Name a Person and a Prediction at Every Stage of the Path
ICP Acceptance Path canvas
Companion to The Product Manager’s New Job Is Acceptance · Updated 2026-09-30
The chapter “Map the Path an ICP Takes From Problem to Continued Use” explains the fields. Use your own stage names. The twelve below are one sales-led example: trigger, awareness, message, consideration, qualified interest, evaluation, selection, setup, first useful action, repeated use, demonstrated value, continued use.
Version the path and date it.
| Stage | Actor (a named person or role) | Input | Expected action | Expected understanding | Evidence produced | Failure mode | Next transition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Variants
- Product-led: drop qualified interest, and merge evaluation and selection. Add the first useful action before any purchase.
- Channel-led: add the partner’s restatement of the promise as its own stage.
- Enterprise: add procurement, security review, and implementation.
- Professional or clinical referral: add the referrer’s statement of the promise.
Checks
- Is there a named person or role at every stage?
- Is every “expected action” something you could observe?
- Which stages have no data at all? Mark them. They are your first instrumentation work.
- Where do the actor and the decision-maker differ? Write both goals.