Wardley Map
What is it?
Wardley Map is a tool that helps you visualize the evolution of a product or service.
A Wardley Map is a visual tool used to understand and analyze the various components of a business, project, or system in terms of their value to the user and their maturity or evolution. Developed by Simon Wardley, the map helps decision-makers identify opportunities, risks, and strategic options more effectively. It's often used in business strategy, project planning, and technology adoption.
To explain the Wardley Map in layman's terms, let's use a simple example:
Imagine you're the owner of a small bakery. You want to analyze your business and make strategic decisions to stay competitive and grow.
A Wardley Map will help you do this by breaking down your business into its core components and placing them on a grid. The grid has two axes:
The horizontal axis represents the evolution of components, ranging from custom-made (Genesis) on the left to standardized or commoditized (Commodity) on the right.
The vertical axis represents the value chain, with components closer to the user at the top and those further away (supporting infrastructure) at the bottom.
In the bakery example, you would list components like the following:
- Bread recipes (custom-made or in the Gene ...