User Interaction Canvas

For smaller Jobs and specific interactive tasks & goals, it is helpful to lay out the conditions surrounding a person's effort; their considerations for doing (or not doing) something; and the outcomes they expect. Similar to the Value Proposition Canvas for achieving fit at a strategic level, the User Interaction Canvas helps create fit between particular features & value-adds of a product, and the moments of need they are intended to solve for. The moments that are most important for your customer to make progress will be reflected on your User Experience Map or Customer Journey Map as touchpoints.

Two important notes:

• This canvas is emphatically from the customer's point of view; it is not concerned with business outcomes or constraints.
• For larger JTBD that involve greater "switch forces," it will provide a starting point, but not necessarily all of the factors involved to effect a change in attitude or behavior.

Start by identifying the Goal or Job to be Done the user wishes to achieve in the upper-left. This could be a job they have on their own accord (internally motivated, like calculating a lower interest rate), or one that is placed upon them (externally motivated, such as completing a profile your product requires). Describe the Anticipated Outcome the customer wishes to have in the lower-right, in terms of their thoughts, feelings and actions, just as we would identify in a Journey Map.

Then move around the canvas. Acknowledge the Present Circumstance of the customer, what thoughts and emotional states they may be starting with; what they are or were previously doing. Outline core Features your product has at this touchpoint that enable the job to be done; consider the Motivations and Inhibitors to doing the job; and the Gain Creators and Pain Relievers that describe attributes or extensions of your core features, which will aid them in reaching the desired outcome. Lastly, include the Evidence that your product will offer when they have completed the job, and potentially lead them to the next step of the journey, just as your Service Blueprint does.

Remember, in UX you are always brokering value between the customer and business via touchpoints. These are opportunities to reinforce the value of your offering, or otherwise exhaust the attention, time, money or information a customer is willing to offer in order to keep using your product. The User Interaction Canvas can help keep the exchange equitable at least, and at best generate a new moment of value that keeps your customer engaged.