Plaintext
by The Rectangles
USER CENTERED DESIGN CANVAS is divided into 9 fields. Done with the user-centered approach
in mind, the users field was placed at the very heart of it. The left side of the canvas focuses on
the users, the right side on the business. Following the logical order of the analysis, the canvas
enables creating a one sentence summary in the form of Unique Value Proposition.
The tool can perfectly serve individuals, but the more people are involved in the work on the
canvas, the better UX diagnose can be. It may also prove beneficial to preced filling the fields
with customer interviews, competitor analysis or any other research providing useful insights
into understanding of the business and its users.
Completing the canvas should take between 1-2 hours.
Below you’ll find the manual of filling the fields with examples (in grey).
FIELD 1: BUSINESS
This field should contain the name or short description of the analyzed company,
organization, brand or product.
– Café Mánual – a local café
FIELD 2: USERS
Fill in this field with all types of potential or existing target users of the analyzed
business.
– students (taking coffee during a break)
– businessmen (buying coffee on their way to work)
– coffee aficionados (seeking perfection in coffee making)
FIELD 3: PROBLEMS
Complete the field with all hypothetical or existing problems the users may want to
solve with the features or services the analyzed business provides.
– feels sleepy in the morning
– can’t afford Starbucks
– is in a hurry (needs coffee on the go)
Page 1 of 3 – Field 4. Motives – continues on page 2.
User Centered Design Canvas is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License – you can use
it in any way you like as long as you give credits to The Rectangles by mentioning the authors or linking the site therectangles.com.
FIELD 4: MOTIVES
This field should be completed with all possible emotional drives that may motivate the
users to get in contact with the analyzed business.
– drinks only fair trade coffee
– doesn't want to be associated with chain cafés
– wants to taste coffee from different brands and parts of the world
FIELD 5: FEARS
Fill in this field with all possible anxieties the users may feel when contacting or using
the analyzed business.
– coffee will be too expensive
– coffee won’t taste good
– the place will be crowded
FIELD 6: SOLUTIONS
Describe both existing and hypothetical ways in which the analyzed business can solve
the users’ problems specified in the field 3.
– reasonable prices
– the coffee is strong, good quality and fair trade
– queue passes for regular customers
FIELD 7: ALTERNATIVES
This field should be completed with all possible alternatives the users may choose
instead of the analyzed business.
– drink coffee at home / university / office
– go to chain café
– drink green tea / energy drink
FIELD 8: COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES
This field should contain any features or characteristics that distinguish the analyzed
business from its competitors.
– experienced, skilled barista with awards in coffee making
– coffee for free in case of waiting more than 5 minutes
– text to order a coffee (15 min earlier)
Page 2 of 3 – Field 9. Unique Value Proposition – continues on page 3.
User Centered Design Canvas is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License – you can use
it in any way you like as long as you give credits to The Rectangles by mentioning the authors or linking the site therectangles.com.
FIELD 9: UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION
Having completed all the fields, it should be easy to coin a single phrase describing
the business’ promise to its users. It's a summary of the business’ future philosophy
in terms of solving the users’ problems and building positive user experience.
Café Mánual – a friendly local café with best quality coffees from premium
brands, where a champion-barista won't keep you waiting more than 5
minutes, where you can even order your coffee earlier by texting and where
you'll pay less than in a chain café for all that.
Page 3 of 3
User Centered Design Canvas is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License – you can use
it in any way you like as long as you give credits to The Rectangles by mentioning the authors or linking the site therectangles.com.