Root Mapping is a product strategy framework that makes decision logic visible as a living source of truth. Paste a URL, describe your product, or dump your research or roadmap — and Claude generates an interactive visual map of the outcomes your product must produce, who they serve, and why they matter.
Works for products, practices, roles, and career clarity.
You give Claude any of these starting points:
- A product marketing page URL
- A feature list with no strategy behind it
- Research insights or interview notes
- A business mandate looking for customer grounding
- A LinkedIn profile or consulting website (for role/practice maps)
Claude generates an interactive HTML Root Map — a zoomable, clickable visualization showing:
- Outcome hierarchy — what must be true for customers, organized by enabling relationships
- Needs — the customer problems each outcome addresses, with severity indicators
- Business outcomes — why the company cares, with contextual icons
- Solutions — current implementations with effectiveness ratings
- Confidence indicators — how sure we are about each belief
- Essential Value Scope (EVS) — the irreducible core vs. nice-to-have
- Key differentiators (★) — where you win, not just where you must compete
- Competitive landscape — how each outcome stacks up against alternatives
- Detail panels — click any node for reasoning, sources, team beliefs, competitor tables, and editable notes
The map is a living conversation artifact. Review it, challenge it, update it — the conversation with Claude is the iteration engine.
- Download
root-mapping.zipfrom Releases - In Claude → Customize → Skills → click +
- Upload the zip file — done. The skill activates automatically in any conversation when relevant.
Requires a Claude account (free, Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise) with code execution enabled.
- Go to claude.ai → Projects → New Project
- Upload these three files from the
root-mapping/folder to Project Knowledge:
| File | What it does |
|---|---|
SKILL.md |
Framework instructions — teaches Claude how to think about outcomes, needs, EVS, competitive context, and how to populate the visual template |
templates/root-map-template.html |
Locked visual template — CSS, layout engine, rendering logic, detail panels. Claude replaces only the data section. |
examples/airpods-pro3-root-map.html |
Canonical example — a complete Root Map of AirPods Pro 3 showing all features: EVS/non-EVS, star differentiators, confidence levels, competitive tables, Phosphor icons on business outcomes |
Try any of these:
"Root map this: https://www.apple.com/vision-pro/"
"I'm building a project management tool for freelancers. Here are my planned features: [list]. Root map this."
"Here are 12 user interview insights from our discovery sprint. Turn these into a root map."
"Map my consulting practice. Here's my website: [URL]"
Claude will generate an interactive HTML file you can download, open in any browser, and share with your team.
root-mapping/
├── README.md ← You are here
├── LICENSE ← CC BY 4.0
├── root-mapping/ ← The skill (also the zip for Releases)
│ ├── SKILL.md ← Framework skill file
│ ├── templates/
│ │ └── root-map-template.html ← Locked visual template (v3 spec)
│ ├── examples/
│ │ └── airpods-pro3-root-map.html ← Product map example
│ └── references/
│ └── visual-spec-v3.md ← Visual design reference
├── examples/
│ ├── peter-lewis-root-map.html ← Personal/role map example
│ └── root-mapping-meta-root-map.html ← Meta map of the framework itself
└── docs/
└── launch-kit.md ← Video script, testing plan, launch strategy
6 categories, 18 features, full detail panels with competitive landscape, team beliefs, and sources. Demonstrates EVS vs. non-EVS, star differentiators, confidence indicators, and Phosphor icons on business outcomes. (Included in the skill package.)
Maps an individual's professional practice as outcomes to ensure. Shows how the same framework adapts for people — "your role is the outcome you're most directly responsible to ensure."
Root Map of the Root Mapping framework itself. Useful as both an example and a way to understand the framework's own value proposition.
Nobody cares about your product. They care what it enables them to do.
An outcome is the thing that will be true in customers' lives if the product succeeds. "Now they can ____."
The map organizes outcomes into a hierarchy of enabling relationships:
- Root outcome = the overall differentiated value proposition
- Category outcomes = major branches of value (2–6 is the sweet spot)
- Feature outcomes = specific problems solved within each branch
Everything else attaches to outcomes:
- Needs sit above (the problem)
- Business outcomes and solutions sit below (why the business cares, and how we currently deliver)
EVS (Essential Value Scope) = the irreducible core. Remove this outcome and customers won't want it.
Star (★) = where you distinctively win. Orthogonal to EVS — a node can be both, either, or neither.
Root Mapping (formerly Outcome Laddering) was created by Peter Lewis.
- Original article: "Nobody cares about your product."
- Companion: "Responsibility Without Territory"
- Video: IxDA talk on Root Mapping
CC BY 4.0 — use it, adapt it, share it. Attribution required.
Found a bug in the template? Have a great example map to share? Open an issue or PR. Framework feedback goes to @thispeterlewis.