How to use emotion chart lanes

Plot how a persona feels at each step of a journey, set the sentiment scale, and chart one line per persona or custom group.

An emotion chart lane plots how sentiment rises and falls across the steps of a journey, as a curve with a data point at each step. Set the points and you have the emotional arc of the experience in one row, alongside the actions and touchpoints that drive it.

The lane plots a sentiment curve across the journey steps

To add one, hover an empty spot below a lane, click + Add lane, and choose Emotion chart under BASIC LANES. The shared add-and-manage steps are covered in How to add and manage lanes; this article covers what's specific to the emotion chart.

An emotion chart lane holds the sentiment curve, not cards. Its three-dot menu drops the card and clipboard actions other lanes have, and adds Edit scale for the points on the vertical axis.

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How the chart reads

Each step has a data point, and the points join into a continuous line. Drag a point up or down to change the sentiment at that step. The face icon on the point updates to match the value, so a glance at the curve shows where the experience peaks and where it dips.

You don't have to set every step. Leave a point blank and the line interpolates across the gap, drawing straight through to the next point you've set rather than breaking the curve.

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How to add and assign emotion lines

A line is one sentiment curve. A lane can hold as many lines as you like, so you can compare how several personas experience the same journey, or track sentiment against a custom benchmark. New lanes start with one line.

Click Edit chart in the lane to open the line list. Each line shows its colour, its name, and controls to rename or delete it. The two buttons at the bottom add a new line.

Edit Chart: the line list, with buttons to add a persona or custom line

• Add persona line - Pick a persona from your workspace. The line takes that persona's name and colour, which ties the curve to who it represents.

• Add custom line - Name and colour the line yourself, for sentiment that isn't tied to a single persona, like a target curve or an aggregate.

The two kinds convert into each other from the line's edit controls, so a custom line can become a persona line later, and the reverse.

A persona line on the chart is independent of the personas you assign to cards. Adding a persona line here doesn't assign that persona to any card, and assigning a persona to a card doesn't add a line. To assign personas to cards, see How to assign a persona to a card.

For a strategic example, here's using an emotion line to contrast current and future state on one map:

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How to set the sentiment scale

The vertical scale has five points, set to +2 at the top down to -2 by default, with 0 as the neutral midpoint. You can't add or remove points, but the value shown at each point is customizable: replace the default numbers with your own numbers, or with words, for example Delighted, Satisfied, Neutral, Frustrated, and Angry.

1

Open Edit scale

Click the lane's three-dot menu and select Edit scale.

2

Relabel the points

Each of the five points has a text field pre-filled with its number. Edit any of them to a number, word, or phrase that fits your scale, then click Save.

Edit scale: relabel each of the five fixed points

The labels you set apply to every line in the lane.

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Related topics

How to add and manage lanes

Add an emotion chart lane, and the shared mechanics for reordering, pinning, and removing lanes.

How to manage personas

Create and edit the personas you plot as lines on the chart.

How to assign a persona to a card

Tag cards with a persona, which is separate from charting a persona line here.

How to use grid lanes

Another structured lane type: a grid of named rows that hold cards.