Product Strategy Canvas

[Product Name] Designed for: Date:

Tip: Feel free to fill this canvas in any order. Strategy is an integrated set of choices that reinforce each other.

VISION CONSTRAINTS RELATIVE COSTS GROWTH & MARKETING CAPABILITIES

How will we communicate it to the
What do we optimize for?
How do I inspire people to get up every customers? What story and emotions
day and come to work? does it tell? What competencies do we need?
Low cost (e.g., Southwest Airlines)?
Are there any constraints, e.g.,
Start with something simple. How do we want to grow? Is it PLG, or a What resources do we need?
geographic? Unique Value (e.g., Starbucks)?
Sales-Led Growth. Do we rely on Social
Your vision will evolve with other elements Media, SEO? Do we need sales partners? Do we need suppliers?
Low costs might, but they do not
of the strategy.
necessarily mean having low prices.
How will we measure the success?

MARKET VALUE PROPOSITION UNIQUE ACTIVITIES SUPPORTING SYSTEMS

Define a set of distinct activities in
Are there any systems required to support
creating, producing, marketing, and
this strategy and our choices?
delivering your product.

The market is defined by the problems people have. For example, IKEA’s market: people What do we need to communicate the
For IKEA: flat packs, warehouses attached
strategy?
that want to get high-quality home furnishings at low prices. to the stores, in-store restaurants, delivery
How can we solve our customer’s outsourced to the customers, etc.
How can we measure that the strategy is
problems? working (the desired outcomes)?
Within the market, there are groups of people with similar, more specific needs/jobs, Tesla: no traditional marketing.
goals, and success metrics. How can we do it significantly better than
our competitors?

What are the customer's problems (needs, jobs) worth solving (low satisfaction, high What’s unique about our value
TRADE OFFS ASK YOURSELF
importance)? proposition?
Tradeoffs define what NOT to do.
Will customers say, "I'd be delighted to What makes us think competitors can’t or
Why do we want to compete in this market, not others? Have we analyzed Porter’s 5 pay more. This is special"? won’t copy my strategy?
IKEA doesn't sell assembled furniture and
forces? Do we know TAM, SAM, SOM, Average Annual Growth Rate, ARPU, Average CAC, limits available choices (e.g., materials).
Do different elements of the strategy fit
and Average Churn Rate? and reinforce each other?
Tradeoffs create focus, amplify the value
and make the strategy hard to copy for
What needs to be true for this strategy to
others without sacrificing their existing
work? How can we test it?
businesses.

26th Jan, 2023 Ⓒ Paweł Huryn

How to work with the Product Strategy Canvas?
1. Discovering the market:
a. [Book] The Lean Product Playbook
b. [Book] Jobs-to-Be-Done
2. Analyzing the market and the business
environment:
a. [Framework] Porter’s Five Forces
b. [Framework] PESTEL Analysis
c. [Framework] SWOT Analysis
3. Creating Value Proposition:
a. [Book] The Lean Product Playbook
b. [Book] Value Proposition Design
4. Testing Value Proposition:
a. [Book] The Lean Product Playbook
b. [Book] Testing Business Ideas
5. Analyzing Unique Activities:
a. [Framework] Value Chain Analysis
6. Growth strategies:
a. [Framework] Ansoff Matrix
7. Analyzing strategy (Porter’s fit test):
a. [Framework] McKinsey 7S Framework
8. All Frameworks: LinkedIn article
Notes
1. The Product Strategy Canvas is based primarily on the work of Michael Porter and Martin Roger, in particular
Understanding Michael Porter and Playing to Win.
2. In Bad Strategy & Good Strategy Richard Rumelt suggested that strategy should contain Coherent Actions. I
decided to exclude them, as this is not in line with Porter’s and Roger’s definitions. Strategy is an integrated
set of choices, not a plan, and not a set of activities.
3. In Product, we tend to split Product Vision and Product Strategy. But I feel convinced by Martin Roger - you
need to define your vision ("Winning Aspiration") together with the other elements of the Strategy, not one
after another.
4. Business Model (how exactly you make money) is not a strategy. Strategy informs you about your relative
costs and revenues. We can say that the Business Model emerges from the Strategy. Both are important.
5. Unique Value Proposition alone is not a Strategy. In my opinion, The Blue Ocean Strategy Canvas is not a
Strategy Canvas. This is supported by Porter’s and Roger’s work.

Editable PPTX & more PM templates: https://huryn.substack.com/p/templates

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