus of the map, it can be very effective if the information used is implemented properly.

Examples of Maps that can be done for the Student Experience include:

Introduction to the school

Enrollment

Transportation

Classes

Mental Health

Learning

Testing

Sports and Activities

Employment after school

Curriculum

Steps to Graduation

Dining 

Residence

Full Student Experience

Busing/Transportation

Communication

Community Engagement

Due to the high intensity of cultural survival for most of the education years, this important need should be included in maps focused on student development.

Community Engagement - Government

The maps in this section will be focused on improving the lives of the citizens of a community and of the community itself.  The maps will include both business (A business/organization wants to improve the community and/or improve its standing within the community) or government.  The government can include all levels (city, county, state, and federal) and the services provided by government agencies.  Again, it is truly about the human experience so all aspects of the experience within communities can be mapped.

Examples can include:

Business

Community Engagement Map

Event Map

Community Drive Map

Government

Citizen Experience Map

Touchpoint Map

Multiple Touchpoint Map

Education Map

Digital Experience Map

Omnichannel Map

Fan Experience

Maps for the Fan and Guest Experience can include:

Sporting Events

Concerts - Venues

Plays/Shows

Example of Maps can include:

Customer Experience Map

Touchpoint Map

Multiple Touchpoints Map

Ticket Experience Map

Promotion Map

Food - Drink Map

Restroom Map

Digital Experience Map

In a world full of information overload and constant change, remaining focused on what is important can be challenging.  There are also multiple ways for a person to use a digital or physical map to accomplish important goals.   Below you will find some Personal Map ideas:

Goal(s) Map

Purpose Map

World Engagement Map

Bucket List Map

Career Map

Small Business Map

Start-up Map

Sole Business Map

Partner Business Map

Sales Map

Job Attainment Map

Financing Map

Health Map

Child Development Map

Routine Map

Life Fulfillment Map

Focus Map

Skills Development Map

CHANGE MAP

Similar to the Organization Mapping Services, if you are a Solo Business Entrepreneur or have a Business Partnership and want to pursue our Mapping Services, reach out to us.  Individual Sales or Customer Service/Experience career fields will find mapping useful.  

Maps can also be used for personal achievement, family achievement, and many more options.

Feel free to reach out to us.  We are here to support you in your life!

This section focuses on words that you can use to design better experiences.  To save Energy, we humans like items in categories.  Below you will find words that you can use in Mapping Lanes to focus your energy on these important words.  When you apply more positive energy to an input, you should obtain better results.  

The page is set up with various words that you can use in maps to obtain the success your striving for.  You can have a map just focused on a single word a build a map with multiple words.  We have selected a few powerful words that drive human behavior (Approach/Avoid).  We also have a list of positive words for you to refer to after the main words listed below.  Share with us any words that you may feel that would be helpful to others.

POWERFUL WORD IDEAS

Certainty

Is that a Tiger in the woods or a snake/stick on the ground?  Think about it too much and it is too late.  The human need to process certainty quickly was imperative for survival. 

Below are some quotes and work by Beau Lotto (Neuroscientist):

"We do almost everything to avoid uncertainty.  Yet, the irony is that's the only way we can go to see things differently." 

DO:  To help people be curious instead of afraid, give them some safety certainty.

"We'd rather hold onto assumptions that we know do not work because that is safer than to question them and go into a place that we do not already know.  Even though that place might be a lot better than where we are right now."

"Our brain evolved to take what is meaningless and make it meaningful."

As mentioned previously, the human brain doesn't have the time and energy to get all the information before making a decision.  We make meaning on limited data.

"Your brain only makes small steps.  It does not teleport across the room."

How do we adapt to uncertainty, we continually redefine normality

Autonomy

The world does not allow us to do everything we want to do.  There are just some Approaches to life that are necessary and are not fun.  Having Autonomy is important because of the certainty of being in control.  More certainty reduces energy use.

By managing the Approach and Avoid of Autonomy, we can increase the amount of positive moments for other people.

Meaning- Purpose

We are constantly trying to understand and survive the world around us.  We have access to a limited amount of data on what these limited inputs mean.  Thus, creating meaning within this limitation is important for the brain to move forward and Approach.  Meaning provides focus and motivation.

Useful

With limited time and energy, we need to do what is Useful.  

To see it in action, try being a detached observer and watch what is happening throughout society and the actions of both individuals and groups.  Their behaviors reflect Approaching what is Useful to themselves and as groups.

Compassion

Within this word we highlight work from Stephen Trzeciak and Anthony Mazzarelli in the their book "Compassionomics". It focuses on Compassion in healthcare.  However, the concepts can relate to other aspects of life as well.  The book is a systematical review of what the compilation of the studies of compassion revealed.

