Lean UX Canvas vers. 1 - a clear guide to product discovery
Jeff Gothelf, a prominent figure in the UX field, has introduced the Lean UX Canvas as a structured approach for product discovery. This canvas, inspired by the principles of Lean UX, helps teams shift their focus from implementing solutions to solving business problems. The canvas guides teams through a process of identifying key assumptions underlying a business problem, formulating testable hypotheses based on these assumptions, and designing experiments to validate those hypotheses. This structured approach encourages a data-driven and iterative approach to product development, allowing teams to test and refine their understanding of user needs and market demands.
The Lean UX Canvas consists of distinct sections that guide the process. The first section focuses on defining the business problem and identifying core assumptions. The second section translates these assumptions into specific, testable hypotheses. Finally, the third section encourages teams to design experiments that aim to validate or invalidate the formulated hypotheses. By utilizing this canvas, teams can prioritize their efforts, focus on the riskiest assumptions, and gain valuable insights to drive informed product decisions. Gothelf encourages users to download and experiment with the canvas, inviting feedback to continuously refine and improve its effectiveness.
The Lean UX Canvas
(Lean UX Canvas V2 is now live and a brand new video showing how to use the Lean UX Canvas is now available.)
In most of my work these days I don’t often use an official canvas. I prefer to pick and choose the assumptions that can be found on the Business Model Canvas, Lean Canvas and others as appropriate for the client, project or initiative I’m working on and weave them together to form testable hypotheses and experimentation plans. Recently, I was asked by a client to codify some of the product discovery training we had worked on together. As our engagement was winding down I wanted to leave them with a clear, step-by-step guide to product discovery. To that end, I created The Lean UX Canvas.
This canvas codifies the process we first introduced in the Lean UX book. Today, I use this process to help teams frame their work as a business problem to solve (rather than a solution to implement) and then dissect that business problem into its core assumptions. We then weave those assumptions into hypotheses. Finally, we design experiments to test our riskiest hypotheses.
V1 of The Lean UX Canvas
I encourage you to download the PDF or the PNG (above) and try it out. Share it with your colleagues. See if it works for your teams. See where it struggles. I’d be grateful for your feedback either here in the comments or via email.
[Jeff]
Books
Jeff Gothelf’s books provide transformative insights, guiding readers to navigate the dynamic realms of user experience, agile methodologies, and personal career strategies.
Who Does What By How Much?
Lean UX
Sense and Respond
Lean vs. Agile vs. Design Thinking
Forever Employable