Wardley-Blue Ocean Value Topography

What participants gain

• Differentiate between commodity features and genuine competitive differentiators
• Identify structural dependencies in the current SaaS architecture that limit agility
• Discover at least two uncontested 'Blue Ocean' market opportunities
• Align the executive team on the evolutionary trajectory of their core product

Materials needed

• Floor tape to create a massive 2x2 grid on the floor
• Large A5 index cards for writing capabilities
• Thick markers for high visibility from a distance
• String or yarn to show dependencies between cards
• A bell or chime to signal phase changes

How to run Wardley-Blue Ocean Value Topography, step by step

1. Explain the axes of the floor grid: Y-axis is Value to Customer, X-axis is Evolutionary Stage from Genesis to Commodity (10 min).
2. Distribute index cards and ask each executive to write down 3 core capabilities of the current SaaS platform (5 min).
3. Instruct participants to physically walk onto the grid and place their cards where they believe they currently sit (10 min).
4. Facilitate a group negotiation to move cards that are misplaced, ensuring consensus on the current state (15 min).
5. Introduce the 'Blue Ocean' lens: Ask the group to identify empty spaces on the grid that represent high value but are currently in the 'Genesis' stage (10 min).
6. Use string to connect dependent capabilities, visually demonstrating how legacy tech debt holds back new innovations (10 min).
7. Ask participants to generate new cards representing future bets and place them in the identified empty spaces (10 min).
8. Capture the final physical layout with photos and synthesize the top three potential strategic bets (5 min).

Facilitator tips

• Encourage physical movement; ask executives to literally stand in the 'empty spaces' to embody the future opportunity.
• Use the phrase 'Are we treating this commodity like a custom innovation?' to challenge over-engineered features.
• Manage the negotiation phase tightly; do not let technical leaders dominate the placement of customer-facing value cards.
• If the group struggles with 'Genesis' concepts, provide examples from outside the SaaS industry to spark divergent thinking.
• In hybrid setups, have an in-room facilitator move physical cards while sharing a top-down camera feed for remote participants.

Common challenges

• Executives overvalue their own departmental capabilities - Challenge them to prove the value from the perspective of the end-user, not internal effort.
• The left side of the board (Genesis) remains empty - Introduce wildcard scenarios to force them to think beyond current technological paradigms.
• Arguments over exact placement stall the process - Remind them that the map is a heuristic, not a precise scientific diagram; approximate placement is sufficient.
• Dependencies become too complex to map - Limit the string connections to only the most critical, mission-threatening dependencies.

Running it virtually

Recreate the value topography grid on a Miro board. Have participants use digital sticky notes and vote on placement using the platform's voting tool to quickly resolve placement disputes.

Expected results

A physical map of the company's value chain, highlighting areas of over-investment in commodities and under-investment in future differentiators. A shortlist of potential strategic bets.

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