Asset map

An asset map lays out, in order, every concrete thing a person sees or receives while moving through a workflow: the ad, the landing page, the sign-up form, the confirmation email, the SMS reminder, the invoice PDF. Each one is shown as a thumbnail or screenshot, placed on a timeline and grouped by channel.

It is a very literal document. There are no feelings or motivations on it, only artefacts.

What it is for

The asset map answers one question: does this feel like one product? Put the web checkout next to the app checkout and the paper letter, and mismatches appear immediately. Different button labels for the same action. A tone that is friendly on screen and legal in the email. Three versions of the logo.

It is also the quickest way to find gaps. If nobody owns the email sent after a failed payment, it shows up as an empty slot between two screens.

Asset map, inventory, journey map

A content inventory lists what exists, usually as a spreadsheet and usually by location. An asset map orders it by the person’s path instead. A journey map describes what the person thinks and feels along the way; an asset map shows only what they are shown. The two work well stacked: the journey on top, the assets underneath as evidence.

In practice

Build it from real captures, not from the design files. What shipped is rarely what was specified, and the gap is the point. Mark each asset with its owner, because inconsistencies are usually organisational before they are visual.