How to apply the Value Proposition Canvas (VPC) to Product Design

Being a big fan of using structured tools to define a problem space, I’ve always wanted to read the Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want (2014) - a book by the same guys who created the now famous Business Model Canvas (2010).

But it’s long, life is short, and like anyone I struggle to remain focused in a world dominated by distractions. So when I came across a recent piece on using the VPC in product design by Matina Moreira – a service designer - I jumped at the chance to read it.

In this simple, yet elegant, post she describes how she personally uses the VPC to explore the relationship between a product and its assumed customers in an ongoing attempt to define positive change.

And she demonstrates how, using the VPC in a collaborative workshop setting, it's possible to generate engagement with product stakeholders and owners in a way that places the emphasis on the customer in the discovery process – the job to be done, their pains and gains. Thus avoiding the natural tendency to focus on the product, and preconceived assumptions about what it does, by (potentially over invested) product owners.

And while I’ve obviously not yet used the VPC in anger, I can now see clearly how use of the canvas might generate a genuine collaborative mindset between product stakeholder, owner, manager and designer alike. One that is focused squarely on customer needs, rather than being overly distracted by the product itself.

Straightforward and simple - it makes perfect sense....

So if, like me, you have always wanted to read this book and yet you want to save yourself the time in order to get going quickly, then review Matina’s very helpful share on the VPC. And I’d personally start with her slide deck to get the overall background and framework for the VPC, and only then read her written piece carefully for her suggested approach.

(And, of course, at some point I need to read the actual book as well....)