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Understanding the cryptocurrency ecosystem through Wardley maps (agost.blog)
65 points by abiro on June 15, 2019 | hide | past | favorite | 17 comments



It may be an unpopular opinion, but I have yet to see a Wardley map that doesn't look like incomprehensible gibberish. I think describing these as 'maps' is bit of a misnomer, I generally view a map as something that a layperson can understand (with some exceptions, etc aviation maps are mind-boggling).

I'm open to someone changing my mind though, since I feel like I am missing out on something!


I also had a period of time where it all seemed like gibberish.

What changed was a chat with Alexander Simovic (mapping expert). He laid out the following learning path (which worked excellent):

1. Read the book

2. Map your own systems (from work, startup, or open source).

3. Share your maps with others and get feedback (I can certainly introduce you to others if you email me).


Read what book?



It is mentioned in the post: https://medium.com/wardleymaps


They are called maps, because Wardley maps are visual and context specific, and represent position and movement. Reading any kind of map takes practice, but Wardley maps well worth the investment imo. Also mapping is an iterative process, maps should be continually challenged which is a lot of work, but the alternative is relying on stories and recipes of success which is not a great way to do business, especially once your competitors start mapping (if you’re wondering about the continued success of Amazon and Microsoft, they map).

For a soft intro, I recommend this talk by Simon Wardley: https://youtu.be/2IW9L1uNMCs

And then reading the first few chapters from his book: https://github.com/andrewharmellaw/wardley-maps-book

I also found this paid mapping course by Chris Daniel great to practice the basics: https://learn.leadingedgeforum.com/p/wardley-mapping (I have no affiliation with them)


To add an anecdote to your anecdote : It was the first time I read about Wardley map with this article, and I found them obvious to understand after looking at the ~3 examples provided. It does a good job at organizing information.

However it seems a map can quickly become irrelevant, given how fast the world is changing.


It is not an unpopular opinion :) But I guess it takes some study to decipher and extract value from them.


Resources on Wardley mapping:

The book: https://medium.com/wardleymaps/on-being-lost-2ef5f05eb1ec

Hired Thought (leading mapping expert in US): https://hiredthought.com/

Great learning resource from Ben Mosier (of hired thought): https://learnwardleymapping.com/

Reach out to me if you want to learn more as well.


Quite interesting but it doesn't seem very intuitive, I read the article and still am not sure what it is trying to explain and what the value add is. It seems a bit complicated and qualitative.

I'm super interested in ways to map risk and security. Or measuring maturity of a security team or organization - so was wondering that these Wardley maps might be something to look into? Anybody with more experience know if that would be worth it? I find graphs pretty useful to represent security and risks.


Mapping is definitely a qualitative and often subjective process! There is never one correct map, there are only useful maps.

I think the key takeaways from the post are:

1. Always anchor discussions in user needs

2. Analyze crypto in the context of the broader economy

3. Plan for evolution

4. Wardley maps are really helpful at all of the above

I've also written a follow up post detailing some of the strategic mistakes cryptocurrency projects make and how they can be avoided using maps: https://agost.blog/2019/06/mapping-crypto-common-pitfalls/

Edit: I'm not familiar with applying mapping for security, but these look like some good resources: https://community.wardleymaps.com/t/tackling-security-with-w...


Thanks, appreciate the reply and additional info! Will spend some time looking into this more!


I'm not sure I gained a lot of understanding through those. I came across this map the other day which is kind of an amusing model of part of the crypto ecosystem https://mobile.twitter.com/MartinCWWalker/status/11222656443...


I know Simon Wardley, think he's a smart guy, but I've never fully appreciated the Wardley maps. Perhaps it's me.


[flagged]


Could you please stop posting unsubstantive comments to Hacker News? You've done it a lot, unfortunately, and we're hoping for a bit better than internet default here.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html


Funny thing is that brighton36 is quite well known and among a handful of the very most well-connected individuals in the cryptocurrency space. Nevertheless they can't seem to stop trying to make fetch happen by strangling what are often highly informed and savvy insights (within the cryptocurrency ___domain, at least) to fit the peculiar argot of their in-group.

I suspect the objective is not so much to contribute to a thread as leave a public dead drop they can claim as prior art against a future, more comprehensive articulation on the same topic.

Not endorsing this behavior, nor brighton36's perspectives per se, just observing that they are capable of much more than their HN antics suggest.

- edit: is it safe to assume that since the OP comment was flagged and removed that this comment, being under it, is as close to a DM as the HN format allows?


That's fascinating. Such a user is more than welcome to participate here, as long as they're willing to share their knowledge with others, so people can learn. It's hard to guess that from the account history though.

HN doesn't have DMs. Your comment here is public, but under a collapsed subthread. Does that answer your question?




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