INNOVATION TEMPLATES

Description
Similar to the customer persona, the empathy map helps to better picture your target customers. Compared to the customer profile, it is however even more focused on a deep understanding of the customer. The empathy map is all about being empathic with the customer.

How to use the framework
Go out and talk to your customers. Build empathy by understanding their daily routines, their habits and their thoughts. Observe them in their environment and listen closely to them. The most obvious parts to observe is what customers do and say. To find out what they hear, see, think and feel you need to be very open to get to know the customers. Ask them how they feel in specific situations and let them tell stories without Interrupting them. Ask for example "when was the last time you did..". Ask follow up questions like "What did you feel in that situation? What did you think? What struck you as surprising?"

Description
A customer persona is a fictional character that represents a specific target segment. Personas are built based on customer research and should help to understand customers better.

How to use this template
Go out and learn about your customers (e.g. with a design thinking approach). Cluster your findings and create customer personas from them.
A customer personal can include a lot of different information and the kind of information that is important also depends on your specific target group.
Some data you might want to include is some demographic data (e.g. age, gender, salary, education, job). While this might be relatively easy to find out, it is even more important to understand customers in terms of their behaviors (e.g. What do they like to do? How do they spend their time? How do they address specific issues?), their goals and also their pains.

Description
Trends have a huge influence on possible innovation, both in a negative and in a positive way. Trend mapping enables you to be aware of different trends and helps you to include them in your innovation strategy. Use the trend map to see potential barriers but also as a source of inspiration. Consider first using the trend profile template.

How to use the template
1. Review the predefined categories and decide whether some are not relevant for your business or whether others are missing.
2. Use the trend profiles you already filled out or start by defining specific trends (based on customer and expert insights and market research)
3. Have a brainstorming session in your team to discuss the different trends and to assess how quickly a trend will have an impact (1-5 years; 5-10 years; >10 years?).
4. Plot the trends into the trend map.

Description
Especially in markets that are already saturated or where competition is increasing, it is key to identify opportunities for differentiation.

How to use the template
1. Get customer feedback regarding both how satisfied they are with each of your products and services and how important they are to them.
2. Get Customer feedback regarding their needs.
3. Rate the different products and services you offer, according to customer satisfaction (1-10) and importance for the customer (1-10).
4. Plot your products in the opportunity map.
5. Evaluate where customer needs are under- or overserved and define actions to be taken.

If you have various customer segments, consider doing the same exercise for customer segments instead of products and services: which target customers are the most important and which ones are the most satisfied? Which customer segments are under- or overserved?

Why are trends important?

‍In order to build sustainable innovation, it is crucial to not only be aware of different trends but analyze them in detail and evaluate their potential impact on your market.

A trend can be initiated by ideas, ideologies or actions and changes over time. It is thereby key to remember that no matter if you are looking at trends in marketing, in technology or in terms of certain products, it is people who drive trends! Part of a trend is therefore to understand what many people want and like and how they picture the future.

Trends are a crucial source and at the same time a reliable indicator of change. If you monitor trends closely, they will give you warnings about what is happening in a market and might give you indication of how you need to adapt your business to stay competitive.

Use this template to understand all the relevant trends.

Description
Drawing value curves of your own value proposition and the ones of competitors enables you to take decisions which features should be focused on. The value curves are drawn from the perspective of a specific customer segment and what they perceive as valuable.

How to use this template
1. Select a specific target group and the value proposition you offer them. The vertical axis shows the level of perceived value by your target group.
2. Define criteria that are important to your target group (between five and ten criteria)
3. Evaluate your value proposition with the chosen criteria and score it (e.g. 1-5 or 1-10). Draw your own value proposition as a line in the canvas and be honest about the features where you don't provide a high customer value.
4. Evaluate, score and draw 1-2 competing value propositions (can also be substitutes from different industries).
5. Analyze where your value proposition is stronger and where it is weaker than competitors. Which elements should you focus on in the future? How do you best address customer needs? Are there new criteria that you add to different yourself?

