value-proposition-canvas
value-proposition-canvas
Runs Osterwalder, Pigneur, Bernarda, and Smith's Value Proposition Canvas to test whether an offering fits a customer segment: the Customer Profile (jobs, pains, gains) describes the customer, the Value Map (products and services, pain relievers, gain creators) describes the offering. It catches the failure of relievers and creators that land on minor jobs, pains, and gains rather than the customer's most important ones.
The two sides, the ranking discipline, the fit-check table, and the three levels of fit live in references/value-proposition.md. Load that file before analyzing. The order is fixed: ground and rank the customer side first, then map the value side onto it.
When to use
The user wants to test problem-solution fit for one value proposition aimed at one customer segment. This is the zoom-in companion to the Business Model Canvas: where the BMC maps a whole business model across nine blocks, the VPC takes just two of those blocks, Value Propositions and Customer Segments, and examines them in detail. Use the BMC for the whole model and its viability; use this when the question is narrower, whether the offer matches the customer. It pairs with jobs-to-be-done, which goes deeper on the Customer Jobs half. One offer aimed at several segments is several canvases; model the one the user names, or model each separately, and do not blur them into one.
Language
Conduct the session and write the report in the language the user is writing in. The reference file is English; keep the framework keyed to it regardless of the output language.
Inputs
- VALUE PROPOSITION (required): the offering to test, named specifically (a product, service, or feature set), not a whole company.
- CUSTOMER SEGMENT (required): the one segment whose fit is being tested. If the user names several, narrow to one or split into separate canvases with a question first.
- CONTEXT (optional): the stage (idea, early, in-market), the evidence available (interviews, usage data, none yet), and the decision the canvas should inform (build, pivot, prioritize). This shapes which assumptions matter most and how the fit verdict is framed, not the content of the two sides.