Find New Waters Where Customers Flock and Competitors Don’t

Desired Goal:

Differentiate a product or service from competitors offerings and reveal new market opportunities.

The Tool's Purpose:

  • Find new market openings that others haven’t tapped into yet.
  • Offer fresh, unique solutions that meet users’ real needs.
  • Adjust your strategy based on changing market demands, using your competitive strengths.
  • Set a clear vision for the design challenge and create a roadmap with steps and controls to guide the process.

Overview:

The Blue Ocean / Buyer Utility Map is a strategic tool used in design thinking to differentiate a product or service from the competition by exploring untapped market opportunities. It helps teams create new value propositions by systematically analyzing customer utility across six phases of the buyer experience and identifying ways to “raise, reduce, eliminate, and create” features. By focusing on elements that competitors overlook, this framework encourages innovation that opens up new market spaces—often referred to as “blue oceans”—where competition is irrelevant because no one else has ventured there.

Benefits:

Unlocks New Markets: By focusing on unaddressed customer needs, the framework allows teams to break free from crowded markets and tap into new opportunities.

Strategic Innovation: It enables the development of unique value propositions by identifying what can be raised, reduced, eliminated, or created, giving businesses a competitive edge.

Customer-Centric Approach: The tool helps in understanding customer pain points and desires through detailed analysis, leading to innovations that truly meet user needs.

Cross-functional Collaboration: It fosters collaboration between teams and experts across industries to ensure comprehensive analysis and innovative solutions.

Holistic Perspective: By considering the entire buyer experience from purchasing to disposal, the framework ensures that every touchpoint adds value to the user.

Buyer Utility Map FigJam Template courtesy of Ryan Quintal. From Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne of Blue Ocean Shift

Use Case Example:

A team at a smart appliance company might use the Blue Ocean / Buyer Utility Map to differentiate their products in an already crowded market. While most competitors focus on features like productivity and automation, the team could discover unmet needs related to sustainability and simplicity in product maintenance. By using the framework, they identify opportunities to reduce product complexity and enhance eco-friendliness, creating a product line that appeals to environmentally-conscious consumers who value ease of use—thus opening up a new market segment.