Impact Mapping

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Impact Mapping tasks - Working on create impact maps using gojko adzic's methodology. structure strategic planning from goals to actors to impacts to deliverables for clear product roadmaps
• Planning or design - Need guidance on Impact Mapping approaches
• Best practices - Want to follow established patterns and standards

Overview

Impact Mapping is a strategic planning technique invented by Gojko Adzic that helps teams align their work with business objectives. It creates a clear connection between business goals and product deliverables by mapping out the behavioral changes (impacts) needed from specific actors.

The Four Questions

Impact Mapping answers four key questions:

Level	Question	Focus
Goal	Why?	What is the business objective?
Actors	Who?	Whose behavior needs to change?
Impacts	How?	How should their behavior change?
Deliverables	What?	What can we do to cause the change?

Map Structure

           ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
           │                         GOAL                                 │
           │                         (Why?)                               │
           └─────────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────┘
                                         │
         ┌───────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────┐
         │                               │                               │
   ┌─────┴─────┐                   ┌─────┴─────┐                   ┌─────┴─────┐
   │   ACTOR   │                   │   ACTOR   │                   │   ACTOR   │
   │   (Who?)  │                   │   (Who?)  │                   │   (Who?)  │
   └─────┬─────┘                   └─────┬─────┘                   └─────┬─────┘
         │                               │                               │
   ┌─────┼─────┐                   ┌─────┼─────┐                   ┌─────┼─────┐
   │     │     │                   │     │     │                   │     │     │
Impact Impact Impact            Impact Impact Impact            Impact Impact Impact
(How?) (How?) (How?)            (How?) (How?) (How?)            (How?) (How?) (How?)
   │     │     │                   │     │     │                   │     │     │
   D     D     D                   D     D     D                   D     D     D
(What?) (What?) (What?)         (What?) (What?) (What?)         (What?) (What?) (What?)

Layer 1: Goals (Why?)

The business objective we're trying to achieve.

SMART Goals

Criterion	Description	Example
Specific	Clear and well-defined	"Reduce customer churn"
Measurable	Quantifiable metric	"...by 20%"
Achievable	Realistic target	"...from 8% to 6.4%"
Relevant	Aligned with strategy	"...to improve ARR growth"
Time-bound	Has deadline	"...by end of Q2"

Goal Examples

✅ Good Goals:

• "Increase new user activation from 30% to 50% by Q2"
• "Reduce average support ticket resolution time from 4 hours to 1 hour"
• "Grow monthly recurring revenue by $100K in 6 months"

❌ Bad Goals:

• "Build the best product" (not measurable)
• "Launch feature X" (output, not outcome)
• "Improve customer satisfaction" (not specific enough)

Layer 2: Actors (Who?)

People or systems whose behavior we need to influence.

Actor Categories

Type	Description	Examples
Primary	Direct users who benefit	End users, customers
Secondary	Enable or influence primary	Administrators, managers
Off-stage	Indirect stakeholders	Executives, regulators
Negative	Those who could hinder	Competitors, detractors

Actor Discovery Questions

• Who can help us achieve the goal?
• Who can hinder us?
• Who are the end users?
• Who influences the end users?
• Who pays for the product?
• Who maintains the product?

Actor Prioritization

Actor	Influence	Effort to Change	Priority
Power Users	High	Low	P1
New Users	High	Medium	P1
Administrators	Medium	Low	P2
Competitors	High	Very High	Watch

Layer 3: Impacts (How?)

Behavioral changes we want to see in actors.

Impact Types

Type	Description	Example
Create	New behavior	"Start recommending to colleagues"
Increase	More of something	"Use the product more frequently"
Decrease	Less of something	"Spend less time on manual tasks"
Stop	Eliminate behavior	"Stop using competitor"
Prevent	Avoid behavior	"Don't abandon during onboarding"

Impact Statement Template

[Actor] should [direction] [behavior] so that [goal connection].

Examples:

• "New users should start completing onboarding within first session so that activation rate increases"
• "Power users should increase inviting team members so that virality improves"
• "Support staff should decrease time spent on repetitive questions so that they can handle more tickets"

Common Mistakes

❌ Deliverables disguised as impacts:

• "Users should use the new dashboard" (that's a deliverable)
• Better: "Users should make data-driven decisions faster"

❌ Too vague:

• "Users should be happier"
• Better: "Users should recommend the product to others"

Layer 4: Deliverables (What?)

Features, content, or changes that could cause the desired impacts.

