What are user journeys primarily designed to illustrate?

User journeys are primarily designed to illustrate the steps a user takes to accomplish a task. This visual representation captures the user’s experience as they interact with a product or service, highlighting their goals, actions, motivations, and emotions at each stage of the journey. By mapping out these steps, designers and stakeholders can gain insights into the user’s perspective, identify pain points, and understand how the overall experience can be improved.

This understanding is critical for creating user-centered designs that effectively meet the needs of users, ultimately leading to enhanced satisfaction and engagement. User journeys serve as a tool for empathy, allowing teams to visualize and analyze the user's pathway through various touchpoints and interactions, emphasizing the importance of focusing on the user's needs throughout the design process.