Whitespace Finder (DEPTH Model)
Map the gap between what the market demands and what exists. Produces quantified, validated opportunity scores for product and GTM decisions.
When to Use
- New product ideation
- Feature prioritization against market need
- Adjacent market exploration
- Investment thesis validation
- Pre-PRD opportunity validation
What You'll Need
Critical inputs (ask if not provided):
- Market or product category to analyze
- Target customer segment(s)
- Known competitors (or ask me to research)
Nice-to-have:
- Signal Radar output (if previously run)
- JTBD Extractor output (if previously run)
- Customer feedback or support ticket themes
Process
Step 1: Demand Evidence Collection
Audit demand across 6 evidence channels:
| Channel |
What to Look For |
Evidence Quality |
| Community forums (Reddit, HN, Discourse) |
Problem-statement posts, workaround discussions |
Medium -- shows real pain |
| Review mining (G2, Capterra, TrustRadius) |
1-3 star review complaint patterns, missing feature mentions |
High -- verified buyers |
| Search demand |
Volume for problem queries vs. solution queries (gap = unmet need) |
High -- quantifiable |
| Support tickets |
Recurring themes, feature requests, workaround patterns |
High -- your own customers |
| Analyst reports |
Problem statements, unmet need callouts, market gaps cited |
High -- expert validation |
| Adjacent product requests |
Features users ask for that cross product boundaries |
Medium -- shows expansion opportunities |
For each channel, extract the top 5 unmet needs with supporting evidence.
Step 2: Gap Matrix Construction
Build a 2D matrix:
- X-axis: Customer needs/jobs (from research or JTBD Extractor)
- Y-axis: Existing solutions in market (products, workarounds, manual processes)
Rate each cell:
| Rating |
Meaning |
| 0 |
Completely unaddressed -- no solution exists |
| 1 |
Poorly addressed -- solutions exist but are inadequate |
| 2 |
Adequately addressed -- good-enough solutions exist |
| 3 |
Well addressed -- strong solutions, hard to differentiate |
Whitespace = cells rated 0-1 with strong demand evidence.
Step 3: DEPTH Scoring
Score each whitespace opportunity (1-10):
| Dimension |
What It Measures |
Scoring Guide |
| Demand Evidence |
Volume and quality of signals indicating real demand |
1=anecdotal, 5=multiple sources, 10=overwhelming evidence |
| Existing Solutions |
How well current solutions address it (inverse) |
1=well solved, 5=partial solutions, 10=nothing exists |
| Pain Intensity |
Severity of unmet need |
1=nice-to-have, 5=significant friction, 10=hair-on-fire problem |
| Total Addressable Need |
Size of population with this unmet need |
1=tiny niche, 5=meaningful segment, 10=mass market |
| Hurdle Analysis |
Barriers to entry (inverse -- high = low barriers) |
1=massive barriers, 5=moderate effort, 10=easy to enter |
Opportunity Score = (D x 0.25) + (E x 0.20) + (P x 0.25) + (T x 0.15) + (H x 0.15)
Classification:
- 7.5+ = Prime Opportunity (high confidence, prioritize)
- 5.0-7.4 = Promising (validate further before committing)
- Below 5.0 = Marginal (park unless strategic fit is strong)
Step 4: Opportunity Clustering
Group related whitespace opportunities into "opportunity zones" that could be addressed by a single product or feature set. Each zone gets:
- Combined DEPTH score (weighted average of constituent opportunities)
- Shared customer segment
- Common technical requirements
- Estimated effort to address
Output
Save to outputs/whitespace-[market]-[YYYY-MM-DD].md
Deliverables:
- Gap Matrix: Heat map of needs vs. solutions with whitespace cells highlighted
- Opportunity Scorecards: One per whitespace opportunity with DEPTH scores and evidence citations
- Opportunity Zones: Clustered opportunities showing which can be addressed together
- Validation Roadmap: Prioritized experiments to validate top opportunities (surveys, prototypes, landing page tests)
Chain Connections
- Next skill: Run
market-analyzer to size the opportunities you discovered
- Also feeds:
position-lock (validated opportunities become positioning targets), battle-scanner (whitespace informs differentiation angles)
- Enhanced by: Run after
signal-radar (signals point to where whitespace may exist)
