# opportunity solution tree ## Metadata - Canonical URL: https://6ducklearn.com/skills/opportunity-solution-tree/ - Markdown URL: https://6ducklearn.com/skills/opportunity-solution-tree/index.md - Product: skills - Category: product-management - Tags: pm-product-discovery, product-management, pm-skills - Updated: 2026-07-14T03:00:00.357428+00:00 ## Summary 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. ## Content ## Opportunity Solution Tree (OST) A visual framework for structuring continuous product discovery. Connects a desired **outcome** to customer **opportunities**, possible **solutions**, and **experiments** to validate them. ### Domain Context 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. **Structure (4 levels):** 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. 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. 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." 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. **Key principles:** - **One outcome at a time.** Don't try to solve everything. Focus the tree on a single desired outcome. - **Opportunities, not features.** "Never allow customers to design solutions. Prioritize opportunities (problems), not features." - **Compare and contrast.** Always generate at least 3 solutions per opportunity before choosing. Avoid the "first idea" trap. - **Discovery is not linear.** Loop back if experiments fail. Kill solutions that don't validate. Explore new branches. - **Continuous, not periodic.** Update the tree weekly as you learn from interviews, analytics, and experiments. ### Instructions You are helping a product team build an Opportunity Solution Tree for **$ARGUMENTS**. ### Input Requirements - A desired outcome or business metric to improve - Customer research data (interviews, surveys, analytics, feedback) - Optionally: existing opportunities or solution ideas to organize ### Process 1. **Define the desired outcome** — Confirm or help articulate a single, measurable outcome at the top of the tree. 2. **Map opportunities** — From provided research, identify 3-7 customer opportunities (needs/pains). Group related opportunities. Frame each from the customer's perspective. 3. **Prioritize opportunities** — Use Opportunity Score or qualitative assessment to rank. Focus on the top 2-3. 4. **Generate solutions** — For each prioritized opportunity, brainstorm 3+ solutions from PM, Designer, and Engineer perspectives. 5. **Design experiments** — For the most promising solutions, suggest 1-2 fast experiments. Specify: hypothesis, method, metric, success threshold. 6. **Visualize the tree** — Present the full OST in a clear hierarchical format. Think step by step. Save as markdown if substantial. --- ### Further Reading - [The Extended Opportunity Solution Tree](https://www.productcompass.pm/p/the-extended-opportunity-solution-tree) - [What Is Product Discovery? The Ultimate Guide Step-by-Step](https://www.productcompass.pm/p/what-exactly-is-product-discovery) - [Product Trio: Beyond the Obvious](https://www.productcompass.pm/p/product-trio) - [Continuous Product Discovery Masterclass (CPDM)](https://www.productcompass.pm/p/cpdm) (video course) ## Related Skills - [interview script](https://6ducklearn.com/skills/interview-script/index.md): Create a structured customer interview script with JTBD probing questions, warm-up, core exploration, and wrap-up sections. Follows The Mom Test principles — no leading questions, no pitching, focus on past behavior. Use when preparing for user interviews, creating interview guides, or planning discovery research. - [analyze feature requests](https://6ducklearn.com/skills/analyze-feature-requests/index.md): Analyze and prioritize a list of feature requests by theme, strategic alignment, impact, effort, and risk. Use when reviewing customer feature requests, triaging a backlog, or making prioritization decisions. - [brainstorm experiments existing](https://6ducklearn.com/skills/brainstorm-experiments-existing/index.md): Design experiments to test assumptions for an existing product — prototypes, A/B tests, spikes, and other low-effort validation methods. Use when validating assumptions, testing feature ideas cheaply, or planning product experiments. - [brainstorm experiments new](https://6ducklearn.com/skills/brainstorm-experiments-new/index.md): Design lean startup experiments (pretotypes) for a new product. Creates XYZ hypotheses and suggests low-effort validation methods like landing pages, explainer videos, and pre-orders. Use when validating a new product idea, creating pretotypes, or testing market demand. - [brainstorm ideas existing](https://6ducklearn.com/skills/brainstorm-ideas-existing/index.md): Brainstorm product ideas for an existing product using multi-perspective ideation from PM, Designer, and Engineer viewpoints. Use when generating new feature ideas, brainstorming solutions for an identified opportunity, or ideating with a product trio. - [brainstorm ideas new](https://6ducklearn.com/skills/brainstorm-ideas-new/index.md): Brainstorm feature ideas for a new product in initial discovery from PM, Designer, and Engineer perspectives. Use when starting product discovery for a new product, exploring features for a startup idea, or doing initial ideation.