opportunity-mappinglisted

Map opportunities by connecting business outcomes to customer needs to testable solutions. Teresa Torres' Opportunity Solution Trees (OSTs) prevent the two biggest PM mistakes: building solutions without clear problems, and chasing problems disconnected from business goals. ## Opportunity Solution Tree Structure Build the tree top-down, but fill it bottom-up with evidence: ``` Desired Outcome (business metric you're trying to move) | +-- Opportunity 1 (customer need/pain/desire) | +-- Solution A | | +-- Experiment 1 | | +-- Experiment 2 | +-- Solution B | +-- Experiment 3 | +-- Opportunity 2 +-- Solution C +-- Solution D +-- Experiment 4 ``` ### Level 1: Desired Outcome One measurable business outcome. Not a feature, not a project — a metric. - "Increase 7-day activation rate from 23% to 40%" - NOT: "Improve onboarding" (not measurable) ### Level 2: Opportunities Customer needs, pain points, or desires that, if addressed, would move the outcome. These come from research — interviews, data, support tickets — not brainstorming. Rules for good opportunities: - Framed as customer needs, not product features - "New users don't understand what to do first" (opportunity) - NOT "Add an onboarding wizard" (solution masquerading as opportunity) - Each opportunity is independent — addressing one doesn't depend on another ### Level 3: Solutions Multiple possible solutions for each opportunity. Genera