What is the Wardley map?

A Wardley map helps you visualize, plan, and understand your business strategy. Created in 2005 by a CEO named Simon Wardley, the maps essentially help you plot an entire value chain (activities needed to meet user needs) against its evolution under supply and demand competition.

The purpose of a Wardley map is to help you understand all the factors, internal and external, that influence your business’s strategy. Simon Wardley designed the map after reading Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and applying it to business, so the original version focuses on the same five factors as that treatise: purpose, landscape, climate, doctrine, and leadership. Wardley maps have evolved since, including this custom version from Platform Design Toolkit.

Benefits of the Wardley map template

Use the Wardley map template to map the ecosystem your company exists in. In other words, by completing the template, you’ll get a better understanding of all the teams and organizations both internal and external that affect your work and your product. This visualization allows you to make informed decisions about your strategy, reduce the risk of costly mistakes, and better your overall chances of success.

By using an online template to complete your Wardley map, you’ll easily be able to align teams and stakeholders across the business, so everyone is on the same page.

How to use the Wardley map template in Lucidspark

Before you work on this template, make sure you’ve completed at least one ecosystem scan canvas to map jobs-to-be-done—if you need to, map several of these to prepare. This will give you the set of information you need to complete the Wardley map, including jobs-to-be-done, existing moats, and leverageable assets.

Once you’ve laid the groundwork, you’re ready to translate this information onto the Wardley map template to help you understand the value chain (or chains) affecting this part of your business.

You can complete the Wardley map template on your own, or collaborate with your team using Lucidspark’s features like chat, comments, and Collaborator Colors.

As you fill in the map, keep the end-user in mind and what they need. Place your end-user at the top of your map, as they’ll guide everything you map below it. List out their needs and the activities that need to happen in order for those needs to be met. Use lines to connect your sticky notes and visualize the value chain.

Then, categorize the activities in the value chain by how evolved they are. To do this, drag your sticky notes to the appropriate section on the map. When you’re finished, you should have a clear picture of your value chain to help you and your team make informed decisions about your strategy’s direction.