User Research CJM As-Is LITE mining

Customer Journey: As-Is

How Emma does her main job today, without Tendd. Because she is an avoider, this journey mostly does not complete: it is a cycle of avoidance broken by a trigger, a reluctant half-attempt, friction, and retreat. Every emotion stands on a source or is marked ?

Emma, 29 · The Anxious Non-Looker

Primary persona × J-MAIN

When I suspect I am paying for things I forgot about or never use, I want to see all my recurring charges clearly in one calm view, so that I feel in control of my money without needing to become a finance person. personas.md Persona 1; jtbd.md Part 1 (fused J1 + J2)

One focus only. Ravi (the privacy-first path, jtbd.md J5, flows.md Flow B) diverges fundamentally and deserves his own CJM card. Claudia (the cut-and-win journey, flows.md Flow C) is a variation on entry but a separate candidate card. This map is Emma on the bank path.

The path today

As-Is journey

Phases are derived from Emma's real path (personas.md, jtbd.md), not a generic Awareness-to-Retention funnel. The emotional low is Phase 4, reached only if she gets past the trigger without retreating first.

Phase 1

Baseline avoidance

Negative · 3

Thinks: "I probably spend more than I should, but I don't want to know."

Does: pays on time; does not open the banking app (about 3 months); notes a charge alert and closes it.

Where: phone notifications; banking app, unopened.

Phase 2

Trigger

Negative spike · 4

Thinks: "What was that charge? I should really look."

Does: a surprise charge or renewal email she cannot ignore lands.

Where: renewal email; bank push; card statement.

Phase 3

Attempt to look

Negative · 3

Thinks: "OK, let me just see. Where do I even start?"

Does: opens the statement or a tracker app; starts scrolling.

Where: banking app; a competitor tracker.

Phase 4 · the pit

Hits friction

Negative · 5

Thinks: "What is 'SPOTIFYAB STOCKHOLM'? Why do they want my bank login already?"

Does: meets cryptic codes, a connect-your-bank wall, or an overwhelming dashboard.

Where: statement codes; tracker bank wall; dense dashboard.

Phase 5

Retreat

Negative · 3

Thinks: "I'll deal with it later. I don't know these people yet."

Does: closes without a complete picture; keeps the incomplete model; the dread persists.

Where: app closed; back to ambient avoidance.

Synthesis

Emotional curve

The whole curve sits below neutral: there is no positive point in Emma's current path. Pattern-backed points render larger; single-source signals render smaller. The relief endpoint is drawn as undefined (dashed), not interpolated, because avoiders do not reliably reach it today.

As-Is, sourced relief endpoint, undefined (H0) larger point = pattern · smaller = single signal

Where the riskiest assumption (H0) is sharpest: the Phase 4 to Phase 5 transition. Today, hitting the friction pit confirms the avoider's prior belief that "looking makes it worse", so she retreats and the dread persists. Every session that ends at retreat is evidence for the avoidance loop, not against it. Whether a calm product can carry her to the relief endpoint is untested with avoiders (strategy.md section 5).

People avoid looking because they "assume that what they find will confirm the worst about themselves"; shame thoughts include "I am irresponsible" and "I should have figured this out by now."

Financial-avoidance psychology, verified in re-research. Source: maggiebakerphd.com

App-store charges "will likely be listed as a payment to either Apple or Google, so it's harder to see what you're paying for."

On why the manual look feels futile. Source: engadget.com, consumerreports.org

"Haven't signed up yet. Not comfortable giving banking info to an app."

On the bank wall at first contact. Source: 19pine.ai

Where we win

Growth zones

Five places where today's experience hurts most, prioritized by pattern strength. Zones 1 to 4 cluster at the Phase 4 pit, which is coherent: the deepest point is where the biggest opportunities concentrate. The solution for each is designed in the To-Be map, not here.

Zone 1

The bank-connection wall at first contact pattern

Every bank-connected competitor asks for bank access in step 1 to 2, before earning any trust. Named the single biggest UX gap in the category. No competitor shows value before the bank ask. O21; competitive-analysis.md P1; jtbd.md J1.

Zone 2

Cryptic charges she cannot decode pattern

Looking is futile today because half the charges are unreadable bank codes, and app-store charges hide behind Apple or Google. Real merchant names and logos are table stakes no subscription tracker has made a differentiator. O23; jtbd.md J3; master-research.md M3.

Zone 3

No calm, judgment-free space to just see subscriptions pattern

Every app felt overwhelming: too many numbers and graphs, and an implicit "here is what you are doing wrong." Calm is unclaimed as a position by any competitor, including ReSubs. BP1; competitive-analysis.md P2 and gap G1.

Zone 4 · the H0 crux

The reveal is all-or-nothing shock, which confirms avoidance pattern

All-or-nothing looking spikes anxiety; there is no gentle on-ramp today. No competitor designs the first view as a calm emotional experience. This is the riskiest-assumption battleground and the highest-value zone; the design response belongs in the To-Be map. LITE psych search; jtbd.md 6A DANGER 1; strategy.md section 5.

Zone 5

No return hook; the job never repeats signal to pattern

Without an external hook, avoiders do not come back, so even a partial win decays. Retention-adjacent and secondary to the reveal for this focus. O25 / BP4; jtbd.md J4.