The Value Proposition Canvas puts the customer profile (jobs they want done, pains and gains) next to the product’s value map (products and services, pain relievers and gain creators). Fit happens when every important pain has a reliever and every gain has a creator. It helps you test whether the product solves what the customer actually feels, before investing in building or promoting it.
How to use
- Describe the customer segment, the product name and, if you already know it, the result the customer gets, with a number or deadline.
- List the customer’s jobs, pains and gains. The position of each pain and gain in the list is its number.
- List the products and services and, for each reliever and creator, pick the pain or gain it addresses.
- See the grid with unaddressed items highlighted, the fit score and the value proposition statement built only from linked items.
- Export as PNG, PDF, Markdown or CSV, or create a link to review with the team.
What each field asks for
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Customer segment | Who the customer is, as specifically as you can. |
| Product | The name of the product or service. |
| Result the customer gets | Optional. With a number, deadline or comparison, so it can be verified. |
| Customer jobs | What they are trying to get done, starting with a verb. The first one goes into the final statement. |
| Pains | What annoys, delays or puts the job at risk. Write it as a noun; the line number is the pain number. |
| Gains | What the customer wants to achieve or would be pleased by. The line number is the gain number. |
| Products and services | What you offer: app, service, integration, support. |
| Reliever | E.g. automatic statement import |
| Pain it relieves | The pain number in the list. |
| Creator | E.g. pending items board per client |
| Gain it creates | The gain number in the list. |
Example
A fictional product for accounting firms with up to 20 staff lists three pains and three gains. Automatic statement import relieves pain 1, document reminders relieve pain 2 and the duplicate entry alert relieves pain 3: three of three pains relieved. The pending items board creates gain 1 and the monthly report creates gain 2, but nothing creates gain 3, time for advisory work, which shows as not addressed (two of three gains). The generated statement says MonthClose helps these firms close the month for each client, relieves manual bank statement checks and late documents from clients, and creates predictable team workload and client trust in the numbers, with the expected result of closing the month 2 days earlier.
When to use
- When starting a product or a new line, to check whether the solution answers the pains the customer really feels.
- When the team has a feature list and needs to know which pain or gain each feature addresses.
- Before writing the website or launch message, to start from a verifiable result.
- After customer interviews, to organise what you heard into jobs, pains and gains.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Value Proposition Canvas?
It is a board that compares the customer profile (jobs, pains and gains) with the product’s value map (products and services, relievers and creators). The method became popular in the innovation field in the early 2010s, as a companion to business model boards. This tool uses its own layout.
How is it different from a business model map?
A business model looks at the whole company: channels, revenue, costs, partners. The value proposition goes deeper into one block, the relationship between a customer segment and what the product does for it. Many teams do the value proposition first and carry the result into the business model.
How do I find customer pains?
Through interviews about real episodes ("tell me about the last time you closed the month"), usage observation and support tickets. A pain reported without a concrete episode is often an opinion. Favour the ones that repeat across several conversations.
How many items should each block have?
Three to five per block is usually enough. More than that dilutes the focus. Order pains and gains from most to least important, because the final statement uses the first linked items.
How do I test the value proposition?
Turn the statement into a hypothesis and test it with real customers: interviews, a pre-sale page, a prototype or a paid pilot. The result with a number (for example, "they close the month 2 days earlier") is what you will measure to know whether the promise holds.
Can I use it for B2B products?
Yes. In B2B it pays to build one profile for each role that weighs on the decision, such as the user, the buyer and the approver, because their pains and gains are usually different.