Turning Insight into Impact: The Value Proposition Canvas
From Journeys to Propositions
Journey Mapping showed us how customers experience our services: the frustrations, the friction points, and the moments that matter. But seeing the journey was only the first step.
The real challenge was translating those insights into something sharper: a clear, credible value proposition that aligned what customers truly needed with what we could deliver.
That’s where the Value Proposition Canvas came in.
Why the Framework Matters
Developed by Alexander Osterwalder and the Strategyzer team, the Value Proposition Canvas zooms in on two key blocks of the Business Model Canvas:
Customer Profile: their jobs, pains, and gains.
Value Map: your products, services, pain relievers, and gain creators.
Its strength lies in the discipline it forces. It asks uncomfortable but essential questions:
Are we building around what customers genuinely value, or around what we assume they value?
For executives, the implications go beyond marketing or design. A business that understands its true value propositions makes sharper choices about where to compete, what to invest in, and how to differentiate.
A Real-World Example: Supporting a Global Navy
The first time I applied the framework was while developing a proposition to provide global support for a navy. At stake was a competitive bid, but the goal was bigger. I wanted a solution that could scale, credibly, to other customers in the future.
We started with the Customer Profile, mapping both the end users (maintainers and operators) and the owner-operators (command). Their jobs were clear: keep complex warships operationally available, wherever they deployed.
Customer jobs: deploy with the right capability, sustain on operations, receive planned and unplanned support globally, even if operational plans shifted mid-deployment.
Pains: uncertainty about support availability, complex planning, disruption during operations, difficulty diagnosing and repairing onboard.
Gains: confidence in ship availability, reliability of support, simplicity in planning, flexibility to adapt when things changed.
We then built the Value Map, aligning our offer to those needs:
Pain relievers: improved maintenance planning, optimised onboard spares, remote diagnostics
Gain creators: empowered onboard maintainers, fly-away field engineers, partnerships with local shipyards and OEMs to provide global coverage.
The result wasn’t just a stronger bid. It became a foundation for a scalable model of global naval support: credible, flexible, and proven.
Strategic Impact: Beyond One Bid
What began as a tool for sharpening a single proposition reshaped our strategic approach. We realised we didn’t need to do everything ourselves. By forming partnerships with OEMs and global shipyards, we created a service model that was more flexible and credible for true global support.
For leadership, the Value Proposition Canvas became more than a design aid. It became a framework for strategic choice:
Which propositions to double down on, because they were scalable and differentiated;
Which to exit, because they drained resources without creating real value; and
Where to partner, because collaboration delivered stronger outcomes than going it alone.
Cultural and Human Shifts
There was resistance. The traditional model - sending our own people wherever they were needed globally - was familiar and trusted.
But the Value Proposition Canvas gave us a new language: thinking about what the customer sees, thinks, and feels. That language helped teams reframe their perspective.
Over time, the changes were significant:
Multi-skilled field service engineers instead of narrow trade roles;
Remote support and diagnostics to reduce reliance on physical presence;
Partnerships with local yards and OEMs for greater global reach;
Reduced carbon emissions through fewer global deployments; and
New career pathways for our people.
Most importantly, the availability of ships increased. None of this happened overnight, but the conversations sparked by value proposition mapping set the trajectory through transformation.
Lessons Learned and Common Traps
The biggest trap is treating the Value Proposition Canvas as a one-off workshop. Teams fill in the boxes, declare alignment, and then return to business as usual. Its power lies in being a living tool - one that is tested, refined, and used to challenge assumptions over time.
Three reflection questions for leaders:
Which parts of our offer is assumption-based rather than evidence-based?
Where do our value propositions overlap, creating complexity without differentiation?
If we stopped delivering one element tomorrow, would the customer really miss it?
Closing Reflection
Technical excellence matters. But loyalty and growth come from fit - from propositions that credibly solve customer problems while playing to organisational strengths.
What would it mean if your next strategy review began not with financial targets, but with a tested, evidence-based map of how you truly create value?
👉 In the next article, I’ll explore the Business Model Canvas: showing how multiple value propositions knit together into a coherent strategy on a single page.
