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 dedicatedExample
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 theTools
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
{{reflist, 30emExternal links