Value Mapping Starts by Recognizing its Key Aspects

Not much imagination is needed to think about value for a company. Mainly, it will circle increasing existing and new business, decreasing costs, or improving shareholder value, making the company more likely to thrive for a long time. A business survives based on those goals.

However, value for customers is way more diverse. Listing the possibilities would hurt any effort of uncovering them. Instead, it might be more helpful to understand four aspects of it:

Value is perception. What I believe is valuable might even be for customers as well, but do they perceive it the same way? Maybe they use different words for it. It might be a good idea to adopt their point of view and build on it.

Value is emotional. What I think is valuable is always tied to emotions. Besides the most practical aspects, how does this value connect to emotions like fear, anxiety, and happiness?

Value is contextual. What I assume is value needs to be part of a narrative that allows me to understand its actual weight, the pain it relieves, the satisfaction it brings.

Value is tied to hidden costs. The context mentioned above should expand the concept of cost. Value is related to saving time, reducing effort, lowering stress, and anything else that makes people's lives better.