Product Development

Product-Market Fit Canvas

Connect target customers, unmet needs and your value proposition, then check whether the product really delivers it.

How to use this worksheet
  1. Work top-down: customer, need, value proposition, then features and UX. A feature without a need above it is a guess.
  2. Be explicit about evidence. Mark each answer as "known" (research, data) or "assumed".
  3. Compare with your closest competitor in the last section: where are you clearly better?
  4. List the assumptions you marked and test the riskiest first.
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Who are they, specifically? Demographics, role, situation.

Prompts and example

Ask yourself

  • What do they have in common?
  • Where do you find them?

Example

Operations managers in restaurants with 10 to 50 staff and rotating shifts.

Which needs do customers have that current solutions fail to meet well?

Prompts and example

Ask yourself

  • How important is each need, and how satisfied are customers today?
  • The gap between importance and satisfaction is your opportunity.

Example

- Plan a week in minutes (important, poorly served) - Avoid conflicts (important, poorly served) - Pretty reports (low importance)

Why would the target customer choose you over alternatives?

Prompts and example

Ask yourself

  • What do you do differently or better?
  • Which need does it address first?

Example

The fastest way to plan a week of shifts without conflicts: ten minutes instead of four hours.

The smallest set of features that delivers the value proposition.

Prompts and example

Ask yourself

  • Which feature does the value proposition depend on?
  • What can wait?

Example

MVP: drag-and-drop planner, conflict check. Later: swap requests, payroll export.

What should using it feel like? Where must it be effortless?

Prompts and example

Ask yourself

  • What does the first five minutes look like?
  • Where do users get stuck?

Example

First plan within 10 minutes of sign-up, no training. Staff can view shifts on a phone without an account.

How will customers find, try and adopt it?

Prompts and example

Ask yourself

  • What is the first channel to test?
  • How long from first contact to first value?

Example

Outreach to 50 restaurants, supplier newsletter, 14-day free trial.

What do customers use today, and how do you compare?

Prompts and example

Ask yourself

  • Who is the real competitor, including doing nothing?
  • Where are you clearly better, and where worse?

Example

Spreadsheets and group chat (free, familiar). Competitor A (full suite, 120 EUR/month). Better: speed and price. Worse: integrations.

Before you finish

About product-market fit

Product-market fit means a product satisfies a strong market demand. Marc Andreessen popularised the term; Dan Olsen's "Lean Product Playbook" turned it into a practical layered model: target customer, underserved needs, value proposition, feature set and user experience.

Use this worksheet to make your hypotheses explicit before measuring them with retention, usage and customer interviews.

Recommended reading

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