DOKK Library

User Centred Design Canvas - Manual

Authors The Rectangle

License CC-BY-4.0

Plaintext
                                                          by The Rectangles


USER CENTRED DESIGN CANVAS is divided into 9 fields. Done with the user-centred 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 analysed company,
             organisation, 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 analysed
             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 analysed 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 Centred Design Canvas is licenced as Creative Commons – you can use it in any way you like unless 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 analysed 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 analysed 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 analysed 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 analysed 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 analysed
             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 Centred Design Canvas is licenced as Creative Commons – you can use it in any way you like unless 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 Centred Design Canvas is licenced as Creative Commons – you can use it in any way you like unless you give credits to The Rectangles
      by mentioning the authors or linking the site therectangles.com.