A user needs map with three teams labeled A, B, and C, linked to a platform with different capabilities, and a group of six cartoon characters watching the map.

Putting User Needs Mapping into practice

When you’re ready to move from insight to action, UNM provides a structured yet adaptable process to map how user needs flow into work, capabilities, teams and value. Whether you’re new to User Needs Mapping or ready to apply it, this page walks you through the core steps and how they fit together.

Two cartoon figures discussing fixing the process

Step 1: Define the purpose

Begin by clarifying what you’re trying to achieve with this mapping session.

What user-outcome are you aiming to improve?
Which part of the organisation (product, service, value stream) will you explore?
What questions about alignment, dependencies or team interactions do you want to answer?
Setting a clear purpose helps focus the session and ensures participants stay aligned.

Two cartoon characters having a conversation about communication. The character on the left says, 'An 'issue' isn't a single person,' and the character on the right responds, 'It's a web of interactions we need to understand.'

Step 2: Identify the user(s)

Choose the user or user-group whose needs matter for this context: external customers, internal stakeholders, or value-consumers.
For each user, articulate a simple outcome-statement – what they’re trying to achieve, how they feel, and the context.

Example: “When I want to choose and book a film, I want a seamless experience so that I feel confident and relaxed.”

Simple illustration of three cartoon people discussing user goals, context, and pain points in front of a whiteboard with colored sticky notes.

Translate user outcomes into outcome-focused needs (not tasks or features).

Ask: What progress is this user trying to make?
Collect a set of needs for your user, then prioritise or cluster them.

This step helps move from inside-out thinking (“we will build X”) to outside-in (“what does the user need?”)

Step 3: Define user needs

A diagram showing a network of connected nodes with two cartoon characters on either side discussing delivery through different teams.

For each user need, identify the organisational capabilities required to fulfil it. Capabilities may include systems, processes, teams, skills or services. You’re building a chain from need → capability. This reveals where your organisation is structured (or not) to meet those needs.

Step 4: Map capabilities

Step 5: Analyse dependencies

Look for insights based on the map you have produced: where one capability relies on another; where teams hand off; where systems integrate. Dependencies aren’t bad in themselves, but when they obstruct flow, create delays, or introduce cognitive load, they become friction. Look for clusters of dependencies, overloaded teams, or unclear hand-off points.

Characters presenting a user needs map on a whiteboard.

Step 6: Define team boundaries & interactions

Now you shift focus: given the capabilities and dependencies mapped, consider team boundaries, ownership and interaction modes. Ask:

Which team should own which capability?
Are hand-offs creating cognitive load or structural delay?
Could a boundary be redesigned to reduce friction?

User Needs Mapping makes visible how teams should interact, rather than simply how they currently do.

Drawing of two smiling figures with thought bubbles. The figure on the left has a red body and says, 'Map, learn, adapt, repeat?'. The figure on the right has a green body and says, 'Flow never stops — nature should learning'.

Step 7: Iterate and scale

UNM isn’t a one-off exercise. Use the map as a living artefact.

Revisit it when new user needs emerge.
Add new capabilities, highlight new dependencies.
Adjust team boundaries and interaction modes as the context evolves.
Small, incremental changes are more sustainable than sweeping reorganisations.

Why this process matters

By walking through needs → capabilities → dependencies → teams → flow, you shift from building inside → out from your organisation’s structure, to designing outside → in from user value. The map gives you a shared visual language across product, engineering, delivery and leadership, making structural misalignment visible and actionable.

A cartoon illustration of two characters with speech bubbles. The character on the left says, 'This map looks messy...'. The character on the right thinks, 'Messy maps spark useful conversations.'

Practitioner tips

Keep sessions manageable: focus on one user and a handful of needs initially, then expand.

Use sticky notes or digital boards to make the map tangible and collaborative.
Involve a cross-functional group: product, engineering, operations, key stakeholders.
Use the map to ask “why?” at each level — Why this capability? Why this ownership?
Don’t aim for perfect first time: iterate, learn, refine.

Your next move

Ready to try User Needs Mapping in your team? Start by selecting your user journey and mapping three user needs. Then map the capabilities and dependencies. Use what you discover to prompt a conversation about how your team boundaries and interactions might evolve for better flow.

And you don’t have to figure it out alone; I work with teams to run mapping sessions, build confidence in applying the approach, and turn insights into structural clarity. Get in touch to explore how I can support you.

Four diverse professionals collaborating and brainstorming in a modern office, looking at sticky notes on a glass wall.

Tailored User Needs Mapping workshops where we’ll uncover misalignment, clarify capabilities, and identify practical flow-improving moves grounded in your real context.