Determine value propositions

A value proposition is a value proposition that must be delivered, communicated, and acknowledged. It is also a user's belief about how the value will be delivered, experienced and acquired.

A value proposition is the point at which your company's product intersects with what your users want. It is the magical connection between what you make and why people buy it.

The What is a reductive process in the early stages of the design process that identifies the key aspects of a product: What it is, who it is for, and when/where it will be used.

The "why" helps the team imagine all the things the product could be before narrowing down and reaching consensus on what the product should be.

Creating a value proposition is part of the business strategy.

The strategy is based on a differentiated value proposition for the customer. Customer satisfaction is the source of a sustainable value proposition.

Developing a value proposition is based on a review and analysis of the benefits, costs, and value that a company can provide to its customers, potential customers, and other groups inside and outside the company. It is also a positioning of value, where value = Benefits-Cost.

Build value propositions

Everything your product has to offer may seem obvious to you, but you need to get into the mind of your users. Users don't know your product yet and don't understand its value. This is where the value propositions come into play. To start, you need to do some research to answer these two questions:

What does your product do? Clearly explain the value proposition your product offers users.

Why should the user care? Describe how your product addresses the user's problems.

Once you've answered these questions, you can take a series of steps to focus on your product's unique value proposition.

Features. A feature is a factual description of how your product works. Features are the functional characteristics of your product.

Benefits. A benefit is what your product does for the user. The benefit is how the features make your customer's life easier by increasing pleasure or decreasing pain.

Experience. The product experience is the way the user feels when they own your product. It's the sum of the combined features and benefits.

Desires. The emotional drivers of decision making are things we want to be, do, or have. Our desires are usually conscious thoughts about how we want to improve our lives.

Needs. The needs of the user are the rational things that the user needs to accomplish something. Interestingly, needs aren't always conscious. Customers may have needs that they may not yet know about. Designers call these "latent needs".

Takeaways

One of the most important things to know about value propositions is that they need to be short, clear and to the point.

Users want to be able to easily see how your product meets their specific needs and what makes your product stand out in the marketplace. Sometimes users don't know what they need until you explain it to them. That's the real heart of product design innovation.