Power Of The Value Proposition Canvas (VPC)

The Value Proposition Canvas (VPC) is a powerful tool that helps you in your quest to reach the first two of your core fits: Problem-Solution fit, and Product-Market fit.

The fact that it gets much less press than its more famous cousins, Lean Canvas, and Business Model Canvas, is a shame.

When harnessed correctly, VPC iterations will help you hone in on the key issues that make a prospective customer tick.

Getting deep under the hood.

To the root core of human-centric needs.

So how do we utilise VPC?

Start off by determining the customer segment you are targeting, and the main personas in that segment.

Sometimes we get a minor conflict at this stage between Lean Startup and Design-Thinking enthusiasts. Why start with markets before use-cases?

As with everything, each case may differ. But determining broad high-level market trends and sizing at the outset helps to avoid drilling into use-cases that may not be commercially viable, even though they tick all the usability boxes.

So after segmenting your markets and the customers that represent it, you can begin to dissect the key personas that would represent end-users, and purchasing decision makers.

Sometimes, these personas may end up being the same person, or end up being represented by multiple persons that make up a decision-making unit.

The devil is in the details. So refinement is key, as you find out more through conversations and testing to help identify key stakeholders in the usage and purchasing process.

And with that, you can begin to build up your VPC by jotting down the pains faced, jobs to be done, and delights being sought, for each of your highlighted personas.

By knowing what your personas intimately want and need, you are in a much better position of matching those needs with the proposed build of your solution.

So do not skimp out on this exercise. I repeat, do not take it lightly.

Sure a Lean Canvas exercise is good for eliciting Problem-Solution fit on the surface, but VPC can take you into the depths.

The refinement and iterative process of VPC continues as you seek to debunk key assumptions and white hot risks that may make or break the business.

Understanding your personas, and being accurate in that understanding, is absolutely key here.

And with that, we go to the next step of Customer Journey Mapping.

The Value Proposition Canvas