Wardley Map Creation Skill

Create Wardley Maps to visualize value chains and component evolution for strategic planning.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Wardley Map Creation tasks - Working on create wardley maps from value chains and user needs
• Planning or design - Need guidance on Wardley Map Creation approaches
• Best practices - Want to follow established patterns and standards

MANDATORY: Documentation-First Approach

Before creating Wardley Maps:

1. Invoke docs-management skill for mapping patterns
2. Verify Wardley mapping methodology via MCP servers (perplexity)
3. Base guidance on Simon Wardley's original methodology

Wardley Map Fundamentals

Wardley Map Structure:

                    VISIBLE TO USER
    ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │  User Need                                                │
    │    ○                                                      │
    │     \                                                     │
    │      ○ Component A                                        │
    │       \                                                   │
    │        ○ Component B ──── ○ Component C                   │
    │         \                  \                              │
    │          ○ Component D      ○ Component E                 │
    │                              \                            │
    │                               ○ Component F               │
    │                                                           │
    └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                    INVISIBLE TO USER

    ◄──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────►
    Genesis      Custom-Built      Product/Rental      Commodity
    (I)          (II)              (III)               (IV)

    EVOLUTION AXIS ──────────────────────────────────────────────►

Evolution Stages

Stage	Characteristics	Examples
Genesis (I)	Unique, poorly understood, rare, uncertain, changing	New AI capabilities, novel algorithms
Custom-Built (II)	Uncommon, understood by few, growing, best practice emerging	Custom integrations, bespoke solutions
Product (III)	Common, understood, stable, best practice known	Commercial software, SaaS platforms
Commodity (IV)	Ubiquitous, standardized, certain, utility-like	Cloud compute, electricity, bandwidth

Evolution Properties

Properties Change Along Evolution Axis:

                Genesis ────────────────────────► Commodity

Ubiquity:       Rare ──────────────────────────► Everywhere
Certainty:      Uncertain ─────────────────────► Certain
Failure:        High ──────────────────────────► Low
Market:         Undefined ─────────────────────► Defined
Knowledge:      Uncertain ─────────────────────► Known
User perception: Chaotic ──────────────────────► Ordered
Focus:          Exploration ───────────────────► Exploitation

Map Creation Process

Step 1: Identify User Need

Start with the user's actual need (not a solution):

Good User Needs:
- "I need to process customer payments"
- "I need to communicate with my team"
- "I need to deploy software to production"

Bad (Solution-focused):
- "I need Stripe" (solution, not need)
- "I need Slack" (solution, not need)
- "I need Kubernetes" (solution, not need)

Step 2: Build Value Chain

Work backwards from user need to dependencies:

Example: E-commerce Platform

User Need: "Buy products online"
    │
    ├── Product Catalog
    │       ├── Search
    │       ├── Product Data
    │       └── Images
    │
    ├── Shopping Cart
    │       ├── Session Management
    │       └── Pricing Engine
    │
    ├── Checkout
    │       ├── Payment Processing
    │       ├── Address Validation
    │       └── Tax Calculation
    │
    └── Order Fulfillment
            ├── Inventory
            ├── Shipping
            └── Notifications

Step 3: Position Components

Place each component on the evolution axis:

Component	Evolution Stage	Rationale
Product Catalog	Product	Many commercial options
Search	Commodity	Elasticsearch, Algolia commoditized
Payment Processing	Commodity	Stripe, PayPal utilities
Pricing Engine	Custom	Business-specific rules
AI Recommendations	Genesis	Still evolving rapidly

Step 4: Add Dependencies

Draw links showing dependencies:

Dependency Rules:
- Higher components depend on lower
- Arrows flow down and to the right
- Visible components near top
- Infrastructure components near bottom

Step 5: Annotate Movement

Add evolution indicators:

Movement Notation:
○────► Moving right (commoditizing)
○◄──── Moving left (rare, usually wrong)
○ ∿ ∿ Inertia (resistance to change)
○ !! Warning/concern

Wardley Map in Mermaid (Approximate)

