Why This Bearing Matters
You've charted the waters — you know WHO the players are and what jobs they're trying to accomplish. But knowing who sails isn't the same as understanding how they navigate. PLOT is about watching the voyage in motion.
Most PMs skip this. They see the players, assume they know the moves, and jump straight to solutions. But assumptions about what people DO are almost always wrong. The only way to see the gaps is to trace the actual course — step by step, emotion by emotion.
The Core Concept: Experience Flows
Events are just the tip of the iceberg. Below the surface lie patterns, structures, and mental models that drive behavior.
PLOT gets you past the events to see what's really happening. You trace complete experience cycles, capture emotional states, identify habit loops, and connect flows across all players.
The Shift
"Map features and assume flows"
→
"Trace complete experience cycles"
"Conduct interviews"
→
"Observe actual behavior in context"
"Build journey maps"
→
"Capture emotional states and decision points"
"Design for users"
→
"Connect flows across all players"