Niopd St Ost

Opportunity Solution Tree Skill

This skill applies the Opportunity Solution Tree framework to systematically connect desired outcomes to validated solutions.

Theoretical Foundation

Origin

The Opportunity Solution Tree (OST) was developed by Teresa Torres as part of her "Continuous Discovery Habits" methodology (2021).

OST Structure

flowchart TD
    O[Desired Outcome] --> OP1[Opportunity 1]
    O --> OP2[Opportunity 2]
    OP1 --> S1[Solution A]
    OP1 --> S2[Solution B]
    OP2 --> S3[Solution C]
    S1 --> E1[Experiment]
    S2 --> E2[Experiment]

Key Principles

1. Outcome-focused: Start with what we want to achieve
2. Multiple opportunities: Explore the problem space
3. Multiple solutions: Don't jump to one answer
4. Experiment-driven: Validate before building

When to Use

• Continuous discovery process
• Feature planning
• Solution validation
• Connecting research to roadmap
• Team alignment on priorities

Instructions

Step 1: Define Desired Outcome

• "What measurable outcome are we trying to achieve?"
• "What metric will move?"
• "Why is this outcome important?"

Step 2: Map Opportunities

For each outcome:

• "What user needs or pain points could we address?"
• "What opportunities exist in the problem space?"
• Generate 3-5 opportunities per outcome

Step 3: Generate Solutions

For each opportunity:

• "What are different ways we could address this?"
• "What have competitors done?"
• "What's a creative alternative?"
• Generate 2-3 solutions per opportunity

Step 4: Design Experiments

For promising solutions:

• "How can we test this cheaply and quickly?"
• "What's the riskiest assumption?"
• "What would we need to see to proceed?"

Step 5: Prioritize the Tree

• Which outcomes matter most now?
• Which opportunities have highest impact?
• Which solutions have best experiment results?

Step 6: Generate OST Document

File path: 04-plans/[YYYYMMDD]-opportunity-tree-v0.md

Visual Format:

## Desired Outcome: [Outcome]

### Opportunity 1: [Opportunity]
- Solution A: [Solution] → Experiment: [Test]
- Solution B: [Solution] → Experiment: [Test]

### Opportunity 2: [Opportunity]
- Solution C: [Solution] → Experiment: [Test]

Output Specifications

• File Naming: [YYYYMMDD]-opportunity-tree-v0.md
• Location: 04-plans/
• Template: references/ost-template.md

Related Skills

• niopd-ur-jtbd: Understanding opportunities
• niopd-pd-experiment: Experiment design
• niopd-st-rice: Solution prioritization
• niopd-bs-new-initiative: Initiative from opportunities