Artifact / Deliverable

A thing that exists, should exist, or has been proposed.

Definition

An artifact / deliverable node is a thing: a tool, a system, a document, a policy, an API. Actions are things people do. Artifacts are things that exist, should exist, or have been proposed.

Artifacts can connect to any kind of node, in either direction. Common connections:

An action delivers an artifact. "Write a starter guide" produces "One-page starter guide."
An artifact feeds an action. An existing checklist is the input to "Automate laptop setup."
An artifact influences a problem, an outcome, or another artifact, like any other node.
An artifact attacks a problem. When an artifact exists specifically to resolve a problem, the group may draw a dotted attacks arrow.

An action delivers the starter guide, which influences the outcome. An existing checklist feeds the automation work. Neither artifact targets a problem directly, and both belong on the board.

Diagram as text: Artifacts connected to actions and outcomes

Nodes:

Root / Problem: "Documentation is out of date"
Action / Intervention: "Write a one-page starter guide"
Action / Intervention: "Automate laptop setup"
Desired State / Outcome: "New hires ship something in their first month"
Artifact / Deliverable: "IT's laptop setup checklist"
Artifact / Deliverable: "One-page starter guide"

Arrows:

"Documentation is out of date" influences "Write a one-page starter guide"
"Write a one-page starter guide" influences "One-page starter guide"
"One-page starter guide" influences "New hires ship something in their first month"
"IT's laptop setup checklist" influences "Automate laptop setup"
"Automate laptop setup" influences "New hires ship something in their first month"

If the people building the tree know an artifact matters, it belongs on the board, whatever it connects to.

When it appears

Artifacts appear whenever the group talks about deliverables, tools, documents, or systems: things that already exist, things being built, or things someone has proposed. An artifact may go on the board before anyone knows how it connects. That is fine.

How to draw it

Property	Convention
Shape	Rectangle or sticky note, the same shape as every other node
Color	Indigo, `#4A5BAF`, with white text
Position	Wherever its connections put it, next to the nodes it relates to
Text marker	`[D]`, when text markers are in use

Examples

"Automated deployment pipeline" (a system)
"API documentation standards" (a policy)
"Customer-facing status dashboard" (a deliverable)
"Shared team charter" (an artifact in a cultural problem space)

Common mistakes

Blurring artifacts and actions. "Write a starter guide" is an action; "One-page starter guide" is an artifact. If the group is unsure whether something is a thing or a step, keep their wording and decide during refinement.

Leaving important artifacts off the board. An artifact does not need to target a problem to earn its place. If an action depends on it, or produces it, and the group thinks that matters, draw it.

Required or optional

Optional. Many trees have no artifacts at all. When a tree has none, leave indigo out of the legend.