value-proposition-canvas

name	value-proposition-canvas
description	Guide for creating Value Proposition Canvases (Osterwalder/Strategyzer methodology). Use when designing, analyzing, or refining product-market fit, mapping customer needs to product features, or writing value propositions for landing pages, pitches, or App Store copy.

Value Proposition Canvas

Structured framework by Alex Osterwalder (Strategyzer) to ensure product-customer fit. Two sides, one mapping exercise.

When to Use

• Defining what to build before coding (feature prioritization)
• Writing landing page copy, App Store descriptions, pitch decks
• Evaluating product-market fit for an existing product
• Comparing your offer against competitors
• Preparing for user interviews (what to validate)

Core Workflow

Step 1: Pick One Customer Segment

One canvas per segment. Never mix segments on a single canvas.

Step 2: Fill the Customer Profile (right side)

Map the customer's world independent of your solution:

1. Jobs - What they're trying to accomplish
2. Pains - What blocks or frustrates them
3. Gains - What would delight them or make life better

Rank each item by intensity (essential vs. nice-to-have, extreme vs. moderate).

See references/customer-profile.md for job types, pain/gain categories, and trigger questions.

Step 3: Fill the Value Map (left side)

Map your offering:

1. Products & Services - Your actual features and deliverables
2. Pain Relievers - How each feature kills a specific pain
3. Gain Creators - How each feature creates a specific gain

See references/value-map.md for definitions and worked examples.

Step 4: Map the Fit

Draw explicit connections between left and right:

• Every Pain Reliever connects to a specific Pain
• Every Gain Creator connects to a specific Gain
• Unconnected features = cut candidates
• Unaddressed pains/gains = product gaps or deliberate scope choices

Step 5: Synthesize the Value Proposition Statement

"For [segment] who [key job/pain], [product] is a [category] that [key benefit] unlike [alternative] which [limitation]."

Step 6: Validate and Iterate

The canvas is a hypothesis. Test with:

• Customer interviews (do these jobs/pains/gains resonate?)
• Landing page tests (does the statement convert?)
• Usage data (do features mapped as relievers actually reduce churn?)

See references/fit-and-validation.md for validation methods and fit levels.

Output Format

When generating a Value Proposition Canvas, use this structure:

# Value Proposition Canvas: [Product] x [Segment]

## Customer Profile

### Jobs

| Priority | Type       | Job |
| -------- | ---------- | --- |
| High     | Functional | ... |

### Pains

| Severity | Pain | Current Workaround |
| -------- | ---- | ------------------ |
| Extreme  | ...  | ...                |

### Gains

| Importance | Gain |
| ---------- | ---- |
| Essential  | ...  |

## Value Map

### Products & Services

- [Feature 1]
- [Feature 2]

### Pain Relievers

| Pain | Reliever | Feature |
| ---- | -------- | ------- |
| ...  | ...      | ...     |

### Gain Creators

| Gain | Creator | Feature |
| ---- | ------- | ------- |
| ...  | ...     | ...     |

## Fit Analysis

- Addressed pains: X/Y
- Addressed gains: X/Y
- Unconnected features: [list]
- Gaps: [list]

## Value Proposition Statement

> "For ... who ..., [Product] is a ... that ... unlike ... which ..."

Critical Rules

1. Always start with customer profile - never start from your features
2. Pains exist independently of your solution - "lacks feature X" is not a pain
3. One canvas per segment - mixing segments produces noise
4. Rank everything - not all jobs/pains/gains are equal
5. Map explicitly - vague "it helps" connections don't count

References

• references/customer-profile.md - Job types, pain/gain categories, trigger questions
• references/value-map.md - Products, pain relievers, gain creators with examples
• references/fit-and-validation.md - Fit levels, validation methods, iteration
• references/common-mistakes.md - Pitfalls and how to avoid them