How to Choose the Right Opportunity to Focus on in Your Opportunity Solution Tree

Don’t wait for a “perfect” Opportunity Solution Tree that covers every possible user need. Perfection is the enemy of progress, and you’ll gain more by acting. As soon as you have a foundational sketch of your opportunity space, select a single opportunity to explore. Working with one opportunity and its potential solutions will provide invaluable insights into the broader opportunity landscape. Remember, you can – and should – continuously refine your opportunities as you learn.

“You want to start exploring solutions and testing assumptions as soon as possible. This is where most of the learning in discovery happens. So push to get there as soon as you can.” - Teressa Torres

But when your tree brims with user needs all vying for attention, how do you pinpoint the right opportunity to focus on? This article provides a clear guide to making that crucial decision, helping you effectively utilize your opportunity solution tree for product development.

For a deeper understanding of opportunity solution trees in product management, we highly recommend reading Continuous Discovery Habits by Teressa Torres or exploring this insightful section on Product Talk, the primary sources for this discussion on product discovery.

Revisit Your Desired Outcome: The North Star for Opportunity Selection

Begin at the top of your opportunity solution tree. It should always be anchored to a clearly defined desired outcome. Before you evaluate individual opportunities, take a step back and remind yourself of the overarching goal you’re striving to achieve in your product strategy. Ask yourself these critical questions:

• “Does this specific opportunity genuinely have the potential to significantly improve our desired outcome?”
• “Does focusing on this chosen opportunity align with our broader product strategy and key business objectives?”

If the answer to either of these questions is no, it’s crucial to remove that opportunity from your consideration set. This ensures you’re always working towards meaningful progress in your product roadmap.

Assess Opportunity’s Value: A Framework for Prioritization

To effectively assess and compare different opportunities within your tree, it’s best to start at the highest level. Make a decision at this level and then progressively move down to the next. Repeat this evaluation process until you reach a specific, actionable leaf opportunity. To facilitate these crucial decisions in your product feedback management process, we recommend evaluating opportunities along these four key dimensions:

• Impact: How significant is this opportunity for your customers? Are they currently underserved or dissatisfied with existing solutions? For each customer affected, what is the magnitude of the customer impact this opportunity could have on their experience? Understanding the potential customer impact is paramount for successful product development.
• Size: Which opportunities have the potential to generate the most value for the largest segment of your user base? Consider the reach and scale of each potential focus area when planning your product roadmap.
• Market Factors: How would addressing this opportunity enhance your product’s competitive positioning against existing alternatives or substitutes in the market? Consider potential competitive advantages offered by focusing on this opportunity.
• Company Factors: When evaluating an opportunity, always consider your company’s core mission, overarching vision, and strategic objectives. How would addressing this particular opportunity contribute to or align with these fundamental aspects of your business? This ensures alignment with your overall product strategy.

Review Your Evidence: Grounding Decisions in Data and Intuition

While data gathered from user research, product analytics, and thorough market analysis should ultimately inform your decision, don’t underestimate the value of initial intuition from your team and key stakeholders. Starting with an opportunity identified through collective intuition can be a powerful way to begin the learning process in product discovery. This early focus allows you to quickly start exploring solutions and validating assumptions, ultimately leading to more informed decisions as you gather more evidence to refine your opportunity solution tree.