---

name: opportunity-solution-trees description: Use when asked to "opportunity solution tree", "OST", "Teresa Torres", "map customer opportunities to outcomes", "structure discovery around opportunities", or "compare solutions for a customer need". Helps product teams connect outcomes to customer opportunities and test solutions with Opportunity Solution Trees (created by Teresa Torres).

Opportunity Solution Trees

What It Is

Use the Opportunity Solution Tree (OST) to connect a business outcome to the customer opportunities that drive it, then compare solutions and tests. The tree forces you to separate needs from ideas and keeps discovery tied to delivery.

When to Use It

• Structure discovery around customer opportunities
• Tie customer needs to measurable outcomes
• Compare multiple solutions for the same opportunity
• Keep continuous discovery aligned with the roadmap
• Create a shared view of priorities with stakeholders

When Not to Use It

• You are not doing customer research
• The solution is already decided
• The work is a commodity requirement with no real options
• You only need a quick one-off decision

Patterns

Detailed examples showing how to apply OST correctly. Each pattern shows a common mistake and the correct approach.

Critical (get these wrong and you've wasted your time)

High Impact

Medium Impact

Core Structure (Overview)

• Outcome: the business result you are responsible for achieving
• Opportunities: unmet customer needs, pains, or desires
• Solutions: multiple ideas that address one opportunity
• Experiments: tests that validate the riskiest assumptions

How to Apply It (Brief)

1. Define a measurable outcome.
2. Map the customer journey to frame opportunity areas.
3. Capture opportunities from real interviews (stories, not preferences).
4. Organize opportunities into a tree from broad to specific.
5. Generate at least three solutions per high-priority opportunity.
6. Test the riskiest assumptions before building.
7. Review and update the tree weekly.

Common Mistakes

• Write solutions as opportunities (see opportunities-are-solutions).
• Skip outcomes or use outputs instead (see skipping-outcome, output-not-outcome).
• Only explore one solution (see single-solution-thinking).
• Build from assumptions instead of research (see conference-room-opportunities).

Deep Dives

Read these only when you need the extra detail.

• references/ost-playbook.md: experience maps, opportunity decomposition, interview prompts, assumption testing, checklists, and collaboration notes.

Resources

Books:

• Continuous Discovery Habits by Teresa Torres
• Nudge by Richard Thaler

Online:

• Product Talk (producttalk.org)
• learn.producttalk.org

Related Frameworks:

• Jobs to be Done
• Design Thinking