Here are some highlights from the book:

"you never really know what kind of pain people are carrying around"

DO:  What is going on the brains of others is so dark to us.  Especially people who we do not know.  Even those who you have spent a lot of your life with, so much of their past experiences that shape their decisions are still dark.

DO:  Compassion takes energy.  Both at the individual level and at the organization level.  Two ways to increase approach is through education and developing a culture of compassion.

Heart attack patients that do not have the emotional support had three times higher odds of death.

Compassion calms the human physiological response to stress.  Compassion also heavily impacts the autonomic nervous system.

A compassionate touch from a supportive other can lower the other persons blood pressure.

In a study of trauma patients, the odds of a patient-reported good outcome were four times higher when the physician had a higher rating when it came to compassion.

Using brain imaging - when a person was alone or holding a stranger's hand as he or she anticipated a shock, the regions of the brain that process danger lit up like a Christmas tree.  

When holding the hand of a trusted person, the brain grew quiet.

Non-verbal immediacy (e.g. leaning in toward the patient, less interpersonal distance, making direct eye contact, and facial expressiveness, such as smiling and nodding) had a significant association with better patient functional outcomes on both physical and cognitive functioning.  

DO:  Compassionate Approach from a trusted provider can increase approach in another person.  Approach leads to more approach.

Patients with diabetes were 80 percent higher (in terms of controlling blood sugar) with high compassionate physicians.

Compassion from nursing aides was associated with lower depression in nursing home residents.

Simply communicating better can be interpreted as higher compassion.

Science shows that hope matters.  And science shows that compassionate care can be a powerful restorer of hope."

"Compared to patients of low compassion providers, the rate of cancer screening adherence among patients of high compassion providers was 13 to 30 percent higher"

"the presence of depersonalization among health care providers is a marker for an inability to have compassion and an absence of compassion... depersonalization prevents compassion"

"Research shows that if health care providers consistently demonstrate compassion, patients are more likely to believe they know what they are doing"

"Compassion accounted for 65 percent of the variation in how patients rated their satisfaction with their health care provider"

"Researchers found that 56 percent of the physicians believe they do not have time to treat patients with compassion."

"Researchers found the believing to be in a hurry was the only factor that predicted whether or not participants stopped to help a person in need."

"Research shows that approximately 50 percent of US physicians are suffering from burnout"

Self-Esteem

There is strong evidence that self-esteem keeps the physiological arousal associated with anxiety in check.  Self-esteem is more than a mere mental abstraction:  it is felt deeply in our bodies.  Studies have shown that feelings of self-worth also diminish defensive reactions to thoughts of death.

Self-esteem takes the edge off our hostile reactions to people and ideas that conflict with our beliefs and values.

People who based their self-worth on physical strength generated a stronger handgrip after they thought about death.  People who based their self-worth on physical fitness reported increased intentions to exercise.  People who based their self-worth on beauty reported greater concern about their appearance.

The need for self-esteem is constantly at work, prodding us on beneath the surface of awareness to maintain our protective shield against terror.

Like other species, we fight like hell when faced with physical death.  But we humans go much further.  Even the slightest intimation of our mortality prods us to work harder to leave our mark on the world.  We fight to prove our worth, even in the smallest ways.

Ways self-esteem can break down.  

Individuals, or groups of people, can lose faith in their cultural worldviews.  When people lose confidence in their core beliefs, they become disillusioned because they lack a functional blueprint of reality. Without such a map, there is no basis for determining what behaviors are appropriate or desirable, leaving no way to plot a course to self-esteem.

A person has to feel a valued part of a culture.  Falling short, whether due to your ascribed place in society, your own failings or unrealistic cultural expectations, is the second cause of struggles with self-worth.

Self-esteem plummets when cultures embrace standards of value that are unattainable for the average citizen

The costs of low self-esteem

A short list of problems associated with low self-esteem:

poor physical health, depression, anger, hostility, suicidal thoughts, psychosis, alcohol and substance abuse, adolescent smoking, risky sexual behavior, suicide attempts, eating disorders, self-harm, compulsive gambling, compulsive buying, and cheating.  Regardless of how or why self-esteem is compromised, the result is the same.  Suffering from high levels of anxiety, people with low self-esteem do what they can to reduce it.

Just like physical survival, we will fight to preserve our self-esteem in the same way - because for us humans self-esteem is our symbolic protection against death.  

What can we do to acquire it?  One tactic is to encourage individuals to cultivate diversified self-concepts..... By placing our psychological eggs in many different baskets, we increase the odds that we'll have durable ways to feel good about ourselves.  Knowing which baskets are right for us is also important.  Example - You shouldn't aspire to become a professional opera singer if you can't carry a tune.