A value proposition is a summary of why a consumer should use a product or service. As a UX designer, you want to showcase your product to users and want them to immediately react in a way that they want your product. To have users react in this way, you should have a well defined value proposition built on your research using empathy maps, user stories, problem statements, and personas.
Value propositions help answer two important questions:
- What does your product do?
- Why should the user care?
Value Proposition Step 1
The first thing to do is to create a list of all the product features and benefits. You can be as detailed as possible because everything your product has to offer might seem obvious to you but maybe not to the consumer.
Value Proposition Step 2
The second thing to do is to explain the value of the product. The value of the product are main categories that will include the product features and benefits from step 1. Examples of product value categories include: Cost Savings, Reliable, or Accessible.
Value Proposition Step 3
The third thing to do is to connect features and benefits with your users (personas) who asked for those features and benefits. This step will allow you to actually see if you are creating a product users want or if you are creating a product nobody asked for.
Value Proposition Step 4
The last thing to do is to review the official final value proposition list from step 3. If you remove the items that your competitors also have, you will have a list of features and benefits that make your product stand out to users. If you find that no item stands out from your competition, you can go and read your competitors reviews from users and look at some of the lowest ratings. There you will usually find pain points other users experience that you can improve with your product.
The value proposition should be short, clear, and to the point. It should be a statement that easily allows users to see exactly why they need your product.