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Business model · Explore

Value Proposition Canvas

Tests whether what you offer actually matches what a specific customer is trying to get done. Fit is the output, and most first attempts do not have it.

The printable canvas and the handoff into Claude Code are part of a paid plan. See what a plan includes. It needs the Claude desktop app on this machine, and your team and the prompt library already installed in that project — we cannot see your disk, so open it there.

Stage
02 Explore
Works at
Business, Department
Maturity
An idea → Established SME
Time
Half a day per segment

What it is

Osterwalder's detailed examination of one segment from the Business Model Canvas, split into two halves that are built separately and then compared. The separation is the method: constructing the customer profile independently of your offer is what makes the fit test meaningful.

Customer jobs
What the customer is trying to get done — functional, social and emotional. Described in their terms, from evidence.
Pains
What annoys, blocks or worries them before, during and after the job. Ranked by severity, because responses should be too.
Gains
The outcomes they want, from the minimum required through to what would genuinely delight. Ranked by relevance.
Products and services
What you actually offer, listed plainly. Not benefits — the things themselves.
Pain relievers
How your offer removes or reduces specific ranked pains. Each should point at a named pain.
Gain creators
How your offer produces specific ranked gains. Same discipline.
Fit
Achieved when relievers and creators connect to pains and gains the customer ranked highly. Anything unconnected on either side is the finding.
The mistake people makeBuilding both halves in the same session guarantees a match, because the profile gets written to fit the offer. Build the customer side first, from research, ideally with someone who has not seen the product.
What it’s forYou need to test whether what you offer matches what customers are trying to get done.
What it’s not forYou have not done the customer work. This needs real jobs, pains and gains as input.

How you run it

  1. Build the customer profile first, and separatelyJobs, pains and gains, without looking at your product. Doing them together produces a profile shaped like your offer.
  2. Rank the pains and gainsNot all are equal. Rank by severity and by frequency — addressing a minor pain excellently is a common and expensive mistake.
  3. Then map your offer against itProducts and services, pain relievers, gain creators. Now, and only now, put the two side by side.
  4. Find what does not connectPain relievers addressing pains nobody ranked highly. Severe pains with nothing pointing at them. Both are findings, and the second is the opportunity.
  5. State the fit honestlyFit exists when your relievers address ranked pains and your creators produce ranked gains. Partial fit is normal; pretending it is complete is not.

The prompt

Two ways to run it

Run this tool in your own Claude

The short prompt starts your partner against the library on your disk. The long one carries everything with it and needs nothing installed.

🔒 Prompt locked

Everything above is free — what this tool is, what it is for, what it is not for, and how to run it as a workshop. Three tool prompts a month are free with an account; beyond three, and for the printable canvas, it is the paid part.

See plans — from £19 a month

Your playbook

It lands in the earliest stage this tool suits. Move it on the Playbook page.

You’ll need

  • One customer segment, defined narrowly
  • Real evidence of their jobs, pains and gains
  • Your offer described honestly

You’ll end up with

  • A customer profile built from evidence
  • A value map of your offer
  • A fit assessment naming what does not connect

Runs well with

Acquisition screen and synergy thesisAdjacency mapAI opportunity mapAnalysis plan