UX Glossary | R
Relationship map
Also: Stakeholder map, Organisation map
A diagram of key teams, people and resources showing how they can help each other and who manages whom.
A relationship map draws the people and groups around a project as nodes, with lines between them showing how they connect: who reports to whom, who depends on whom, who can open a door for whom. It can also include non-human resources such as a data team, a legacy system or a budget holder.
What it is for
Organisations are rarely run the way their org charts say. The map records the working reality: the architect whose opinion the director always asks for, the two teams that never speak, the person who knows how to get a request through procurement. For a designer who needs a decision, a dataset or a pilot customer, knowing the route matters as much as knowing the destination.
It is particularly useful at the start of a large project, and in service design, where the experience depends on internal handovers the customer never sees.
Relationship map versus neighbours
A RACI matrix fixes who is responsible, accountable, consulted and informed for each task. It is formal and static. A relationship map is informal and descriptive. A stakeholder profile goes deep on one person; the map shows the web they sit in.
Common mistake
Treating it as a finished diagram. Relationships change after a reorganisation or a failed launch. Also treat it as sensitive, since a candid version contains judgements about colleagues.