Representing Customer Segments on Your Opportunity Solution Tree (Hope’s Take)

Teresa Torres introduces Hope Gurion's approach to representing customer segments on an opportunity solution tree, noting that structuring the opportunity space is hard when customers are diverse, especially in B2B. Hope argues that asking the '5 W' questions, including 'who', exposes critical customer and business context before teams answer 'how' through solutions. Through three anonymized scenarios, she shows that a 'who' layer can reveal overlooked influential customers, that segments with identical needs don't need separate layers, and that assigning opportunities to segments helps size and prioritize them. The core message is that teams should test assumptions about who they learn from rather than assume a single customer group, since this drives both influence and impact.

01Key takeaways

• Ask who expressed each opportunity, since opportunities are first-person needs and their source determines their priority.
• Quantify your business outcome with a specific number so you can measure progress and compare paths to it.
• Add a 'who' layer only when segments have materially different needs or influence on the outcome.
• Test assumptions about customer segments through discovery rather than assuming all customers are the same or entirely distinct.
• Group opportunities by segment and estimate each segment's size to see which opportunities carry the most weight.
• Answering the 5 W questions before exploring solutions gives you credible context to persuade stakeholders and evaluate impact.

02Key sections

Why the 'who' matters

Opportunities are first-person statements, so knowing who expressed a need is essential for prioritizing and evaluating solutions. Treating customers as one group can cause teams to miss important users.

Starting with the 5 W questions

The opportunity solution tree works as a storytelling tool, and the 'who', 'what', 'when', 'where', and 'why' questions set up the 'how' that solutions answer. Teams often skip the 'who' even though it is frequently not specific enough.

Uncovering influential segments

A medical software company assumed one customer group, but physicians held more influence over retention than the larger staff groups. Adding a 'who' layer clarified segment size, influence, and differing needs.

Recognizing when segments don't matter

A marketing technology team found that three segments had identical experience maps and motivations to upgrade, so no 'who' layer was needed. Segments should be separated only when their needs materially differ.

Sizing and prioritizing by segment

A recruiting SaaS company used the 'who' layer to link opportunities to new versus existing customers and to estimate the size of each group, helping leaders make more informed prioritization decisions.

03From the post

“Just like many aspects of continuous discovery, there’s no single right way to use the opportunity solution tree. As a fellow Product Talk coach, Hope Gurion uses opportunity solution trees with customers on a regular basis. And Hope continues to refine and adapt the tree to help product teams”

04Frameworks mentioned

Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.