Business Model Canvas for Use Case Ideation

Why to use?

Ideate use cases of analytics & AI for improving the business model.

When to use?

In the Business Understanding phase to analyze the (current or future) business model of the (client) company and then to ideate analytics & AI use cases that improve the business with respect to the given workshop objective. It also helps to get clarity on which application domains data, analytics and AI have the most leverage for improvement.

How to use?

I. Preparation

① Fill the canvas ...

a) Header: Label Focus on with a white sticky note defining the business model. Do NOT mix multiple business models but select one, e.g. current vs. future, B2C vs. B2B, countries etc.

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

• Green sticky notes: "Existing element"

• Yellow sticky notes: "Planned element"

• Red sticky notes: "Missing element"

• Blue sticky notes: "Use case idea: problem / question, solution or benefit"

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

II. Business Model Analysis

(2-10) Fill in the boxes in the numbered order with the key elements of the business model. Use green sticky notes for existing, red for missing, and yellow for planned or in-progress elements. Discuss, structure and group the sticky notes so that all participants have a consistent and deep business understanding. Also, focus on the critical business elements and sort out unimportant sticky notes: right canvas edge under Sorted Out.

Tip: To save time, it is sometimes sufficient to fill in only the left or only the right side, for example, if the focus is on optimising internal processes and resources or on improving customer relations.

III. Use Case Ideation

For each business element think of how analytics & AI could help to improve it. There are three ways to come up with an idea for an use case:

i. Problem-oriented: What unresolved problems or unanswered questions are there regarding the element? Write the problem or question on a blue sticky note next with the prefix "Problem:" to the sticky note for the element.

ii. Solution-oriented: What potential solutions could improve the element? Add a blue sticky note with the prefix "Solution:" for the solution.

iii. Benefit-oriented: What benefits are desired for the element? Attach a blue sticky note with the prefix "Benefit:" for the benefit to the element.

IV. Use Case Clustering

Check for and eliminate duplicates. Group similar use case ideas into application domains and name the cluster: add a blue sticky note, write the domain name on it and underline it. Alternatively, use tags to cluster the use cases.

V. Use Case Prioritization

Have participants vote on the impact of each use case idea with regard to the workshop objective, by asking themselves:

• If this problem were solved or this question answered, ...

• If we had this solution in use, ...

• If we could achieve this benefit, ...

... how much would it help us to achieve the objective?

Tip: It has proved successful that the participants award 3 points, whereby they are allowed to put a maximum of 2 points on one sticky note.

VI. Next Steps

Count the votes of the use case ideas of a group (application domain) and select the domain with the most total votes. A possible next step is to determine the analytical maturity of this application domain and develop an analytics roadmap for the implementation of the use cases within this domain. Therefore copy all the relevant blue sticky notes (use case idea) to the Sort in fields on the left edge of the Analytics & AI Maturity canvas.

Tip: As office work, participants can document the use case ideas in a use case catalogue.

References:

A: Copy the blue sticky notes (use cases) to the Sort in box of the Analytics & AI Maturity canvas to then evaluate them based on their requiered maturity stage.

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Copyright: All rights reserved by Datentreiber GmbH. For more workshop templates, transformation tools, and canvas tutorials, visit our Data & AI Business Design Bench. The Data & AI Business Design Bench requires a commercial licence per user per year. For more information, please contact Georg Arens via Email or make an appointment via Calendly.