When everyone knows where they are going, you don't need a map. But as a company grows - both in customer count and employees - diagramming out solutions is a quick and easy way to analyze and solve problems.

Where's the sitemap? One of the first questions I ask before starting a project. If there isn't one, you make it - stat. I introduced this practice at Benefitfocus, and we've never looked back. Mapping out where a user is going, where they've come from and what their choices open up potential solutions that may not have been apparent before.

We extended this practice to the UX team to include user journeys and persona modeling. Using these communication tools we were able to recognize potential opportunities for improvement in the overall experience.