Product is one of four stages used to place a component on a Wardley Map, alongside genesis, custom built, and commodity. The stage describes a component’s evolution, not simply whether an organization calls something a product. Familiar labels can be misleading: placement calls for assessing a component’s characteristics in context. section 5.3 section 5.6
Start with a user need, construct the components that satisfy it, then place each component at the stage that seems right. Ubiquity—how common the component is—and certainty—how well it is understood—are two characteristics to consider. Treat the first placement as a basis for discussion rather than a final classification; maps can be revisited throughout a modernization journey. section 5.6
A product in an organization’s taxonomy answers a different question: what complete, repeatable offering solves a customer or user need? A physical credit card alone is only part of such an offering; search and checkout may be features rather than independent products. Those distinctions help define offerings, but they do not, by themselves, assign a Wardley evolution stage to a mapped component. section 6.4.1 section 5.3
Use the map to ask where investment creates an advantage and where it may not. Keep the assessment open to revision as understanding of users, components, and the landscape improves. section 5.6
