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A Wardley map is a
map A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes. Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Althoug ...
for business strategy. Components are positioned within a value chain and anchored by the user need, with movement described by an evolution axis. Wardley maps are named after Simon Wardley who created the technique at Fotango in 2005 having created the evolutionary framing the previous year. The technique was further developed within Canonical UK between 2008 and 2010 and components of mapping can be found in the "Better For Less" paper published in 2010.


Summary

Each component in a Wardley map is classified both by its position within a chain of components (a value chain) anchored around an end user (whether customers, consumer, business, government or other) and by how evolved those component are. The evolution of a component is defined as a range from genesis to commodity. Components are drawn as nodes with relationships as lines between them. A set of axis may also be added with visibility in the chain shown in a -axis and evolution on the -axis. Much of the theory of Wardley mapping is set out in a series of nineteen blog posts written by Wardley which is a summary of Wardley's previous blog posts and a dedicated
wiki A wiki ( ) is an online hypertext publication collaboratively edited and managed by its own audience, using a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages for the subjects or scope of the project, and could be either open to the pub ...
called Wardleypedia.


Example

Imagine that a company wants to set up a new drone courier service. The user need is to receive packages quickly from the company. The company objective is to meet this user need by delivering packages quickly to customers. This is a high-value, low-commodity component and is placed at the top-left of a Wardley map. If there were dozens of competing drone courier companies, this component would move right on the Wardley map, indicating that the service is closer to being a commodity. Other components are mapped similarly. For example, a drone operator needs to be aware of the weather conditions to determine the route a drone should take and the maximum weight it can carry. Weather information is of little value to the customer and can be bought from a wide range of weather data providers. It is thus placed at the bottom-right of the Wardley map.


Uses

Wardley maps are used within UK government, with particular interest within the
Government Digital Service The Government Digital Service is a unit of the Government of the United Kingdom's Cabinet Office tasked with transforming the provision of online public services. It was formed in April 2011 to implement the "Digital by Default" strategy pro ...
(GDS) for strategic planning and identifying the best targets for government digital service modernisation. They have been used to map the existing and planned technology infrastructure and services for
High Speed 2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...
(HS2). They have been used to map the value chain and maturity of components in security operations to support a large scale commercial organisation decide to build or outsource their security operations centre
SOC Value Chain & Delivery Models


Tools

A number of tools exist including Online Wardley Maps, templates in Miro, plugins for visual studio, MapScript, Wardley Map generator in Golang, MapKeep, and Glamorous Toolkit.


Criticisms

Simon Wardley claims that much of the process's value lies in "exposing assumptions. allowing challenge and creating consensus" — but detractors worry that the process in fact lets people "launder assumptions into facts, delegitimise challenge (and still create consensus)".


References

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External links


Wardley mapping resources

Wardley Maps (Spanish)

Maps & Analysis
Diagrams Business process modelling Business models