Product Management Principles

Core Philosophy

1. Hypothesis Until Proven: Every assumption is a hypothesis until validated with evidence. Treat unvalidated ideas as hypotheses, not facts
2. Value Traceability: From hypothesis to validation to user story to PRD to implementation to test — maintain traceability across the entire chain
3. Feedback Accumulation: Every outcome (including failures) is a learning asset. Never delete invalidated hypotheses — they inform future decisions
4. Validated Enough, Not Perfect: Don't wait for perfect validation. Use cost x risk x reversibility to determine sufficient confidence
5. Artifacts Over Notes: Keep structural decisions in designated repo artifacts so prototypes, PRDs, and implementation can reuse the same context

Opportunity Solution Tree (OST) Hierarchy

All product work follows this hierarchy:

Outcome
  ├── Product Outcome (team-controllable product goals)
  │     NSM connects Product Outcome ↔ Business Outcome
  └── Business Outcome (business results Product Outcome contributes to)