Analytics & AI Use Case Canvas

Why to use?

Design a user-centric analytical / AI solution for a specific use case.

When to use?

Suppose you already have an idea for a analytics / AI use case or application. In that case, this canvas is designed to help you identify the application's intended users, understand their (information) needs, design a solution from the user's perspective, and verify that the solution effectively solves their pains and gains (problem-solution-fit).

How to use?

I. Preparation

① Fill the header and footer:

a) Label Focus on in the canvas header with a white sticky note with the name of the use case / application idea.

b) Add a legend to the footer with sticky notes in the corresponding color:

• Green sticky notes: "Gain"

• Red sticky notes: "Pain"

• Blue sticky notes: "User / solution element"

• White sticky notes: "Critical assumption or open question"

II. User Needs Analysis

② User (& Situation): Brainstorm the potential users (or to be precise: user roles) of this use case / application and note the user names (e.g., role, job title, position etc.) on blue sticky notes. Discuss and / or vote on the proposals: who will contribute most to the achievement of the workshop's objective by using the application? If there are several plausible users, decide on one and deal with the others at a later time. Alternatively, split into groups and work on one user case each. If the application only makes sense for the user in a specific situation, add this information to the blue sticky note and focus on the user in this situation in the following.

References:

A: Check the End Users, Economic Buyers & Decision Makers box of the Business Model / Case canvas for potential users.

B: Use the Stakeholder Analysis canvas to analyze the stakeholders and identify users.

C: Apply the Priority Matrix canvas with the dimensions Number of users and Benefit for the users to compare and prioritize different user groups.

③ Objectives & Results: List the user's objectives and (key) results (for this situation) as blue sticky notes. Where possible, connect them with arrows to show which results contribute to which objectives. The outcome resembles a (value / KPI) driver tree.

Tip: Check if the user has any associated OKR Set, KPI Dictionary or Balanced Scorecard.

④ Decisions & Actions: Think about, what decisions can the user make and what actions should the user take to achieve the objectives and results? Add a blue sticky note for each decision / action. Connect the decisions and actions with arrows to sketch the user's workflow. Also add arrows from the actions to the results and from the results to the actions (i.e., close the feedback loop).

Tip: Check for process flowcharts but be aware that those might be outdated, incomplete or incorrect.

References:

D: Sketch a (value) driver tree using the Cause and Effect canvas to identify Objectives & Results.

F: Visualize and analyze a specific user workflow or business process with the Value Chain canvas.

G: Look for Activities that are related to the user on the Business Model / Case canvas.

⑤a) Gains & b) Pains: Put yourself in the user's perspective and think about what pains the user might have or what gains the user would like to have. Add red or green sticky notes next to the blue sticky note (decision, action, result or objective) that is associated with the respective pain or gain. Avoid reformulating pains as gains by negating them and vice versa.

Tip: Especially for pains, ask five times "Why?" to get a deep problem understanding. What is the cause of the problem? What is the consequence of the problem?

Tip: If there are too many green and red sticky notes, focus on the critical pains and gains and move the others sticky notes to the Sorted out fields on the right edge. Optionally, hold a vote to assess the impact of each pain and gain.

References:

H: To apply the 5 Whys method you could use the Cause and Effect canvas.

I : Use the Priority Matrix canvas with the dimensions Impact and Likelihood to guesstimate the criticality of the pains.

III. Solution Design

⑥ Solutions: In the first iteration think about different solutions variants and note them on blue sticky notes. These might include alternative solutions or different versions and extensions of a solution. Choose one variant to focus on, either by vote or through a decision maker's authority, and relocate the others to the Sorted out area on the right edge of the canvas.

In the second iteration, concretize your chosen solution variant by adding new blue sticky notes to specify:

a) Information: metrics, KPIs, facts etc. Check the pains & gains for information needs: What information does the user need?

b) Functions: buttons, visualizations, alerts, triggers etc. Check the Decisions & Actions box: What should happen with the information and what actions should follow from it?

Tip: Encourage the users to sketch the desired user interface as wireframes e.g. on a whiteboard or flipchart.

IV. Problem-Solution-Fit Check

⑦ Benefits: For each piece of information and function, derive and articulate the specific benefit to the user and note this on a blue sticky note. Connect each information piece or function to its respective benefit using an arrow.

Tip: Use click dummies and mockups to test the user acceptance with real users.

⑧ Check: Examine each benefit against the corresponding gain & pain, objective & result or decision & action noted on the right side. The benefit should create this gain, solve this pain, deliver this result, achieve this objective, facilitate this decision or support this action. Validate this connections by checkmarking (✔️) the benefit as well as the gain & pain, objective & result or the decision & action.

When done, remove all benefits without checkmark (✔️) and all information and functions without a benefit to design a "Minimum Desired Product". Ensure that this product addresses the majority of critical gains and pains. If it does not, reconsider and test an alternative solution from the Sorted out area.

Tip: Create copies of the canvas to check and test an alternative solution from the Sorted out area.

VI. Next Steps

If you found a desired solution, copy all information sticky notes to the Data Product(s) box on the Data Monetization canvas. Change the color to green, if the information is already available, red if it is missing, and yellow if it is already in the work.

Reference:

J : Use the Value Curve canvas to compare your solution against existing ones, identifying what differentiates your product from those of your competitors.

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