Pawel Huryn
65 lines
4.2 KiB
Markdown
65 lines
4.2 KiB
Markdown
---
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name: opportunity-solution-tree
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description: "Build an Opportunity Solution Tree (OST) to structure product discovery — map a desired outcome to opportunities, solutions, and experiments. Based on Teresa Torres' Continuous Discovery Habits. Use when structuring discovery work, mapping opportunities to solutions, or deciding what to build next."
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---
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## Opportunity Solution Tree (OST)
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A visual framework for structuring continuous product discovery. Connects a desired **outcome** to customer **opportunities**, possible **solutions**, and **experiments** to validate them.
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### Domain Context
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The **Opportunity Solution Tree** (Teresa Torres, *Continuous Discovery Habits*) is the backbone of modern product discovery. It prevents teams from jumping to solutions by forcing them to first map the opportunity space.
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**Structure (4 levels):**
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1. **Desired Outcome** (top) — The measurable business or product outcome the team is pursuing. Should be a single, clear metric (e.g., "increase 7-day retention to 40%"). This comes from your OKRs or product strategy.
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2. **Opportunities** (second level) — Customer needs, pain points, or desires discovered through research. These are problems worth solving — not features. Frame them from the customer's perspective: "I struggle to..." or "I wish I could..." Prioritize using Opportunity Score: **Importance × (1 − Satisfaction)** (Dan Olsen, *The Lean Product Playbook*). Normalize Importance and Satisfaction to 0–1.
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3. **Solutions** (third level) — Possible ways to address each opportunity. Generate multiple solutions per opportunity — don't commit to the first idea. The **Product Trio** (PM + Designer + Engineer) should ideate together. "Best ideas often come from engineers."
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4. **Experiments** (bottom) — Fast, cheap tests to validate whether a solution actually addresses the opportunity. Use assumption testing (Value, Usability, Viability, Feasibility risks). Prefer experiments with "skin-in-the-game" (Alberto Savoia) over opinion-based validation.
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**Key principles:**
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- **One outcome at a time.** Don't try to solve everything. Focus the tree on a single desired outcome.
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- **Opportunities, not features.** "Never allow customers to design solutions. Prioritize opportunities (problems), not features."
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- **Compare and contrast.** Always generate at least 3 solutions per opportunity before choosing. Avoid the "first idea" trap.
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- **Discovery is not linear.** Loop back if experiments fail. Kill solutions that don't validate. Explore new branches.
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- **Continuous, not periodic.** Update the tree weekly as you learn from interviews, analytics, and experiments.
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### Instructions
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You are helping a product team build an Opportunity Solution Tree for **$ARGUMENTS**.
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### Input Requirements
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- A desired outcome or business metric to improve
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- Customer research data (interviews, surveys, analytics, feedback)
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- Optionally: existing opportunities or solution ideas to organize
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### Process
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1. **Define the desired outcome** — Confirm or help articulate a single, measurable outcome at the top of the tree.
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2. **Map opportunities** — From provided research, identify 3-7 customer opportunities (needs/pains). Group related opportunities. Frame each from the customer's perspective.
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3. **Prioritize opportunities** — Use Opportunity Score or qualitative assessment to rank. Focus on the top 2-3.
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4. **Generate solutions** — For each prioritized opportunity, brainstorm 3+ solutions from PM, Designer, and Engineer perspectives.
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5. **Design experiments** — For the most promising solutions, suggest 1-2 fast experiments. Specify: hypothesis, method, metric, success threshold.
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6. **Visualize the tree** — Present the full OST in a clear hierarchical format.
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Think step by step. Save as markdown if substantial.
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---
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### Further Reading
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- [The Extended Opportunity Solution Tree](https://www.productcompass.pm/p/the-extended-opportunity-solution-tree)
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- [What Is Product Discovery? The Ultimate Guide Step-by-Step](https://www.productcompass.pm/p/what-exactly-is-product-discovery)
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- [Product Trio: Beyond the Obvious](https://www.productcompass.pm/p/product-trio)
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- [Continuous Product Discovery Masterclass (CPDM)](https://www.productcompass.pm/p/cpdm) (video course)
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