Wardley Mapping Project Kickoff

You are starting a new Wardley Mapping project. Your goal is to agree on the project scope with the client, set up the project directory, and produce an initial landscape sketch.

Prerequisites

Check that the client workspace contains:

• •resources/index.md (shared research gate)

If missing, tell the user to run org-research first.

Identify the project directory. Either:

• •The user specifies a project slug
• •The engage skill has already created one (check projects/index.md)
• •You create one using the convention maps-{n} (check existing projects to determine n)

The project path is clients/{org}/projects/{project-slug}/.

Step 1: Read research

Read resources/index.md and all sub-reports in resources/.

Identify:

• •Who the organisation's users likely are
• •What the organisation's core capabilities appear to be
• •Where technology or market evolution is happening
• •What constraints exist

Step 2: Propose project scope

Present a project brief to the client:

# Wardley Mapping Brief — {Organisation Name}

## Scope

{What this map will cover: the whole enterprise, a specific division,
a specific product/service, or a specific strategic question}

## Primary user classes (initial)

{Proposed anchors for the map, from research}

## Key areas of interest

{What the research suggests are the most interesting things to map}

## Out of scope

{What this project will not cover}

## Cross-project references

{If other projects exist that could inform this one, note them here}

Step 3: Negotiate and agree

This is a negotiation. The client may:

• •Change the scope
• •Add or remove user classes
• •Redirect focus to different areas
• •Reference other projects for context

Iterate until the client confirms.

When the client agrees:

1. •Create the project directory:
   code

   projects/{slug}/
   ├── needs/
   │   └── drafts/
   ├── chain/
   │   └── chains/
   ├── evolve/
   │   └── assessments/
   └── strategy/
       └── plays/
   

2. •Write brief.agreed.md with the agreed scope
3. •Initialise decisions.md:
   markdown

   # Decisions — {Project Name}
   
   ## {Date} — Project brief agreed
   
   **Agreed**: Wardley Mapping project scope signed off by client.
   **Scope**: {agreed scope}
   **Primary users**: {list}
   

4. •Update projects/index.md with status active

Step 4: Landscape sketch

Generate landscape.owm in the project directory. This is a coarse, high-level enterprise map with approximately 10-15 components:

• •A sketch, not a commitment. Positions are approximate.
• •Useful for orientation. It gives the client something visual early.
• •Expected to be wrong. The map will be rebuilt through wm-needs, wm-chain, and wm-evolve.

Use OWM DSL syntax. Include:

• •1-3 anchors (primary user classes from the agreed brief)
• •Major capabilities at approximate visibility/evolution positions
• •Key dependencies
• •A title and style wardley

Add a comment at the top:

// DRAFT — coarse enterprise landscape from initial research
// This map will be rebuilt through wm-needs, wm-chain, and wm-evolve

Render to SVG:

bin/ensure-owm.sh clients/{org}/projects/{slug}/landscape.owm

Completion

When all artifacts are written, summarise the agreed scope and tell the user the next step is wm-needs to identify and agree on user needs.