Value Proposition Canvas: An easy way to connect your solution to your customers’ needs
In the previous posts, we touched on how important it is to understand who your customer is, what they are looking for, and what they’re motivated by. You can use this information to determine what your value prop should be. You can also use this information to ideate your solution. An easy way to visualize this is by using a value proposition canvas.
What is a Value Proposition Canvas?
The Value Proposition Canvas is a visual tool that helps align your solution to your customers’ needs. There are different Value Proposition Canvases, and their goal is to help you focus on turning needs and motivators into features and benefits. Similarly, the version we use at 500 Global connects your customer persona to the value you build into your solution.
How to use a Value Proposition Canvas
Referring back to your customer persona cards, fill in the right side of the Value Proposition Canvas.
Who: Who is your customer? What are their demographics? What are their preferences? What are their values?
What: What are their jobs to be done? Functionally, what do they need?
Why: What are their motivations, frustrations, challenges, unmet goals, and aspirations? You can consider their emotional and social jobs to be done here, too.
Draw parallels between the right side of the canvas and the left side of the canvas.
Benefits: What are the benefits of your solution? How does your solution meet the
Features: What features meet their needs functionally? What features meet their <>?
Experience: What do you want their experience of interacting with your experience to be? How do you want them to feel when thinking about their user experience?
You can then use the XYZ framework to craft a one-sentence value proposition statement.
Value Proposition Canvas: An example
Imagine you were an on-demand ice cream delivery service called Ice Ice Baby!. What could a version of your value proposition canvas look like? One persona could be a busy millennial professional who wants to show up for her friends or colleagues by buying thoughtful gifts… but she just just doesnt have the time. Think about the features and benefits of your solution. Below is an example of how you can use a value proposition canvas to connect your solution to her needs. Maybe you have a different idea!
One possible XYZ value proposition statement could be: Ice Ice Baby! helps busy professionals “show up” for their friends and colleagues by delivering personalized ice cream care packages with just the click of a button.
💡TLDR: Using a value proposition canvas makes it easy to visualize how you connect your solution to your customers’ needs, how you connect your solution’s benefits to your customers’ whys, and what their alternatives are.
📖 Exercise: Complete your own value proposition canvas for each of your customer segments
Download: Value Proposition Canvas Template
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