UX Project Canvas Template
Visualize the big picture of your UX and design projects.
Trusted by 65M+ users and leading companies
About the UX Project Canvas Template
What is a UX project canvas?
Inspired by Alexander Osterwalder's 2005 business model canvas, the project canvas will help your team visualize the big picture of your UX and design projects, providing a convenient structure that holds all of your important data.
This project canvas was created by Jim Kalbach, author and UX designer who has worked with Citrix, Elsevier Science, and other large international companies. According to Kalbach, the project canvas is designed to make an otherwise dry topic—defining a project—lively and engaging. It allows your team to visualize key elements defining a project in a single grid.
Advantages of using a UX project canvas
The UX project canvas is an innovative tool that helps transform an idea into a project plan, and stimulates collaboration and communication between all involved parties (project team, sponsor, stakeholders, etc.). The clear one-page overview provides insight into interactions between the different project topics (scope, time, cost, risk, team, etc.).
Unlike alternative models, the project canvas is a simple interface. There are few startup costs, and employees can easily be brought up to speed to start using the canvas quickly.
When to use a UX project canvas
The UX project canvas is an effective tool whether your team is working on a new UX or design project, or wants to structure an existing one. The project canvas is useful for project managers, designers, content managers, UX/UI specialists, developers, and client representatives. You can use the canvas whenever you need to quickly bring a teammate up to speed on a project, plan a new project, consult with stakeholders, or iterate.
Here are the five factors of a successful project canvas:
What is the nature of the project? Describe it in as much detail as you can.
Why do you need to complete this project? Tie the project to your business goals and team objectives.
Who do you need to help you complete the project? List any stakeholders or subject matter experts to consult with throughout the project.
When should the project be completed? What does the timeline look like?
How do you plan on getting the project done? List steps throughout the process.
Create your own UX project canvas
Miro’s whiteboard tool is perfect for creating and sharing your project canvas. Get started by selecting this quick and easy UX Project Canvas template.
Get started with this template right now.
User Story Map Template
Works best for:
Marketing, Desk Research, Mapping
Popularized by Jeff Patton in 2005, the user story mapping technique is an agile way to manage product backlogs. Whether you’re working alone or with a product team, you can leverage user story mapping to plan product releases. User story maps help teams stay focused on the business value and release features that customers care about. The framework helps to get a shared understanding for the cross-functional team of what needs to be done to satisfy customers' needs.
Stakeholder Mapping Template
Works best for:
Business Management, Mapping, Workflows
A stakeholder map is a type of analysis that allows you to group people by their power and interest. Use this template to organize all of the people who have an interest in your product, project, or idea in a single visual space. This allows you to easily see who can influence your project, and how each person is related to the other. Widely used in project management, stakeholder mapping is typically performed at the beginning of a project. Doing stakeholder mapping early on will help prevent miscommunication, ensure all groups are aligned on the objectives and set expectations about outcomes and results.
Go-to-Market Strategy Template
Works best for:
Marketing, Desk Research, Strategic Planning
It doesn’t matter how innovative or effective a new product is — if it doesn’t get noticed and adopted by the right audience, the product won’t get off the ground. That’s where your Go-to-Market Strategy comes in. It’s a single resource that houses all of your research, insights, and data, and includes your business plan, target audience, marketing approach, and sales strategy. A GTM is especially important for any startups who grow fast, have to make split-second decisions, and have to be fully in sync.
Visual Story Map Template
Works best for:
Marketing, Desk Research, Mapping
Some people like to think of a visual story map as a stylized to-do list, but it’s a lot more powerful than that. Visual story mapping allows your product management team to visualize multiple dimensions of information.
5W2H Template
Works best for:
Project Management
The 5W2H template is a tool used in project management and analysis to break down information systematically. By addressing the who, what, when, where, why, how, and how aspects of the issue, the template ensures that no critical detail is overlooked. The analysis enhances problem-solving and communication within teams. The structured nature of the template streamlines decision-making maintains focus, and helps achieve project goals.
Online Sketching Template
Works best for:
UX Design, Desk Research, Design Thinking
Before you go full steam ahead with a promising idea, look at it from a high level — to know how it functions and how well it meets your goals. That’s what sketches do. This template gives you a powerful remote collaboration tool for the initial stages of prototyping, whether you’re sketching out web pages and mobile apps, designing logos, or planning events. Then you can easily share your sketch with your team, and save each stage of your sketch before changing it and building on it.