Design an opportunity solution tree for a new market

Opportunity Solution Trees Prevent Solution Attachment

The most common discovery failure is solution attachment — falling in love with a specific solution before exploring the opportunity space. Teresa Torres' opportunity solution tree is the canonical response: start from the outcome, generate the opportunity map before any solution ideation, and force multiple candidate solutions per opportunity. Product Talk's continuous discovery writing emphasizes that the tree structure keeps teams generating alternatives even when the first solution looks compelling.

How the Design an opportunity solution tree for a new market Prompt Works

The prompt structures three layers (outcome → opportunities → solutions) with evidence requirements at each level, forces 3-5 solution candidates per top opportunity, and picks the next bet as a triple — opportunity, solution, assumption test. The deferred-opportunity output is the discipline: every tree prunes something, and naming it preserves focus.

When to Use It

• You are entering a new market or segment.
• A team has jumped to solution mode without opportunity mapping.
• A new PM wants to establish discovery rigor.
• A large investment is being debated and multiple paths should be considered.
• Leadership is asking "what are we betting on and why?"

Common Pitfalls

• Writing opportunities as solutions. "Build a dashboard" is a solution. "Users cannot compare across periods" is an opportunity.
• One solution per opportunity. Without 3-5 alternatives, the tree is just a roadmap. Force generation.
• No assumption test. Solutions without assumption tests are bets, not hypotheses. Name the test.

Sources

• Opportunity Solution Tree — Product Talk (Teresa Torres)
• Continuous Discovery Habits — Product Talk (Teresa Torres)
• Product Discovery — Silicon Valley Product Group
• Product Discovery Techniques — Silicon Valley Product Group