Create Opportunity Solution Tree

Overview

Generate an Opportunity Solution Tree (Teresa Torres, Continuous Discovery Habits) that connects a desired outcome to the customer opportunities that could drive it, the solutions that could address each opportunity, and the assumption tests that validate each solution. The OST makes the team's thinking visible and ensures every solution is traceable back to a real customer need and forward to a concrete experiment. Output includes a Mermaid diagram for visual communication.

Workflow

1. Read product context — Load .chalk/docs/product/0_product_profile.md, research syntheses, JTBD canvases, and any prior OSTs. Research syntheses and JTBD canvases are the primary inputs for the opportunity space — they contain validated customer needs. If no research exists, note that the OST is hypothesis-based and needs validation.

2. Define the desired outcome — Parse $ARGUMENTS to identify the target outcome. A valid outcome is:

   • A product or business metric (e.g., "increase activation rate from 30% to 50%", "reduce time-to-first-value below 5 minutes")
   • NOT a feature ("build notifications") or an output ("ship v2")
   • If the user provides a feature or output, reframe it: "What metric would improve if we shipped this? Let's use that as the outcome."
   • If the outcome is vague, ask: "What metric are you trying to move? What is the current value and target value?"

3. Map the opportunity space — Identify customer needs, pain points, and desires that, if addressed, would drive the outcome. Structure opportunities hierarchically:

   • Level 1: broad opportunity areas (3-5 top-level branches)
   • Level 2: specific opportunities within each area (2-4 per branch)