Impact Mapping
Description and objectives
Its main feature is its visual, structured approach to understanding the causal relationship between the key elements of a project. The technique consists of the team jointly answering four key questions, represented in the structure of a visual map:
| Question | Defines |
|---|---|
| Why? (Why are we doing this?) | Goal |
| Who? (Who can help us achieve the goal?) | Actors |
| How? (How can the actors help us?) | Impact area |
| What? (What can we do to encourage it?) | Strategy |
How to apply it
- Why? (GOAL): the team defines the main goal of the project or the improvement sought. This step establishes the clear purpose on which everything else hinges.
- Who? (ACTORS): the actors or stakeholders who can influence the goal are identified: end users, customers, internal stakeholders, and third parties.
- How? (IMPACT AREA): the team explores the ways in which each actor can contribute to the goal: what behavior should change, and what actions they should adopt or avoid.
- What? (STRATEGY): the specific actions the team can carry out to bring about the identified behavior changes are defined.
When to use it
- In inception sessions or project kick-offs, to ensure that the Product Backlog connects to specific business objectives.
- When the team builds features without knowing how they contribute to the business outcome.
- As an alternative to the Agile inception deck when the central focus is the relationship between actors and objectives.
Advantages
- Goals and strategies are transparent to the whole team.
- It facilitates effective stakeholder involvement.
- It makes the cause-and-effect relationship between features and business outcomes visible.
- It improves prioritization decisions by keeping the focus on the goal.
Common mistake
Building the map from an internal perspective only. The value of an impact map lies in identifying the actors who can actually influence the goal: this includes users, customers, partners, and any external party whose behavior is relevant. If the map only reflects the team's ideas about who matters, without external validation, key actors may be left out and the resulting strategies will be ineffective.
Resources
🎙️ Ep. 5: Agile Inception, ¿en qué consiste? [Agile Inception: What Is It About?, in Spanish]Scrum Manager Podcast · Spotify
References
- Adzic, Gojko. (2012). Impact Mapping: Making a Big Impact with Software Products and Projects. Provoking Thoughts.
See also
Want to advance in agility? You can search for course and exam calls or go at your own pace by becoming a member of the Agile Club. This membership includes exclusive resources, e-learning classrooms, and access to Skill Arena: a space to practice and measure your agile skills at your own pace.