The

 Product/Market  Fit  Canvas    

Quick  Guide  

www.productmarke<itcanvas.com  
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Index  of  content  
 
1.  IntroducAon  

2.  How  to  use  it  

3.  Some  examples  

4.  Key  differences  &  benefits  

www.productmarke<itcanvas.com  
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 IntroducAon  
The  Product/Market  Fit  (PMF)  Canvas  is  a  strategic  innovaAon  tool.  It  allows  you  to  
define,   validate   and   reach   your   customers.   It   also   allows   you   to   define   and   iterate  
your  product  to  achieve  market  valida3on  with  you  product.    

You   can   use   the   canvas   to   iterate   your   Product/Market   Fit   with   your   team,   your  
investors,  your  clients  or  even  with  students  for  educa3onal  purposes.  

The  canvas  was  created  by  over  150  lean  startup  prac33oners  from  over  25  countries  
around   the   World   using   an   open-­‐innova3on   process.   The   canvas   is   being   licensed  
using  a  crea3ve  commons  so  that  anybody  can  use  it.  Just  be  sure  to  link  back  to  the  
official   website   www.productmarke<itcanvas.com   aVer   each   use,   and   share   your  
work  under  a  similar  license.  

www.productmarke<itcanvas.com  
This  work  is  licensed  under  the  Crea3ve  Commons  A7ribu3on-­‐Share  Alike  3.0  Unported  License.  To  view  a  copy  of  this  license,  visit:  h7p://
crea3vecommons.org/licenses/by-­‐sa/3.0/  or  send  a  le7er  to  Crea3ve  Commons,  171  Second  Street,  Suite  300,  San  Francisco,  California,  94105,  USA  
How  to  use  it  
The   Product/Market   Fit   Canvas   has   eight   building   blocks,   four   focused   on   the  
Customer  and  four  focused  on  the  Product.  

Customer’s  Blocks  
•  CharacterisAcs  &  jobs  to  be  done:  WHO  is  the  typical  customer  for  your  product/
service  and  what  job(s)  is  he/she  trying  to  get  done?  

•  Problems  &  needs:  WHY  do  your  customers  need  to  use  your  product/service  in  
order  to  get  their  job(s)  done.  

•  Channel:  HOW  do  your  customers  acquire  your  products/services?  

•  User   experience:   WHAT   does   your   customer   do   with   the   product   to   get   real  
value?  

Product’s  Blocks  
•  AlternaAves:   The   approach(es)   your   customer   is   currently   taking   to   get   their  
job(s)  done,  including  the  tools  they  are  using.  

•  Key   features:   The   essen3al   elements   that   your   product   or   service   must   have   to  
meet  your  customersʼ  needs  and  solve  their  problem.  

•  Value  for  the  channel:  The  value  your  channel  will  get  by  offering  and  selling  your  
product.  

•  Key  metrics:  The  key  things  to  measure  to  know  if  your  customer  is  ge`ng  real  
value.  These  metrics  will  help  you  to  know  if  you've  achieved  Product-­‐Market  Fit  

www.productmarke<itcanvas.com  
This  work  is  licensed  under  the  Crea3ve  Commons  A7ribu3on-­‐Share  Alike  3.0  Unported  License.  To  view  a  copy  of  this  license,  visit:  h7p://
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How  to  use  it  
The   Product/Market   Fit   Canvas   doesn’t   define   any   parAcular   way   to   work   with   it.  
Each   person   can   use   it   however   he/she   wants.   However,   knowing   the   reasoning  
behind  the  design  of  the  PMF  Canvas  is  useful  to  understand.  

First  of  all,  it’s  important  to  know  that  the  canvas  is  designed  to  work  on  a  specific  
product  or  service,  not  to  iterate  an  abstract  value  proposi3on  or  establish  a  brand.  If  
we  want  to  work  on  the  value  proposi3on  or  branding  instead  of  a  specific  product  or  
service,  we  could  list  all  of  the  bundled  products/services  that  make  up  a  brand  in  the  
same   PMF   Canvas   (using   different   s3cky-­‐note   colors,   for   example).   Mapping   the  
en3re  scope  of  products  and  services  being  offered  to  customers  will  represent  a  map  
of  the  brand’s  value  proposi3on.    

The   Product-­‐Market   Fit   Canvas   follows   Simon   Sinek’s   well-­‐

known  approach  about  “Start  With  Why:  How  great  leaders  
inspire  acAon”1.  This  simple  but  powerful  model  starts  with  
a  golden  circle  and  the  ques3on  "Why  are  we  doing  this?”,  
followed  by  “How  will  do  it?”  and  finishing  with  “What  will  
do  it  in  order  to  achieve  it?”.    

The  Product-­‐Market  Fit  Canvas  asks  quesAons  about  a  specific  customer  on  the  le]  
side  and  answers  these  quesAons  using  the  blocks  on  the  right  side  by  focusing  on  a  
specific  product.  Star3ng  with  the  customer,  and  by  filling  in  the  blocks  from  the  leV  
to   right   and   from   top   to   bo7om,   we   will   follow   the   Start-­‐With-­‐Why   approach   in   a  
natural  way  to  discover  our  Product/Market  Fit.  

