Lean UX Canvas

The Lean UX canvas is a tool presented by Jeff Gothelf back in 2016 and revised since then. The tool aims to help cross-functional teams in establishing a customer-centric conversation about the ongoing work.

Shift from Outputs to Outcomes

Offering a step-by-step approach, the tool provides a recipe for teams to focus on the why of their work and to ensure learning throughout the journey. A key strength is that it helps to raise questions, expose gaps and name the key things that need to be learned next.

With a specific idea in mind, it is helpful to follow the sequence as indicated by the numbers. Of course, over time refinements will happen and the different aspects will also influence each other. But still, it’s a good idea to proceed as follows:

Name the business problem, or business objective that shall be tackled
Define the metrics of how success will be measured
Only now take the user’s perspective and name the target user, be as specific as possible, and include as much context as possible
Describe the benefit from the user’s perspective, so why would they decide to use the new product or service?
Now sketch ideas for solutions that solve the business problem but also serve the user.
Now formulate the hypothesis by combining the bits and pieces collected so far by creating statements such as We believe that [business outcome] will be achieved if [user] achieves [benefit] with [solutions].
Now understand that the above are just hypotheses. So, identify the most important, that is riskiest, assumptions that need to be validated.
Finally, describe how to learn about these assumptions, and which experiments to conduct.

Of course, information created with other tools can be reused here. For example, a value proposition canvas will contain valuable input for segments 3, 4, and 5. Also, the assumptions in step 7 will often relate to the Four Key Risks in Product Development.

Lean UX Canvas

Shift from Outputs to Outcomes

Further Reading

Lean UX Canvas v2