%%{init: {'theme': 'base', 'themeVariables': { 'primaryColor': '#fff', 'lineColor': '#333'}}}%%
flowchart TB
    subgraph visible["Visible to User"]
        UN["User Need: Buy Products"]
        PC["Product Catalog"]
        SC["Shopping Cart"]
        CO["Checkout"]
    end

    subgraph invisible["Invisible to User"]
        SE["Search"]
        PP["Payment Processing"]
        DB["Database"]
        CL["Cloud Compute"]
    end

    UN --> PC
    UN --> SC
    UN --> CO
    PC --> SE
    PC --> DB
    SC --> DB
    CO --> PP
    PP --> CL
    SE --> CL
    DB --> CL

    classDef genesis fill:#f9f,stroke:#333
    classDef custom fill:#fcf,stroke:#333
    classDef product fill:#cfc,stroke:#333
    classDef commodity fill:#ccf,stroke:#333

Text-Based Map Notation

For precise Wardley Maps, use Online Wardley Maps (OWM) notation:

title E-commerce Platform

anchor User [0.95, 0.70]
component Product Catalog [0.82, 0.65] label [-10, -10]
component Shopping Cart [0.75, 0.55] label [10, -10]
component Checkout [0.70, 0.60] label [10, 10]
component Search [0.60, 0.85] label [-10, -10]
component Payment Processing [0.45, 0.90] label [-20, 10]
component Database [0.35, 0.75] label [10, 10]
component Cloud Compute [0.20, 0.95] label [-10, 10]

User->Product Catalog
User->Shopping Cart
User->Checkout
Product Catalog->Search
Product Catalog->Database
Shopping Cart->Database
Checkout->Payment Processing
Payment Processing->Cloud Compute
Search->Cloud Compute
Database->Cloud Compute

evolve Payment Processing 0.95

note Custom pricing engine at 0.55, 0.35 [business differentiator]

Component Positioning Guide

Visibility (Y-axis)

Position	Component Type
0.90-1.00	Direct user interaction
0.70-0.89	User-facing features
0.50-0.69	Application services
0.30-0.49	Platform/infrastructure
0.10-0.29	Utilities
0.00-0.09	Raw resources

Evolution (X-axis)

Position	Stage
0.00-0.17	Genesis
0.18-0.40	Custom
0.41-0.70	Product
0.71-1.00	Commodity

Common Mapping Patterns

Pioneer-Settler-Town Planner

Pioneers: Genesis → Custom
- Explore new territory
- High failure tolerance
- Focus on innovation

Settlers: Custom → Product
- Take pioneer discoveries
- Make them useful
- Focus on product-market fit

Town Planners: Product → Commodity
- Industrialize at scale
- Focus on efficiency
- Volume and margins

Identifying Anchors

Anchor: User needs or market expectations that don't change

Good anchors:
- "Communicate with customers" (stable need)
- "Process transactions" (stable need)

Bad anchors:
- "Use email" (solution, will evolve)
- "Use SQL database" (technology, will evolve)

Workflow

When creating Wardley Maps:

1. Start with Purpose: What decision are you trying to make?
2. Identify Users: Who are you mapping for?
3. Define Needs: What do users actually need?
4. Build Chain: Map components from need to dependencies
5. Position Components: Place on evolution axis
6. Add Movement: Show evolution direction
7. Identify Opportunities: Find strategic options
8. Iterate: Maps improve with understanding

Output Template

# Wardley Map: [Context]

## Purpose
[What strategic question is this map answering?]

## Scope
[What boundaries define this map?]

## User Need
[The anchor need at the top of the map]

## Map
[OWM notation or diagram]

## Key Components

| Component | Position | Evolution | Notes |
|-----------|----------|-----------|-------|
| [Name] | [y, x] | [stage] | [observations] |

## Movement
[Components evolving and direction]

## Strategic Observations
[What the map reveals]

## Questions Raised
[What needs further exploration]

References

For detailed guidance:

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Last Updated: 2025-12-26