The Customer Forces Canvas [Updated]
Published in
2 min readOct 20, 2017
Here’s an updated version of the Customer Forces Canvas that I first introduced here:
What changed?
Two new boxes and some title tweaks for clarity:
- Added a box for the Old Solution
Helps identify what (if anything) customer switched away from. - Renamed Existing Alternatives to Consideration Set, and Current Solution to New Solution
Timeline is now much clearer to visualize. Top left boxes describe old state (solution that was fired). Top right boxes describe new state (solution that was hired). - Added a box for Actual Outcome
Makes it easier to contrast customer’s desired outcomes at outset to what actually happened.
When to use this canvas?
- During Problem Interviews to understand existing alternatives (competition).
- After user signup/upgrade to understand what they were doing before and how/why they hired your product.
- After some usage with your product to understand friction you need to reduce/eliminate.
- After user cancelation/downgrade to understand why they fired your product and where are they going next.
