How they buy: the full life cycle use case
You now know who and what hurts. Next: how do they deal with it today?
The full life cycle use case is the customer's whole journey with the problem, not just the moment they use your product. How do they realise they have the problem? How do they find options? How do they analyse and choose? How do they acquire, install, use and get value? How do they pay? What makes them buy more, or tell someone?
Most founders design for the middle, use the product, and get killed at the ends: discovery, purchase, and referral. Map the ends.
Draw it as it is, not as you wish
This is an as-is map built from the interviews you just did, one row per actor if several people are involved in the decision. A payroll change might touch the HR manager, the payroll specialist and the employee, and they realise, choose and pay in different places. The as-is map is where the pain shows up as duplicated steps, waiting, workarounds, and money spent on substitutes.
The to-be map comes later, in Module 4, after you know what you are proposing. Doing to-be first is how teams design a product for a journey nobody takes.
What to look for
- Where does the customer spend money today? That is your price anchor.
- Where does time get lost? That is your value proposition.
- Who says yes, who pays, and who uses? If they are three people, you have three onboardings.
- What triggers the search for a solution? That is your acquisition moment.
The payroll app map
A teaching example I use in the workshop: a small-business payroll tool. Three actors. The HR manager realises there is a problem when an employee complains about a wrong payslip. The payroll specialist finds options by asking the accountant, and analyses them by trying free trials on a Friday afternoon. The employee only meets the product when the first correct payslip arrives.
Three rows, three moments of value, three different reasons to churn. The product that wins is the one that makes the payroll specialist's Friday shorter, because that is the person who chose it.
As-is customer journey
One row per actor. Fill from your interviews, not from imagination. Mark with an asterisk every cell you are guessing.
| Actor | How they realise the problem | How they find and choose options | How they acquire, use and get value | How they pay | Why they buy more or tell others | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | ||||||
| 3 |
Tick only what is true. Nobody is grading this. The next module assumes it.