How to import from Excel

Import a journey map from an Excel or CSV spreadsheet, with control over how rows and columns become lanes and stages.

Have a journey map laid out in a spreadsheet? Import the file and Smaply turns your rows and columns into journey map lanes, stages, and cards. To start, open Journey maps, click Import, choose Excel, upload your file, and click Import.

Importing journey maps is available on the Repository plan and above.

Prerequisites

You need Editor access in the workspace, since importing creates a new journey map.

Unlike the image and screenshot sources, the Excel import is not an AI reconstruction. It reads the structure of your spreadsheet directly, so the result follows your rows and columns exactly. It accepts .xlsx, .xls, and .csv files, which makes it the way to bring CSV data in too.

How to import a journey map from a spreadsheet

1

Open the import flow

In a workspace, open Journey maps and click Import in the toolbar, next to Create journey map.

Journey maps > Import

2

Choose Excel and click Continue

In the Select import source modal, choose Excel (the ".xlsx spreadsheet" card), then click Continue.

Select import source > Excel

3

Set how your spreadsheet maps to the journey

On the Upload an excel file step, drag a file into the dropzone or click Upload. Smaply accepts .xlsx, .xls, and .csv. Before uploading, check the three options below the dropzone, which control how your data becomes a journey map. All three are on by default:

• First row is stage lane - Creates a stage lane from the first row of data.

• First column is lane names - Uses the values in the first column as lane names.

• Exclude empty lanes - Skips lanes that have no content.

Then click Import.

Upload an excel file

Lay your spreadsheet out like a journey map

The import maps the grid of your spreadsheet straight onto the grid of a journey map, so the cleaner the layout, the cleaner the result:

• Put each journey step in its own column and each lane (actions, thinking, pain points, and so on) in its own row.

• Keep the stage names in the first row and the lane names in the first column, to match the default options.

• Leave one piece of content per cell. Each filled cell becomes a card.

• Turn off First row is stage lane or First column is lane names if your sheet does not use that layout, so Smaply does not treat your data as labels.

Import an Excel spreadsheet from the editor

You can also start an Excel import from inside an open journey map. Click the three-dot menu next to the map title and choose Import from Excel. This opens the same upload step covered above.

Related topics

How to import from image

Upload a screenshot of a map and let Smaply AI rebuild it.

How to import from JSON

Re-import a journey map you exported from Smaply as JSON.

How to use enhanced paste

Paste spreadsheet rows straight into a lane of an existing map.

How to create a journey map

Start a new journey map from scratch, a template, or AI.