Understanding Tech Strategy with Wardley Maps

Use Wardley Maps to visualise how your tech strategy meets user needs and how the components used to meet that need are affected by the evolving tech landscape

Transcript

1. Understanding Technology Strategy with Wardley Maps Will Hamill @willhamill
2. How does an organisation create its strategy, and why does it make the decisions that it makes? Why invest in AI, or move to the cloud, or create an open API based platform? Why build vs buy this component? @willhamill
3. @willhamill Icons by Freepik on flaticon.com Meme copying Magic quadrant HiPPO FOMO How It's Made
4. Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats @willhamill
5. Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Interest in building a blockchain Don't currently have a blockchain Could build a blockchain Other people might build a blockchain @willhamill
6. So we need to see the bigger picture! @willhamill
7. Wardley Maps can be used to illustrate the 'why' and help you make decisions
8. Helping visualise the 'why' and the 'how' of choices we make Tying choices back to a goal and showing the landscape Grounding strategic decisions in context and justification @willhamill
9. Use Wardley Maps at strategic level Or use them at a lower level @willhamill
10. A Wardley Map shows visually: • components or activities underpinning a user need • state of maturity of technology evolution • options for movement ‣ opportunities for disruption ‣ threats from commoditisation ‣ potential blockers • how movement affects other parts of the map @willhamill
11. Genesis Custom Built Product/Rental Commodity/Utility Evolution Visibility
12. Let's make a Wardley Map
13. 1. Start with user needs 2. Break into value chain of components, subcomponents and dependencies 3. Estimate maturity of components Drawing a Wardley Map @willhamill
14. User Need: We get thousands of customer surveys completed each week and I want to be able to find out from the feedback what we should change in the product @willhamill
15. Proposed technical solution: Mine feedback from survey data using a containerised Python app integrating with an NLP library and add sentiment analysis on top. @willhamill
16. 1. Start with user needs 2. Break into value chain of components, subcomponents and dependencies 3. Estimate maturity of components Drawing a Wardley Map @willhamill
17. Mine user feedback Survey platform Feedback processing service Sentiment analysis NLP app Data storage Compute platform Cluster orchestration Kubernetes master Worker nodes Virtual Machines
18. 1. Start with user needs 2. Break into value chain of components, subcomponents and dependencies 3. Estimate maturity of components Drawing a Wardley Map @willhamill
19. One constant in technology is evolution of a new invention from innovation to commodity @willhamill
20. Genesis Custom Built Product/Rental Commodity/Utility Evolution Visibility
21. Genesis Custom Built Product/Rental Commodity/Utility Evolution Visibility
22. Genesis Custom Built Product/Rental Commodity/Utility Evolution Visibility
23. Genesis Custom Built Product/Rental Commodity/Utility Evolution Visibility
24. Genesis Custom Built Product/Rental Commodity/Utility Evolution Visibility
25. Using the map
26. @willhamill Identify potential future changes
27. Genesis Custom Built Product/Rental Commodity/Utility Evolution Visibility
28. Genesis Custom Built Product/Rental Commodity/Utility Evolution Visibility
29. Genesis Custom Built Product/Rental Commodity/Utility Evolution Visibility
30. @willhamill Identify inertia against change and potential accelerators
31. Genesis Custom Built Product/Rental Commodity/Utility Evolution Visibility
32. Genesis Custom Built Product/Rental Commodity/Utility Evolution Visibility
33. Genesis Custom Built Product/Rental Commodity/Utility Evolution Visibility
34. Genesis Custom Built Product/Rental Commodity/Utility Evolution Visibility
35. @willhamill Discuss the map with others in your business!
36. Now you've got a way to show people why you've made your decisions about the project: What components are we going to build vs buy? Where should we invest in training? What should next iterations of the project focus on? Should we turn this project into a product? @willhamill
37. Where to from here?
38. All models are wrong, but some models are useful @willhamill
39. Try mapping out part of your business or an important project Read some of Simon Wardley's work for more patterns to apply @willhamill
40. Systemic approach to strategy Visualise context, show how movement can affect choices Make better, justified decisions
41. Thank you Will Hamill @willhamill