🧭 Identify Value Goals

Discover → Research → Value Goals

What this stage is about

Before building anything, you need to agree on what success looks like. Value goals define the outcomes your product should achieve — outcomes that matter to your users, your team, and your business. These goals are your North Star. Without them, it's easy to drift or focus on features that don’t create impact.

What you’ll learn

✅ How to define goals that align with real user needs

✅ The difference between outputs (what you build) and outcomes (what changes)

✅ How to write goals that are measurable and achievable

✅ Techniques to get team and stakeholder alignment

✅ When and how to revisit your value goals as things change

Tools and methods

🧭 Value Proposition Canvas – clarify customer jobs, pains, and gains

📐 SMART Goals – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound

🗺 Impact Mapping – connect features to meaningful outcomes

📊 QFD Analysis – rank what delivers the most value

⚖️ MoSCoW Prioritisation – Must / Should / Could / Won’t

⚠️ Common mistakes to avoid

  • Defining vague goals like “make users happy”
  • Focusing only on outputs (e.g. "launch app") instead of outcomes (e.g. "reduce onboarding time by 50%")
  • Skipping team input — goals made in isolation often fail
  • Ignoring feasibility or resourcing when setting goals
  • Treating goals as fixed rather than evolving documents

💡 Pro insights

“Our best features came from clearly understanding what users needed to achieve — not what they said they wanted.”

— Head of Product, HealthTech startup

🔍 Tip: Run a cross-functional session. Let marketing, sales, ops, and engineers weigh in. You’ll surface assumptions and spot blockers.

📅 Tip: Revisit your goals after interviews and tests. Tweaking goals isn’t failure — it’s smart iteration.

🔗 Related activities

📥 Download

📝 Download: Value Goals Worksheet (.docx)

Filename: IEN02.1-Identify-Value-Goals-Worksheet.docx

Includes templates for:

  • SMART goals
  • Stakeholder value table
  • MoSCoW goal ranking
  • Output vs Outcome checklist

💬 Need help defining value goals?

We offer expert facilitation and coaching to guide you through the process.

Contact our team → Let’s define success, together.

Scroll to Top