Deliverable Brainstorming

For each impact, generate multiple options:

• What feature could cause this impact?
• What content could cause this impact?
• What design change could help?
• What integration could help?
• What removal could help?

Deliverable Sizing

Size	Description	Duration
XS	Trivial change	< 1 day
S	Small feature	1-3 days
M	Medium feature	1-2 weeks
L	Large feature	2-4 weeks
XL	Major initiative	> 1 month

Prioritization Matrix

Consider both impact and effort:

         High Impact
              │
   ┌──────────┼──────────┐
   │  Quick   │   Major  │
   │  Wins    │ Projects │
   │  (Do!)   │ (Plan)   │
   ├──────────┼──────────┤
   │  Fill    │  Money   │
Low │  Ins    │  Pits    │ High
Effort│       │ (Avoid)  │ Effort
   └──────────┼──────────┘
              │
         Low Impact

Creating an Impact Map

Step 1: Define the Goal

1. Identify business objective
2. Make it SMART
3. Validate with stakeholders
4. Confirm measurement capability

Step 2: Identify Actors

1. List all possible actors
2. Categorize by type
3. Prioritize by influence/effort
4. Select top 3-5 to focus on

Step 3: Discover Impacts

For each priority actor:

1. What behaviors would help the goal?
2. What behaviors would hurt the goal?
3. How might we change behaviors?
4. Document as impact statements

Step 4: Generate Deliverables

For each impact:

1. Brainstorm 5+ possible deliverables
2. Include wild ideas
3. Don't evaluate yet
4. Consider dependencies

Step 5: Prioritize and Plan

1. Score deliverables by impact/effort
2. Identify quick wins
3. Group into releases/iterations
4. Define success metrics per deliverable

Impact Map Workshop

Agenda (2-3 hours)

Time	Activity
10 min	Introduction and goal alignment
15 min	Goal refinement (SMART criteria)
20 min	Actor identification and prioritization
30 min	Impact discovery (per actor)
45 min	Deliverable brainstorming
20 min	Prioritization and roadmap
10 min	Next steps and commitments

Materials Needed

• Whiteboard or digital canvas
• Sticky notes (4 colors for layers)
• Voting dots
• Timer
• Facilitator guide

Example Impact Map

Goal: Increase developer trial-to-paid conversion from 5% to 15% by Q2

Goal: 15% trial conversion by Q2
├── Actor: Trial User
│   ├── Impact: Complete onboarding in first session
│   │   ├── Interactive tutorial
│   │   ├── Pre-configured sample project
│   │   └── Progress celebration notifications
│   ├── Impact: Experience "aha moment" within 24 hours
│   │   ├── Guided first workflow
│   │   ├── Comparison with manual approach
│   │   └── Success metrics dashboard
│   └── Impact: Invite team members during trial
│       ├── Team invitation wizard
│       ├── Collaborative features highlight
│       └── Multi-seat trial offer
├── Actor: Engineering Manager
│   ├── Impact: See ROI justification
│   │   ├── Time savings calculator
│   │   ├── Executive summary report
│   │   └── Case study library
│   └── Impact: Approve purchase request
│       ├── Security documentation
│       ├── Procurement-friendly pricing
│       └── Enterprise features demo
└── Actor: Competitor User
    └── Impact: Switch due to superior experience
        ├── Migration assistant
        ├── Feature comparison page
        └── Competitor user testimonials

AI-Assisted Impact Mapping

Map Generation

Given a business goal:

1. Suggest relevant actors (5-7)
2. Generate impacts per actor (3-5 each)
3. Brainstorm deliverables per impact (3-5 each)
4. Estimate relative sizing

Stakeholder Interview Analysis

From stakeholder conversations:

1. Extract stated goals
2. Identify mentioned actors
3. Surface implied impacts
4. Note suggested solutions

Mermaid Visualization

Generate map as Mermaid mindmap:

mindmap
  root((Goal: 15% Conversion))
    Trial User
      Complete Onboarding
        Tutorial
        Sample Project
      Experience Aha
        Guided Workflow
        Success Dashboard
    Eng Manager
      See ROI
        Calculator
        Case Studies

Integration Points

Inputs from:

• Business strategy → Goals
• design-thinking skill: User needs → Actors + Impacts
• Stakeholder interviews → Actor priorities

Outputs to:

• Product roadmap → Prioritized deliverables
• opportunity-mapping skill: Impacts → Opportunities
• lean-startup skill: Deliverables → MVP hypotheses

References

For additional Impact Mapping resources, see: