Wardley Mapping

Use it when you need crystal-clear situational awareness to guide your product strategy.

What is it?

Wardley Mapping is a strategic visualization framework pioneered by Simon Wardley that gives you instant situational awareness of your product ecosystem.

It plots user needs and underlying components on two axes: the vertical axis shows visibility or value to your users, and the horizontal axis tracks evolution from genesis (novel ideas) to custom-built solutions, products, and finally commodities. By mapping your value chain, you can pinpoint strategic opportunities, spot bottlenecks, and predict commoditization trends before the market does.

This framework solves the “we're flying blind” problem by transforming messy, undocumented processes into a clear map. You catalog every activity, from raw R&D to off-the-shelf offerings, assess its maturity, and illustrate dependencies. It's essential for digital transformation, cloud migration, and prioritizing build vs. buy.

Core elements include defining user purpose, listing value-chain activities, assessing evolution stages, and running strategic plays like “innovate,” “leverage,” or “outsource.” Search terms like “value chain mapping,” “situational awareness,” and “evolutionary mapping” often lead practitioners back to Wardley Mapping.

Why it matters?

Wardley Mapping supercharges growth by turning opaque ecosystems into actionable roadmaps. You'll spot where to invest in innovation, where to cut costs by outsourcing, and where commoditization is imminent, so you allocate resources more intelligently, accelerate time-to-market, and outmaneuver competitors.

How it works

Growth co-pilot turns your toughest product questions into clear, data-backed recommendations you can act on immediately.

Clarify purpose and user need

Anchor your map by stating the critical user goal or mission, for example, “reduce onboarding friction.” This prevents scope creep and keeps every component aligned.

List value-chain activities

Break down every activity that delivers on that user need, UX design, API, hosting, etc. You're drawing the full ecosystem, end to end.

Assess evolution stage

For each activity, decide if it's in genesis, custom-built, product, or commodity stage based on maturity, standardization, and market adoption.

Plot components on the map

Place each activity on a two-axis grid vertical for user visibility, horizontal for evolution. This visualizes strategic gaps and dependencies.

Analyze strategic plays

Use your map to choose actions, innovate in genesis, productize custom work, outsource commodities, or optimize bottlenecks.

Iterate and communicate

Update your map as tech and market evolve. Share it with stakeholders to align teams and inform tactical roadmaps.

Frequently asked questions

Growth co-pilot turns your toughest product questions into clear, data-backed recommendations you can act on immediately.

What's the difference between a Wardley map and a customer journey map?

A customer journey map tracks user touchpoints and emotions, while a Wardley map visualizes your entire value chain and component evolution. One guides UX; the other guides strategy.

What's the difference between a Wardley map and a customer journey map?

A customer journey map tracks user touchpoints and emotions, while a Wardley map visualizes your entire value chain and component evolution. One guides UX; the other guides strategy.

How often should I update my Wardley map?

Review and revise your map every quarter or whenever you hit a major milestone, like launching a new service or migrating to a cloud provider, to keep your situational awareness fresh.

How often should I update my Wardley map?

Review and revise your map every quarter or whenever you hit a major milestone, like launching a new service or migrating to a cloud provider, to keep your situational awareness fresh.

How granular should my value-chain components be?

Aim for mid-level detail: each component should represent a distinct capability (e.g., “authentication service,” not “login button click”). Too granular and you lose the big picture; too broad and you miss actionable insights.

How granular should my value-chain components be?

Do I need special software for Wardley Mapping?

Nope. Start with a whiteboard or digital canvas like Miro. The power is in the thinking, not the tool. Upgrade to specialized tools later if you need version control or team collaboration features.

Do I need special software for Wardley Mapping?

Nope. Start with a whiteboard or digital canvas like Miro. The power is in the thinking, not the tool. Upgrade to specialized tools later if you need version control or team collaboration features.

Can startups use Wardley Mapping?

Absolutely. Early-stage teams can map core activities like user onboarding, payments, and hosting to prioritize where to build vs. buy. It's a strategic edge, even for scrappy, small teams.

Can startups use Wardley Mapping?

Absolutely. Early-stage teams can map core activities like user onboarding, payments, and hosting to prioritize where to build vs. buy. It's a strategic edge, even for scrappy, small teams.

You've mapped your ecosystem and uncovered your biggest strategic gap, now run it through the CrackGrowth diagnostic to pinpoint the highest-leverage experiments before you build another feature.

Get started for free