> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.usecustory.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Customer goals

> Define the outcome your customer wants, connect it to a persona and journey, and reuse its context and success criteria in a Custory Experience.

Use a `Goal` in Custory to make the customer's intended outcome clear before you map or test a flow. Start with one thing someone wants to accomplish and a concrete description of success.

## What a Goal is

A `Goal` is a customer outcome saved as its own item, alongside touchpoints, insights, opportunities, solutions, and metrics. It keeps the outcome easy to find instead of burying it in a persona description.

For example, a team admin wants to **create a project ready for the team's first task**. The signup form is a touchpoint along the way. Improving the form might be a solution. The Goal explains why the customer is there.

## How it fits with a persona and journey

* A [persona](https://docs.usecustory.com/personas.md) describes **who** wants the outcome and the context they bring.
* A [customer journey](https://docs.usecustory.com/journeys.md) maps the stages, steps, and customer moments involved in reaching it.
* A `Goal` states **what the customer wants to accomplish**.
* Success criteria describe **what you should be able to observe when they have succeeded**.
* An [Experience](https://docs.usecustory.com/customer-experiences.md) lets a synthetic customer try that Goal in your product.

Within the `Workspace` → `Journey` → `Stage` → `Step` → `Item` hierarchy, a Goal is an item you can place where that outcome matters. For example, put the project setup Goal on the **Create first project** step in your onboarding journey. Use its **Actor** field to connect the persona pursuing it.

## When to use a Goal

Save a Goal when you need a shared answer to “What is this customer trying to do?” Use it to focus an onboarding review, clarify a handoff between steps, or give repeated Experience runs the same task and success criteria.

Start with an outcome small enough to test in one session. **Create a project ready for a first task** is more useful than **Get value from the product**.

## Create a useful Goal

1. Add a `Goal` item in the journey's **Goals** group, or create a reusable Goal in [Building blocks](https://docs.usecustory.com/building-blocks.md).
2. Give it a title that describes the customer's intended outcome.
3. Add context in **Description**. Explain the starting situation or constraints that change how the customer approaches the task.
4. Fill in **Success looks like** with an observable end state.
5. Choose the relevant persona in **Actor**. For a Goal in a journey, [link the persona to that journey](https://docs.usecustory.com/personas.md#create-and-link-a-persona) so it is available in item fields.

You can also open a persona's **Goals** section and use **Link goals** to connect saved Goals.

## Example: a first project

| Part | Example |
| - | - |
| Persona | A first-time team admin who knows project tools but has never used your product |
| Goal title | Create a project ready for the team's first task |
| Description | The admin has an empty test workspace and wants to try the product before involving colleagues. |
| Success looks like | A project is saved, the admin can reopen it, and they can identify where to add the first task. |
| Journey placement | Onboarding → Set up workspace → Create first project → Goal item |

This gives the team a concrete outcome to discuss. It also gives an Experience a clearer task than “Explore onboarding.”

## Reuse a saved Goal in an Experience

1. Open **Experience** and start a new experience.
2. Describe the customer or use **Choose persona** to select a saved persona.
3. At **Describe their goal**, click **Choose a goal** and select the saved Goal.
4. Custory brings the Goal's title, context, and success criteria into setup. Review the prepared scenario before running it.
5. Complete the starting URL, device, account access, and authorization settings in [Run a customer Experience](https://docs.usecustory.com/customer-experiences.md).

Choosing a Goal does not replace choosing the customer. Check that the selected persona and Goal describe the same situation. A saved Goal needs **Success looks like** filled in before it can supply a clear completion condition.

## Common mistakes

* **Writing a feature request as the Goal.** “Add a setup wizard” proposes a solution. Describe the customer outcome first.
* **Using a metric target as success criteria.** “Increase activation by 10%” measures results across customers. For one Experience, describe the end state that the agent should reach.
* **Putting several unrelated tasks in one Goal.** Split them so you can tell which outcome was reached.
* **Leaving out the starting context.** A returning admin with existing projects faces a different task from someone with an empty workspace.

## What good looks like

A teammate can read the Goal and explain who wants it, why they want it, where it belongs in the journey, and what would count as success. You can use the same wording to set up an Experience and judge its result.

## Related updates

* [Give your customers' goals a home in the journey](https://usecustory.com/changelog/customer-goals)

## Next step

[Run a customer Experience](https://docs.usecustory.com/customer-experiences.md) using one saved Goal. If you need to define the customer first, start with [Customer personas](https://docs.usecustory.com/personas.md).


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.