Ecosystem Maps

Ecosystem maps are tools that designers create to understand the relationships and dependencies between the various actors and parts that contribute to creating customer experiences. An ecosystem is these actors, parts and dynamics. The maps reveal areas to optimize in services to deliver the best customer experiences.

“Our competitors aren’t taking our market share with devices; they are taking our market share with an entire ecosystem.”

— Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia

See how to get the clearest view of everything that goes into—and on in—services via ecosystem maps: 

Ecosystems are Like Theaters, Custom-made for Customers

In service design, it’s critical to understand how the various actors and parts come together to build the “theater” where a service plays out, using all the items (“props”) required, and help make the service perform best for customers. Structurally, an ecosystem consists of:

• The actors who collectively create the customer experience – including the employees and contractors, on the frontstage and backstage.

• The practices they perform – the services or value they deliver to customers.

• The information they require, use or share to contribute their parts of the service.

• The people or systems these actors interact with to play their roles.

• The services available to them – i.e., to ancillary (supporting) organizations such as carriers.

• The devices they use – e.g., smartphones.

• The channels they communicate through – e.g., email.

Ecosystem maps show your service as a system and how that entire system is connected. They’re like personas in terms of their value and how they represent your service as a “living” entity. When you map out how all the actors, ancillaries, information and the other components work together currently, you can spot areas to improve. There could be disconnects that keep information from flowing properly between (e.g.) the store that should have processed orders and the app that wrongly told customers these were ready for pickup.

For example, Amazon’s ecosystem (from a delivery perspective, depicted below) includes:

• Delivery services and vehicles.

• A database.

• Email notification.

• Logistics happening behind the scenes.

The actors, devices, infrastructure and other elements interplay to support the best customer experiences. It’s vital to understand the ecosystem as more than the sum of its parts; the dynamics and connections between the parts are crucial to the service’s—and business’s—health. From your own ecosystem maps, you’ll likely find breakpoints: anywhere where the “left hand” doesn’t know what the “right hand” is doing, and the “magic” fails to delight customers.

How to Create Ecosystem Maps

Map out everything the service needs to work:

1. List all roles/actors that help make it functional – E.g., employees, suppliers and contractors. 

2. For each role, consider what they do, how they do it and what they need to do it. Include these sorts of things: 

   • Practices they perform (services/value they deliver) 

   • Information they need, use/need to use, or share 

   • People/systems they interact with 

   • Services available to them 

   • Devices they use 

   • Channels through which they communicate

3. Place your service in the middle and the most important actors/roles close by. Draw as many circles as required; add each role or actor to the image, moving outwards for supporting actors/roles. If your system is complex, try grouping the roles/actors along the circle according to what role they play in relation to your service. 

4. Consider how each actor depends on the other actors and draw lines of dependencies between them. This will show how actors must collaborate, and expose any breaks in your ecosystem.

As a group activity (recommended): Since ecosystem maps are often complex, it’s better to create them as a team to ensure you cover all actors/parts, like so: 

1. Everyone draws a map of the current ecosystem from their point of view. 

2. Everyone presents their map to the group; together the group notes similarities and differences.

3. Post the individual maps on a wall and draw connections between them. 

4. Combine the individual maps into one coherent map; use it to help create a service blueprint.

Tips

• As with lifecycle maps, well-made ecosystem maps give an accurate overview where you can zoom in on specific areas. So, ensure you understand the details of how the various parts of your service work together and what each one involves. An oversimplification of just one part (e.g., a database) might make you overlook potential opportunities for improvement, or cause potentially costly oversights.

• Because ecosystem maps should reveal services as functioning real-world entities, they can quickly expose problem areas. However, ecosystems can be highly complex; so, be careful that when you find a problem you don’t isolate it as a symptom to address—instead, look at the big picture cause-and-effects-wise. The smallest inappropriately considered change in one area can cause unforeseen repercussions.

• Although it’s challenging, you can also make a map of a future/ideal service with a view of what, why, how, who, when and where. 

Overall, your best ecosystem maps will show you how to make the best of everything you have—and handle anything that may arise—when your service performs live in front of your customers.

Learn More about Ecosystem Maps

Take our Service Design course, featuring an ecosystems map template.

Read UX Booth’s incisively written article on strategizing around an ecosystems-centered perspective.

Macadamian’s healthcare-oriented piece offers helpful insights into ecosystem mapping.