wm-research

name: wm-research description: > Kick off a Wardley Mapping project. Reads shared organisation research, agrees project scope with the client, creates the project directory, and produces a coarse landscape sketch in OWM format. Use when starting a new Wardley Mapping project for a client that has already been researched. metadata: author: monkeypants version: "0.2" skillset: wardley-mapping stage: "1" freedom: medium

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}

### Scope boundaries

- **Included**: {explicit list of what is in scope}
- **Excluded**: {explicit list of what is out of scope}
- **Boundary ambiguities**: {areas where the scope boundary is unclear
  and may need revisiting — name them now rather than discovering them
  mid-engagement}

## Trade-off questions

These shape the character of the map. Discuss with the client:

- **Breadth vs depth**: broad enterprise landscape or deep dive into
  one area?
- **Current vs future**: map the organisation as it is, or as it is
  becoming?
- **Single vs multi-stakeholder**: one user perspective or multiple
  competing perspectives?
- **Operational vs strategic**: how the organisation runs today, or
  where it should move?

## Primary user classes (initial)

{Proposed anchors for the map, from research}

## Strategic questions

{What questions should the finished map answer? These are success
criteria — if the map cannot address these questions, it has not
delivered value.}

## Key areas of interest

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

## 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. If the project is not yet registered (i.e. engage was not run first), register it now:

   engage/scripts/register-project.sh --client {org} --slug {slug} \
     --skillset "wardley-mapping" --scope "{agreed scope}"
   

   If the project already exists in the registry (engage created it), skip this step.
2. Create the project directory (if not already created by engage):

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

3. Write brief.agreed.md with the agreed scope
4. Record the brief agreement and activate the project:

   wm-research/scripts/record-brief-agreed.sh --client {org} --project {slug} \
     --field "Scope={agreed scope}" --field "Primary users={list}"
   

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.