You’re absolutely correct in saying that you need to consider your audience. In my practical experience, however, I’ve found that a more “tame” style of map has the broadest appeal to a wide set of stakeholders. That’s usually a table or simple timeline of some kind.
One of my principles of Alignment Diagrams (see: http://tinyurl.com/ccokoar) Is “Self Evidence.” From my own work I’ve seen that journey maps that have the biggest impact are the ones that don’t need explanation: anyone can read through it and understand the organization and message behind it.
So the visualization shouldn’t cloud the message. But at the same time, the map should be engaging. So balancing all of these variables is the real trick to creating meaningful, interesting journey maps.
Cheers,
Jim