By Teresa Torres · producttalk.org · @ttorres on X · LinkedIn
Teresa Torres argues that product teams must map the opportunity space before solving problems, because customer interviews surface far more needs, pain points, and desires than any team can address. Treating opportunities as a flat backlog makes prioritization hard, since items vary in size and overlap. She proposes an opportunity solution tree, using parent-child relationships for subsets and sibling relationships for similar options, to decompose large problems into smaller, solvable ones. This lets teams ship value iteratively and assess impact quickly. The approach matters because it keeps work aligned with a desired business outcome, which supports viability as well as desirability.
01Key takeaways
- Inventory the full opportunity space before choosing what to solve, instead of reacting to each customer need as it arrives.
- Prioritize opportunities that most affect your desired outcome, not every need customers mention.
- Replace flat opportunity backlogs with trees that show parent-child subsets and sibling alternatives.
- Break intractable opportunities into smaller sub-opportunities so you can ship value incrementally.
- Expect to restructure the opportunity space repeatedly as you learn more from customers.
02Key sections
- Why opportunities need structure
- Customer stories reveal endless gaps between expectations and reality, so teams must first inventory the opportunity space rather than react to each need. The work of framing the problem is ongoing and iterative.
- The problem with opportunity backlogs
- A flat prioritized list struggles because opportunities differ in scope, overlap, and context, making them hard to compare. Using a backlog is a useful start but is not sufficient for complex spaces.
- The power of trees
- Parent-child relationships capture subsets of a larger opportunity, while sibling relationships group similar but distinct options. Together they make the complexity of the opportunity space visible.
- Decomposing big problems
- Large opportunities like judging whether a show is good can be broken into smaller sub-opportunities. Solving these incrementally delivers value over time and eventually addresses the larger problem.
- Using the tree to prioritize
- Rather than deeply assessing every opportunity, teams can use the tree structure to make fast prioritization decisions without stalling delivery.
03From the post
“The following is an excerpt from my upcoming book, Continuous Discovery Habits. It’s the opening to my chapter on Opportunity Mapping. Read to the end for an exciting new announcement. “To maintain the state of doubt and to carry on systematic and protracted inquiry—these are the essentials of”
04Frameworks mentioned
Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.