PROBLEM-SOLUTION FIT CANVAS 2.0:
Translate problems into solutions with higher chances of solution adoption probability
Get practical insights into customer situation and decision-making process.
“From now on we are going to use this template at GrowthTribe Academy next to the Lean canvas.”
Tailor to Customer State
Solve complex problems in a way that fits the state of your potential customers.
Increase solution adoption
Increase your solution adoption by tapping into customer behavior and existing mediums.
Communicate better
Sharpen your communication and marketing strategy with the right triggers and messaging.
Use the best methodologies
Based on Lean Startup, Design Thinking, Lazy User Model (LUM) principles and fundamentals of user experience design.
Free download:
✓ Problem-Solution fit canvas 2.0
✓ Canvas Workbook 2.0
+ Canvas template adjusted for online collaboration tools
01. CUSTOMER STATE FIT
Customer state
Who is your customer?
What limits your customers to act when problem occurs? eg. spending power, network connection, available devices.
Which solutions are available to the customer when
he/she is facing the problem? What had he/she tried in the past?
What are the pros/cons of existing solutions?
02. PROBLEM-BEHAVIOR FIT
Problem and related behavior
Which problem do you solve for your customer? How often does this problem occur? There could be more than one, explore it.
What is the cause of every problem from the list?
What does your customer do about the problem (around / directly or indirectly related to)?
How often does this related behavior happen?
03. COMMUNICATION-CHANNEL FIT
Triggers, emotions and channels
What triggers customer to act?
Which emotions do people feel before / after this problem is resolved?
Use it in your communication strategy.
Where online does this behaviour happen?
Extract online and offline channels from Behavior block.
04. PROBLEM-SOLUTION FIT
Your solution
If you are trying to find a new solution to an existing problem, fill in this block after you get a better overview of the real situation.
When you are working on an existing solution (exploring growth strategies, problem with activation or solution adoption etc.), fill in this block first, and then see whether your solution is still relevant after all the blocks are filled in.
Try to spot patterns and repeated keywords by listing problems and behavior, related to it. For higher chances of solution adoption think of possible solutions that fit the user state limitations,
take the best from alternative solutions, resemble natural triggers and tap into existing customer behaviour. In short, you design a solution that is useful, understandable and accessible.
After giving it a first try you will likely realise that you were focusing on a different, less urgent / frequent problem, or you will recognise the real cause of the situation. Extract repeated
keywords (mediums, devices, situations), frequent behavior and emotions. That's your cheat sheet.
CREATED IN THE NETHERLANDS
With love to problem solving...
“My goal was to create a tool that will translate a problem into solution in a simple way, taking into account customer behavior and the context around it. I felt that none of the existing canvases or frameworks were giving me an overview and insight into real customer situation during his/her decision-making process. With this template you will be able to take important information into consideration at an earlier stage and look at problem solving in depth. This increases your chances of finding Problem-Solution fit, Product-Market fit.
Problem-Solution canvas is a tool for entrepreneurs, marketers and corporate innovators, which helps them identify solutions with higher chances for solution adoption, reduce time spent on solution testing and get a better overview of current situation. Such data is typically discovered "on the go", after rounds of iterations and customer interviews, but it's crucial for your success. This canvas is based on principles of Lean Startup, LUM and User Experience design, it combines everything you need to identify patterns and recognize what would work and why. Simply be where your customers are and solve a real problem, it's either the same done differently or something new, presented in a familiar way.”
Daria Nepriakhina
IdeaHackers.network / Connect with me on Linkedin
FAQ
Why this structure?
• Customer State fit
Making sure you understand your target group, their limitations and available solutions against which you are going to compete);
• Problem-Behavior fit
Helps you to filter out the noise and identify the most urgent and frequent problems, understand real reasons behind them and see which behavior supports it, i.e is this behavior weak, infrequent, not intense enough? Is this a problem worth solving?.
• Communication-Channel fit
Helps you to sharpen your communication with strong triggers, emotional message and reach your customers via the right channels.
• Solution guess
Which you fill in after all crucial data is collected.
How can it increase my chances of solution adoption?
You need to understand existing customer situation to design for improvement. Some problems that appear weak at first may have an intense related behavior, the real identifier of whether this problem is worth solving (eg. browsing, collecting and spending plenty of time on it) and, therefore, has a good chance to be adopted.
Others seem very complex and unsolvable at first. Once you recognize the underlying reason of the problem and repeated pattern or annoyance related to it, you will be able to identify an easy solution to solve a part of the problem scope. This will build trust and increase touch-points with your customers, which helps you to level up later and solve the whole problem scope (Captable.io & Startuprunway.io of LTSE are good examples).
Is this canvas useful for marketers and growth hackers?
Absolutely. It's proven to be very useful for marketers and growth hackers, since it supports you in:
• Finding and tuning your message;
• Visual communication (based on what is familiar to your customers);
• Product differentiation, i.e. see how your offer is different from others.
If for instance you review your offering, you might spot that the market is changing, and therefore, your value proposition needs to change. In fact, your value proposition can never be static. It should be adjusted to the new continuously changing customer situation, and this is exactly where this template would be of great help.
If we already have a running business, would it still be useful for us to work with this canvas?
Yes, it helps you review an existing customer situation and identify new channels, triggers and tweaks to your existing communication strategy, marketing and value proposition. In some cases it helps you to get unstuck and recognize new insights.
How is it different from the Lean Canvas?
The lean canvas is a distilled representation of your business model. The value proposition canvas helps you to identify a list of your customers needs and design products and services they want, turning pains into pain relievers. Problem-Solution fit canvas is not just a mapping tool, but an actionable translation template, where you turn problems into solution and communication strategy, taking into account customer behavior to increase your chances of solution adoption. It gives you insights into how your idea could fit the reality.
When should I use it?
Do you have a vision behind your idea? Can you name 5 people who are interested in it? Great, let's go! Fill it in, extract your hypotheses and design experiments to test whether they are holding true.
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Revolutionary tools for business innovation & customer centricity
Check out Amaltama.com tools that incorporate customer centricity principles, tackle solution adoption and bring unmatched market analysis techniques. You will never look at things the same way as you did before!
If you use Business model canvas, Lean canvas or Value proposition canvas, then Amaltama’s toolkit is for you. Moreover, you also get an opportunity to ask questions directly to the author.
Become one of the first in your field to apply it!
Coming soon:
Problem-Solution fit brainstorm cards
Watch CXL Digital Elite Camp conference presentation on Problem-Solution fit canvas
About
This canvas has gone through 10+ rounds of significant changes and iterations based on feedback from entrepreneurs, corporate innovators, UXers, growth hackers, colleagues and friends.
Created by Daria Nepriakhina / IdeaHackers.nl with the goal to help entrepreneurs find solutions that actually would work in the real world. Please share your thoughts with me via Whatsapp / Viber: +31617730294 or email: daria@ideahackers.nl
You are free to use Problem-Solution fit canvas for your own work (within your company) or to support others (consulting);
give credit to the source and the author - IdeaHackers.network.
If you are interested to include it in software solutions, you must contact the copyright holder, Daria Nepriakhina of IdeaHackers.nl, for permission.
