Value propositions are something that we use everyday in our personal and professional lives to help us make decisions.  While students may not be familiar with the term, they use value propositions every day. As working professionals, engineers often have to chose between multiple options or provide details behind their decision making process. Value propositions are useful both situations.

To help students understand that value propositions are not something to be feared, we use the 4-step NABC process for developing value propositions as detailed in the Carlson and Wilmot text. The 4 steps are:

NEED
APPROACH
BENEFITS/COSTS
COMPETITION TO YOUR APPROACH

The lesson introduces the concept of a value proposition through the 3 Cs: 

CURIOSITY - Students are led through a 10-minute exercise of defining and refining their understanding of value propositions and what they are used for.

CONNECTIONS - Students are presented with 30 value propositions and they are tasked with identifying exemplars that provide connections between individual and societal needs and an organizations approach to addressing the need.

CREATING VALUE - Students develop, iterate, and refine three value propositions to increase their value.