Choosing Strategic Dimensions

The axes of your landscape map are the most consequential analytical decision you make. The wrong dimensions produce a map where everyone clusters in the same quadrant — visually uninteresting and strategically useless. The right dimensions spread the players across the space in ways that reveal genuine differentiation and expose strategic white space.

Dimension selection starts with the question: "What two factors most determine competitive success in this market?" In enterprise software, it might be platform breadth vs. vertical depth. In professional services, it might be specialization vs. geographic reach. In consumer markets, it might be brand premium vs. price accessibility. The dimensions should be independent — they should not correlate so strongly that high-on-one implies high-on-the-other. If every player with high breadth also has high depth, those dimensions are not independent and your map will be a diagonal line, not a spread.

1. Brainstorm 8-10 Candidate Dimensions Start wide. Market share, growth rate, geographic reach, technology maturity, vertical specialization, price point, platform breadth, brand strength, customer concentration, R&D intensity. Write them all down before evaluating any.
2. Test for Independence For each pair of candidates, ask: "Is it possible to be high on one and low on the other?" If the answer is no, the dimensions correlate and one should be dropped. Independent dimensions create maps with four distinct quadrants. Correlated dimensions create maps with two clusters on a diagonal.
3. Test for Differentiation Mentally place five known players on each candidate pair. Do they spread across the space, or do they cluster? A good dimension pair creates visible separation between players. If everyone lands in the same quadrant, the dimensions are not capturing meaningful differentiation.
4. Select and Label Choose the pair that produces the most strategically meaningful spread. Label each axis clearly with the low and high ends defined. "Vertical Specialization: Horizontal Platform ←→ Industry-Specific Solution." Precise labels prevent ambiguous placement.