product-positioninglisted

Position products by starting from what customers would do without you — not from your features or aspirations. April Dunford's Obviously Awesome framework works because it's grounded in reality: what alternatives exist, what you do differently, and who cares most about that difference. ## The Five Steps (In Order) These steps are sequential. Do NOT skip ahead or rearrange. ### 1. Competitive Alternatives What would your best customers do if you didn't exist? List real alternatives: - Direct competitors - Indirect solutions (spreadsheets, hiring someone, different tools) - Do nothing Be honest. If "do nothing" is the primary alternative, that tells you a lot about urgency. ### 2. Unique Attributes What do you have that the alternatives don't? List concrete, verifiable capabilities — not marketing spin. - "Real-time collaboration on specs" (verifiable) - NOT "best-in-class experience" (unverifiable) ### 3. Value What do those unique attributes ENABLE for the customer? Translate features into outcomes. - Attribute: "Real-time cursors and inline comments on any document" - Value: "Get feedback from your team in minutes instead of waiting for a meeting" ### 4. Best-Fit Customers Who cares MOST about the value you deliver? Define them tightly: - "Remote teams of 5-15 who collaborate daily but drown in Slack threads and lost Google Docs" - NOT "product managers" (too broad) Best-fit customers have: the problem acutely, tried alternatives, have budget/authority, and get t