Fictional products, explicit choices.
These exercises demonstrate structure. Patchwork and Intake Lane are invented products; no customer results or market demand are implied. You can load either into the builder and edit every field.
Fictional teaching example 1
Patchwork
Product name: Patchwork Audience: small software teams managing customer-reported bugs Audience need: Give support a reliable answer on what has been fixed. Category: issue tracking software for support-to-engineering handoffs Value promise: Support knows which customers to notify when a bug is fixed. Alternative or competitor: a shared spreadsheet and chat threads Key difference: Each customer report stays linked to its engineering ticket and resolution.
Why these choices fit: The audience is defined by a handoff, not just team size. The value is knowing whom to notify; linking each report to its resolution is the capability that enables it.
What to investigate: An existing tracker integration may already solve the handoff. Observe how support follows up before proposing a separate tool.
Adapt PatchworkFictional teaching example 2
Intake Lane
Product name: Intake Lane Audience: independent consultants with repeat client projects Audience need: Collect the right documents before a project starts. Category: client intake software Value promise: Consultants can see which documents are missing before kickoff. Alternative or competitor: email checklists Key difference: Each client uses one shared checklist with a visible status for every request.
Why these choices fit: The audience repeats the same intake task across projects. A visible checklist status turns scattered email requests into a clear view of what is missing.
What to investigate: A shared checklist may be sufficient. Find out how often missing documents delay work and what consultants already do to prevent it.
Adapt Intake LaneThe same product, focused on the customer.
Fictional teaching example · Patchwork
Product name: Patchwork Audience: small software teams managing customer-reported bugs Category: issue tracking software for support-to-engineering handoffs Customer struggle: Support loses track of customer reports after handing them to engineering. Desired outcome: Support can tell the right customers when their reported bug is fixed.
Audience: small software teams. Benefit: support knows whom to follow up with. Alternative and difference: left out by this framework; the Compare draft above makes them explicit. Limit: a clear struggle and outcome do not establish that the proposed solution is preferred.
Adapt the Focus draftRead public messaging with care.
The short quotations below come from company websites. The draft statements and annotations are our editorial interpretations, not official company positioning statements. Sources were observed on ; public messaging can change.
Loom
Sourced homepage quotation
“One video is worth a thousand words”
Loom homepage · observed 1 October 2026
Editorial interpretation
For teams explaining work across locations, Loom offers video messaging that lets people share recorded context without having to explain everything live.
- Audience
- Teams communicating with colleagues and customers.
- Alternative
- A live explanation or a long written update (our inferred comparison).
- Benefit
- Recorded visual context that another person can watch later.
- Difference
- Screen and camera recording, sharing and in-video collaboration are visible capabilities. Uniqueness against competitors is not established.
- Limitations
- This interpretation narrows a broader homepage. The alternative and audience priority are our analysis; the source does not disclose an internal positioning strategy.
Slack
Sourced homepage quotation
“It all starts with a channel.”
Slack homepage · observed 1 October 2026
Editorial interpretation
For teams coordinating work, Slack offers a conversational workspace that brings people, shared knowledge and workflows together in channels.
- Audience
- Teams coordinating with colleagues and external partners.
- Alternative
- Email and scattered conversations (an editorial interpretation, supported in part by the site’s email comparison).
- Benefit
- Shared context around ongoing work.
- Difference
- Channels, search and connected workflows appear together in the offer. Their presence is not proof of a unique competitive advantage.
- Limitations
- Slack’s public story includes AI and a wider platform. This teaching interpretation isolates collaboration; it is not a complete account of the company’s positioning.
Borrow the structure, then replace the assumptions.
Pick the fictional example closest to your situation. Replace its audience and alternative first, then its value promise. Keep a separate note of what you can demonstrate and what still needs a customer conversation.
For the full sequence, follow the Patchwork walkthrough. A useful example helps you notice missing decisions; it does not supply your evidence.
Put the decisions into words.
Use your own inputs to make a working draft. Then test its assumptions with prospective customers.
Open the free builder