Description
The test card is a tool to keep track of hypotheses you have, design experiments to test those hypotheses and run the tests. This will help you to base decisions not just on believes and assumptions but on actual data.

How to use the template
1. Fill out the test card by (1) stating your hypothesis, (2) explaining the experiment you want to conduct to test the hypothesis, (3) defining clear metrics of what will be measured in the experiment and (4) what the exact outcome needs to be to prove or disprove the hypothesis.
2. Do this exercise for all the hypotheses you have and consider having several experiments and test cards for the same hypothesis, to increase reliability of the tests.
3. Prioritize your test cards and start with the experiments that are easy to implement and costs little (don't invest a lot early because easy tests might already lead you into new directions)
4. Conduct experiments and use learning cards for each experiment

Description
A business model describes how an organization creates, captures and delivers value. The Business Model Canvas helps to give a shared understanding of which elements to discuss when talking about business models. The nine building blocks are focused around the two core topics of the company's value proposition and the target customer.

How to use the template
It makes sense to start with the two core elements "value proposition" and "customer segments" and build everything around that.

Customer Segments: For whom are we creating value? Who are our most important customers? Are we addressing a mass or a niche market? How segmented is the market?

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Value Propositions: What value do we offer? Which customer problems do we solve and how? What are the most important features?

Channels: Through which channels do we reach our customers? Which different channels are needed for raising awareness, selling and delivering our products, or offering after sales services?

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Customer Relationships: Which relationships do we have with our customers and what do they expect? How automated or personalized is the relationship? What is the relationship between different customers?

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Revenue Streams: For what do customers pay and for what are they actually willing to pay? How do customers want to pay? How do different revenue streams come together?

Key Resources: Which resources are needed to offer our value proposition? (Tangible, intangible, human and financial resources)

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Key Activities: Which activities are required to offer our value proposition?

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Key Partnerships: Which key resources are we acquiring from partners? Which key activities do partners perform? Who are our partners?

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Cost Structure: What are the different fixed and variable costs in our business model? Which resources and activities cost the most and how much?

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Description
‍The Value Proposition Canvas looks at two of the building blocks from the Business Model Canvas. The tool can be used both to improve existing value propositions, or create new ones. On the left side is the Value Proposition, which describes the proposed value of your business model in detail. On the right side, the Customer Segment Profile describes the specific target customer.

How to use the template
‍Fill out the Value Proposition Canvas to the best of your abilities. Then go out and talk to the target customer to refine it.

Customer Segment
Customer Jobs: What are customers trying to get done in their work or in their life? This doesn't only include functional jobs (e.g. driving from A to B) but also social jobs (e.g. gaining a good reputation) or personal jobs (e.g. achieving peace of mind or feeling more safe).
Customer Pains: What do the customers not like? What problems do they have? What obstacles are in their way to get certain jobs done?
Customer Gains: What are the outcomes customers aspire? What does the customer expect from a value proposition?

Value Proposition
Products and Services: List all the products and services your value proposition includes and how relevant they are.
Pain Relievers: How does your value proposition address and solve specific customer pains?
Gain Creators: How does your value proposition enhance or create specific customer gains

In the end, your value proposition and your customer segment need to fit together! Otherwise either side needs to be realigned.

Description
In order to structure feedback from different stakeholders, the feedback grid is a great tool. Whenever you receive feedback, try to structure it with the help of the feedback grid to draw conclusions and make use of the input.

How to use the template
To fill out the feedback grid four types of questions can be asked:
What do you like about the concept?
What could be improved? / What should be changed?
What remains unclear?
What other ideas do you have?

Instead of using these questions, it is often a great possibility to just show customers a prototype of a concept (can just be a drawing on a piece of paper or a mock-up) and let them interact with the prototype. You will be able to observe what they like, what they don't like, what they don't understand and what creative ideas they have to add to the prototype. Observe the stakeholders, ask follow up questions and fill in the feedback grid with what you heard.