1  h7p://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_ac3on  

www.productmarke<itcanvas.com  
This  work  is  licensed  under  the  Crea3ve  Commons  A7ribu3on-­‐Share  Alike  3.0  Unported  License.  To  view  a  copy  of  this  license,  visit:  h7p://
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 How  to  use  it  
Empathizing  with  our  customer  can  be  done  by  analyzing  alternaAves  to  our  product  
or  service;  so  use  the  AlternaAves  block  to  help  us  to  think  about  the  other  op3ons  
that  your  customers  are  using  to  get  their  job(s)  done.    

Channels   is   a   key   element   for   achieving   Product/

Market  Fit  and  so  so  the  PMF  Canvas  includes  a  pair  
of   blocks   to   work   on   this.   Building   value   for   the  
channel   is   some3mes   a   key   challenge   we   must  
overcome  to  achieve  Product/Market  Fit.  

In  the  end,  Product/Market  Fit  is  about  measuring,  and  so  the  PMF  Canvas  also  has  a  
block   that   will   help   us   to   define   the   key   metrics   that   will   tell   us   whether   the  
customers  are  ge`ng  the  Customer  Experience  that  they  need.  

It’s  important  to  know  that  it’s  not  mandatory  to  fill  in  the  whole  canvas.  Actually,  
some   of   the   PMF   Canvas   won’t   need   to   be   fully   filled   in   due   to   a   lack   of   indirect  
channels,  early  product  defini3ons,  etc.  We  consider  the  first  four  blocks  as  the  core  
of  the  PMF  Canvas;  next  are  the  channel  blocks,  then  the  customer  experience  blocks.  

Characteris*cs+&+jobs+to+be+done+ Alterna*ves+

Problems+&+needs+ Key+features+
Core(Blocks(

Channel+ Value+for+the+channel+
Channels(Blocks(
User+experience+ Key+metrics+
UX(Blocks(

www.productmarke<itcanvas.com  
This  work  is  licensed  under  the  Crea3ve  Commons  A7ribu3on-­‐Share  Alike  3.0  Unported  License.  To  view  a  copy  of  this  license,  visit:  h7p://
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 Some  examples  
VISA  credit  card  for  Card  holder  

SAP  ERP  for  Corporates  

www.productmarke<itcanvas.com  
This  work  is  licensed  under  the  Crea3ve  Commons  A7ribu3on-­‐Share  Alike  3.0  Unported  License.  To  view  a  copy  of  this  license,  visit:  h7p://
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 Some  examples  
 
App   Store  for  iPhone  users  

Delivery  dog  food  service  for  Dog  owners  

www.productmarke<itcanvas.com  
This  work  is  licensed  under  the  Crea3ve  Commons  A7ribu3on-­‐Share  Alike  3.0  Unported  License.  To  view  a  copy  of  this  license,  visit:  h7p://
crea3vecommons.org/licenses/by-­‐sa/3.0/  or  send  a  le7er  to  Crea3ve  Commons,  171  Second  Street,  Suite  300,  San  Francisco,  California,  94105,  USA  
 Key  differences  &  benefits    
There   are   different   canvases   and   strategic   visualizaAon   tools   out   there   that   can   help  
us  to  define  our  business  model,  our  value  proposi3on,  our  customers  and  even  the  
customer   experience.   Deciding   which   toolset   to   use   is   a   ma7er   of   personal  
preference,  the  type  of  business,  project  phase,  and  other  individual  differences.  

Why  and  when  to  use  The  Product/Market  Fit  Canvas?  Here  are  some  answers:  

•  The  Product/Market  Fit  Canvas  helps  us  to  focus  on  our  customers’  problems  by  
asking  the  right  ques3ons  and  discovering  their  true  market  needs.    

•  The  Product/Market  Fit  Canvas  helps  us  to  empathize  with  our  customers  and  to  
analyze  compe3tors  even  before  trying  to  define  our  own  product  or  service.  

•  The  Product/Market  Fit  Canvas  is  very  useful  at  early  stages  of  our  project  to  help  
us  do  Customer  Discovery  and  Customer  ValidaAon  before  star3ng  to  define  the  
Business  Model  Canvas,  which  includes  elements  that  we  can’t  define  at  such  an  
early  phase  of  the  project,  such  as  Key  Partners.  

•  The   Product/Market   Fit   Canvas   defines   low-­‐level   features   of   our   product   to   help  
us   connect   business   teams   with   technical   teams.   The   first   is   doing   Customer  
Development  while  the  second  is  doing  Product  Development.  

•  The  Product/Market  Fit  Canvas  is  the  only  tool  that  helps  us  focus  on  the  unique  
value  for  each  of  our    channels,  which  is  a  key  element  of  achieving  PMF.  

•  The   Product/Market   Fit   Canvas   is   designed   to   measure   Product-­‐Market   Fit   by  

defining  the  key  metrics  that  measure  and  analyze  Customer  Experience.  

www.productmarke<itcanvas.com  
This  work  is  licensed  under  the  Crea3ve  Commons  A7ribu3on-­‐Share  Alike  3.0  Unported  License.  To  view  a  copy  of  this  license,  visit:  h7p://
crea3vecommons.org/licenses/by-­‐sa/3.0/  or  send  a  le7er  to  Crea3ve  Commons,  171  Second  Street,  Suite  300,  San  Francisco,  California,  94105,  USA