Value Stream Maps

A Value Stream is the end-to-end set of activities performed by an organization to deliver value to a customer through a product or service.*

I use Value Streams as the “backbone” of a domain model, customer journey map, or service blueprint diagram. It’s the starting point for aligning teams on the scope and boundaries of a service or solution environment.

Value Stream Maps and Customer Journey Maps work together—one shows how the organization delivers value, the other shows how it’s experienced by the customer. Both help teams see the big picture.

*Kersten, M. (2018). Project to product. Portland, OR: IT Revolution, p. 70.

Value stream map that shows appellant and appellee as the customers and the stages and branches of the appeals value stream.
Graphic that uses a notional passport example to illustrate the difference between a customer or service journey flow and a value stream flow.

After mapping the value streams of their appeals process flows (diagram on left), the leadership team of this Circuit Court of Appeals realized that the value the court delivered was a decision on the case — not the judges hearing an argument.

This insight helped the leadership team to focus on improving their operations based on streamlining the highest volume value stream.

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Domain Models