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LS 101 · Lesson 4
Users, Stakeholders & Systems Mapping
Learners expand their view from “our product” to “the system our product lives in,” mapping users, partners, leadership, regulators, and adjacent systems—and the tensions that shape Product Owner decisions.
Lesson Overview +
Lesson 4 builds directly on the work from Lessons 2 and 3. Learners have already read a board, designed a flow intervention, and crafted a vision; now they step back and ask: “Who else is in this system, and how do they shape what we can and should do?”

Learners distinguish between end users, internal teams, leadership, partners, regulators, and adjacent systems, then use simple tools—stakeholder lists, influence/impact grids, and ecosystem sketches—to visualize how information, decisions, and value flow through their product’s environment. The lesson closes with a written reflection on at least one tension they anticipate and how they might navigate it as a Product Owner.
Full Lesson Text

Lesson 4 widens the frame. In earlier lessons, learners placed themselves at the center of a product system, learned to read boards and flow, and crafted a clear product vision. Here, they explore the wider ecosystem that surrounds that product: the users who rely on it, the internal teams who build and support it, the leaders who fund and direct it, the partners who extend it, and the regulators and constraints that can reshape it overnight.

Effective Product Owners rarely think only in terms of features. They think in terms of systems. Systems include people, power, expectations, and risk. Lesson 4 helps learners see who is in their system, what each group needs, how much influence each group has, and how value moves between them.

From “My Product” to “Our Ecosystem”

Learners begin by returning to the product context and vision they developed in Lessons 1–3. Using that context, they list out the different groups connected to the product:

  • End users and customers who interact directly with the product or are most affected by it.
  • Internal partners such as engineering, design, data, operations, and support teams.
  • Executives and leadership who set strategy, funding, and timelines.
  • External partners including vendors, integration partners, and content providers.
  • Regulators and compliance bodies that define legal and policy constraints.
  • Adjacent systems such as other tools, services, or environments the product must work with.

For each group, learners capture what that group needs from the product, what it provides, and how often it is likely to interact with the Product Owner.

Stakeholders, Influence, and Impact

Learners then sort their stakeholders by influence and impact. Influence describes how much a stakeholder can shape decisions, funding, or direction. Impact describes how strongly the product affects a stakeholder’s experience or outcomes. This is mapped in a simple influence/impact grid:

  • High influence / high impact
  • High influence / low impact
  • Low influence / high impact
  • Low influence / low impact

This exercise often reveals surprises: groups with strong needs but little voice, or highly influential actors who rarely touch the product but strongly shape strategy. Seeing these dynamics clearly is a key step in Product Owner work.

Drawing the System

With stakeholders organized, learners sketch a simple ecosystem map. At the center is the Product Owner and the product itself. Around that center, they place users, internal teams, leaders, partners, regulators, and adjacent systems. Arrows show how information, decisions, and value move through the ecosystem.

Rather than chasing visual perfection, learners focus on being able to explain the map. Each arrow should represent a real relationship: feedback flowing in, decisions flowing out, value being created or blocked. Learners identify where information pools, where it might get stuck, and where a small change could have an outsized effect.

Finding Tensions and Trade-Offs

As the map takes shape, learners look for tensions. These might include user convenience versus regulatory compliance, short-term revenue versus long-term trust, or engineering simplicity versus market differentiation. They mark these tensions on the map and describe how they expect them to show up in day-to-day PO work.

This reflection connects directly to earlier lessons. Learners ask: “How will these tensions influence my backlog choices, my flow interventions, and the vision I crafted in Lesson 3?” They begin to see that vision is not a slogan; it is a tool for navigating real trade-offs across the system.

Mastery for Lesson 4

A learner demonstrates mastery of Lesson 4 when they can clearly differentiate user groups from other stakeholders, visualize how influence and impact vary across the ecosystem, sketch how information and value move through the system, and describe at least one concrete tension they expect to navigate as a Product Owner.

In a single sentence, mastery sounds like: “I can map the ecosystem around my product, see where tensions and trade-offs will arise, and explain how those dynamics will shape my decisions as a Product Owner.”

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LS 101 · Lesson 4 Activity
Stakeholder & Systems Mapping Studio
Use your existing product context and vision to inventory stakeholders, map influence and impact, sketch your ecosystem, and name the tensions you expect to navigate as a Product Owner.

Work through the panels below to connect your Lesson 1–3 work to the larger system your product inhabits. You will list stakeholders, sort them by influence and impact, sketch a systems view, and reflect on at least one trade-off you anticipate in your Product Owner role. When you’re finished, generate your summary and check your mastery badge.

1. Product Context & Vision Reminder +

Anchor your system map in a concrete product. Use the same context you developed in Lesson 1 and refined through Lessons 2–3.

Bring forward your most recent vision from Lesson 3. This will act as your north star while you map the system.

2. Stakeholder Inventory +

Include end users/customers, internal teams, leadership, external partners, regulators, and any adjacent systems that matter for your product.

For each stakeholder, describe what they need from the product and what they contribute to the product or organization.

Note which groups you expect to meet with regularly, occasionally, or rarely and through which channels (meetings, dashboards, support tickets, etc.).

3. Influence & Impact Grid +

Place each stakeholder into one of the four quadrants: high/low influence and high/low impact. You can describe the grid in text form here.

Reflect on stakeholders who have strong needs but limited influence, or vice versa, and what that means for your Product Owner work.

4. Ecosystem Map: Information, Decisions & Value +

Imagine your map as concentric layers or clusters around you as PO and the product. Describe where you placed each stakeholder and why.

Describe the key arrows on your map: where feedback comes from, where decisions are made, and where value is created or blocked.

5. Tensions, Trade-Offs & PO Navigation +

Look for competing needs such as user convenience vs. compliance, short-term revenue vs. long-term trust, or engineering simplicity vs. differentiation.

Describe how this trade-off will appear in backlog discussions, board decisions, stakeholder meetings, or user feedback.

Connect back to your Lesson 3 vision. How can your vision guide decisions when stakeholders pull in different directions?

Generated Summary (copy or share as needed):
Mastery Check
Complete all five panels with thoughtful responses. When every section is filled with specific, system-aware thinking, this badge will glow to signal that you’ve achieved Lesson 4 mastery and are ready for the Lesson 4.1 mastery studio.