From Software to Business Outcomes with Impact Mapping

When working on a project, the main focus should be contributing to business outcomes rather than creating software.

This includes increasing sales, market share, or customer engagement. By working with the business, you can better understand its goals and create a shared vision for the product. Impact mapping helps to communicate assumptions and align team activities with business objectives.

The focus should remain on contributing to business outcomes over software output.

Impact mapping is a technique for better understanding how you can influence business outcomes. By understanding the impact the business is trying to make, you can play a more effective role in helping them to achieve it. With less ambiguity, the team’s focus can shift from “how” to “why,” and design emerges through this feedback loop.

During emergencies or periods of urgency, teams may rank critical tasks that lead to technical debt.

It’s helpful to label essential tasks with a “best before” date and treat them as unique. But, small, easy wins should sometimes take priority over complex tasks.

While activity metrics help measure team collaboration, they must show real progress. The only measure of real progress is delivering the right software to customers.

[¹]: Impact Mapping: Making a Big Impact with Software Products and Projects