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Impact Mapping
Product / Tools
A mind map that connects goals to features through actors and behaviours.
The Structure
- Why — the goal or business outcome.
- Who — actors who can affect the goal.
- How — behaviour changes in those actors that would move the goal.
- What — things we could build to drive those behaviour changes.
How to Use It
- Write the goal. Make it specific and measurable.
- List actors (users, teams, systems) that influence it.
- For each actor, what behaviours would help? What would hurt?
- Only now brainstorm features — and every feature must tie to a behaviour, actor, and goal.
Why It Matters
- Roadmaps get built as feature lists without clear outcomes. Impact maps force the outcome first.
- It exposes features with no path to the goal.
- It makes trade-offs visible.
The Trap
- Skipping the behaviour layer — jumping from actors to features.
- Using vague goals. "Grow engagement" fails; "Lift 7-day retention to 35%" works.
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