How to create a journey map
Start a new journey map and build it your way, with Smaply AI, from scratch, or from a template.
Go from nothing to a structured journey map in a few clicks. Create the map first, then pick how to fill it: let Smaply AI draft the whole thing from a sentence, start from a blank canvas, or open a template.
Prerequisites
You need the Editor or Admin role at the account or workspace level. Viewers cannot create journey maps.
Plan availability
Creating a journey map is available on all plans. The Free plan is capped at 10 maps total.
Smaply AI can generate up to 3 maps per month on Free, and is uncapped on Repository and above. It also depends on the account-level AI Features setting; if an Admin has turned AI off for the account, the option does not appear.
Your own saved templates require Repository. Built-in Smaply Templates are available on all plans.
How to start a new journey map
A new map starts the same way no matter how you plan to build it. Create the map, choose where it lives, and you land in the editor ready to fill it.
Click + New journey on the Dashboard
In the quick-create row at the top of the Dashboard, click + New journey.
Choose where the map lives
In the New journey map dialog, pick the Account and Workspace the map belongs to. Both default to the one you're working in, so if you only have one of each, this is a quick confirmation.
Click Create
Smaply creates the map, shows a brief Setting up your map screen, and opens it in the editor. The map is auto-named with the date and time; rename it any time from the title in the editor's top bar.
Choose how to build your map
A brand-new map opens on the Create your journey map start screen. Pick one of three ways to build it:
With Smaply AI - Describe the journey in a sentence and let AI draft the stages, steps, and content. Fastest when you don't have an existing model to work from.
Blank journey - Start from an empty canvas and build it lane by lane. Best when you have a clear plan or want full control.
From a template - Open a pre-built structure for a common scenario. Best when your situation matches a known pattern.
Smaply AI generates a complete first draft from a short description: a name, a structured description, color-coded stages with steps, and whichever extra lanes you ask for. Everything it produces is editable, so treat the result as a starting point you refine.
Describe the journey and click Generate
Type a sentence describing the journey in the prompt field, then click Generate. To see the shape of a good prompt, click one of the Try chips (B2C in-store return, B2B contract renewal, or Employee onboarding).
Smaply AI understands several languages but generates in English by default. To get your draft in another language, add a line like "Generate the content in German" to the prompt.
Refine the name and description
Smaply AI pre-fills a Journey map name and a structured Journey map description (User Goals, Business Goals, Journey Start, Journey End). Edit either freely. For a different angle, click View next to Need inspiration? to swap in another description style. Click Generate journey steps to continue.
Customize the stages and steps
Smaply AI lays out color-coded stages with steps. Rename stages and steps inline, reorder them, delete what you don't need, or add more with + Add step and + Add stage. The Journey structure preview on the right updates as you go.
Use the Quick add journey content toggles to control how much AI scaffolds: Stages and steps, Step descriptions, Emotion chart, Storyboard images, Channels, and Satisfaction slider. Click Add to Journey Map to build the map.
The generated map opens in the editor with the lanes you selected populated and ready to edit.
On the start screen, click the Blank journey card in the Templates row.
The map opens as an empty canvas with a single Stage lane, ready for you to build out. Add the lanes, columns, and cards you need:
On the start screen, pick a template card from the Templates row. Smaply Templates are built-in and available on every plan; your own saved templates appear here too. The map opens with the template's structure already in place, ready to edit.
The template cards you see are specific to your account. To save a map you've built as a reusable template, see How to create and use templates.
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