1---2name: whitespace-finder3description: Systematic unmet-needs discovery engine that maps gaps between market demand and existing solutions with quantified opportunity scores. Use when: find opportunities, unmet needs, market gaps, opportunity discovery, what should we build, where is the whitespace.4---56# Whitespace Finder (DEPTH Model)78Map the gap between what the market demands and what exists. Produces quantified, validated opportunity scores for product and GTM decisions.910## When to Use11- New product ideation12- Feature prioritization against market need13- Adjacent market exploration14- Investment thesis validation15- Pre-PRD opportunity validation1617## What You'll Need18**Critical inputs (ask if not provided):**19- Market or product category to analyze20- Target customer segment(s)21- Known competitors (or ask me to research)2223**Nice-to-have:**24- Signal Radar output (if previously run)25- JTBD Extractor output (if previously run)26- Customer feedback or support ticket themes2728## Process2930### Step 1: Demand Evidence Collection31Audit demand across 6 evidence channels:3233| Channel | What to Look For | Evidence Quality |34|---------|-----------------|-----------------|35| Community forums (Reddit, HN, Discourse) | Problem-statement posts, workaround discussions | Medium -- shows real pain |36| Review mining (G2, Capterra, TrustRadius) | 1-3 star review complaint patterns, missing feature mentions | High -- verified buyers |37| Search demand | Volume for problem queries vs. solution queries (gap = unmet need) | High -- quantifiable |38| Support tickets | Recurring themes, feature requests, workaround patterns | High -- your own customers |39| Analyst reports | Problem statements, unmet need callouts, market gaps cited | High -- expert validation |40| Adjacent product requests | Features users ask for that cross product boundaries | Medium -- shows expansion opportunities |4142For each channel, extract the top 5 unmet needs with supporting evidence.4344### Step 2: Gap Matrix Construction45Build a 2D matrix:46- **X-axis**: Customer needs/jobs (from research or JTBD Extractor)47- **Y-axis**: Existing solutions in market (products, workarounds, manual processes)4849Rate each cell:50| Rating | Meaning |51|--------|---------|52| 0 | Completely unaddressed -- no solution exists |53| 1 | Poorly addressed -- solutions exist but are inadequate |54| 2 | Adequately addressed -- good-enough solutions exist |55| 3 | Well addressed -- strong solutions, hard to differentiate |5657**Whitespace = cells rated 0-1 with strong demand evidence.**5859### Step 3: DEPTH Scoring60Score each whitespace opportunity (1-10):6162| Dimension | What It Measures | Scoring Guide |63|-----------|-----------------|---------------|64| **D**emand Evidence | Volume and quality of signals indicating real demand | 1=anecdotal, 5=multiple sources, 10=overwhelming evidence |65| **E**xisting Solutions | How well current solutions address it (inverse) | 1=well solved, 5=partial solutions, 10=nothing exists |66| **P**ain Intensity | Severity of unmet need | 1=nice-to-have, 5=significant friction, 10=hair-on-fire problem |67| **T**otal Addressable Need | Size of population with this unmet need | 1=tiny niche, 5=meaningful segment, 10=mass market |68| **H**urdle Analysis | Barriers to entry (inverse -- high = low barriers) | 1=massive barriers, 5=moderate effort, 10=easy to enter |6970**Opportunity Score** = (D x 0.25) + (E x 0.20) + (P x 0.25) + (T x 0.15) + (H x 0.15)7172**Classification:**73- 7.5+ = **Prime Opportunity** (high confidence, prioritize)74- 5.0-7.4 = **Promising** (validate further before committing)75- Below 5.0 = **Marginal** (park unless strategic fit is strong)7677### Step 4: Opportunity Clustering78Group related whitespace opportunities into "opportunity zones" that could be addressed by a single product or feature set. Each zone gets:79- Combined DEPTH score (weighted average of constituent opportunities)80- Shared customer segment81- Common technical requirements82- Estimated effort to address8384## Output85Save to `outputs/whitespace-[market]-[YYYY-MM-DD].md`8687### Deliverables:881. **Gap Matrix**: Heat map of needs vs. solutions with whitespace cells highlighted892. **Opportunity Scorecards**: One per whitespace opportunity with DEPTH scores and evidence citations903. **Opportunity Zones**: Clustered opportunities showing which can be addressed together914. **Validation Roadmap**: Prioritized experiments to validate top opportunities (surveys, prototypes, landing page tests)9293## Chain Connections94- **Next skill**: Run `market-analyzer` to size the opportunities you discovered95- **Also feeds**: `position-lock` (validated opportunities become positioning targets), `battle-scanner` (whitespace informs differentiation angles)96- **Enhanced by**: Run after `signal-radar` (signals point to where whitespace may exist)
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