Opportunity
An opportunity represents a customer need, pain point, or desire framed in the problem space—it's what the problem or benefit would do for the customer.
Opportunities emerge from the gaps between what customers expect and how the world works. As you collect customers' stories, you'll hear about countless needs, pain points, and desires. Each gap represents an opportunity to serve your customer.
How do you reframe solutions to find opportunities?
To find opportunities, ask a powerful reframing question: "If you had [that solution], what would that do for you?" This shifts focus from the solution to the underlying need.
For example, if someone wants a house, the opportunity might be "feel more grounded in my community." This opens up new possibilities: "How else might you feel more grounded in your community?"
What makes opportunities actionable?
Well-framed opportunities are specific—occurring in a specific moment in time, in a specific context, experienced by a specific customer. These specifics emerge from customer stories and make opportunities actionable, opening up the solution space for product teams.
Teams should frame opportunities as something a customer might say. This helps ensure you're solving a real customer need, not a business need disguised as a customer need.
How do product teams discover opportunities?
Product teams continuously seek opportunities through generative research. Every day teams learn more about customers, their needs, and their pain points. Teams capture these opportunities on the opportunity solution tree between their desired outcome and their solutions.
What matters most is how customers frame their own problems, not how product teams frame them. Generative research helps teams uncover that framing.
What is the strategic impact of opportunities?
The opportunities a team chooses to pursue drive product strategy and differentiate companies in the market. Two companies in the exact same space will pick different opportunities based on their mission, vision, and strategy. This is where the heart of product strategy lives.
Learn more:
- Opportunity Mapping: An Essential Skill for Driving Product Outcomes
Related terms:
- Assessing Opportunities
- Opportunity Solution Tree
- Target Opportunity
- Generative Research
Last Updated: October 25, 2025