Prioritizing Opportunities
What is prioritizing opportunities?
Prioritizing opportunities is the process of assessing and choosing which customer needs, pain points, and desires to address first based on which will have the biggest impact on your desired outcome. This happens in the opportunity space—the territory of customer problems—rather than in the solution space where teams rank features and ideas.
The key question is: Which of these opportunities, if we addressed them, would have the biggest impact on our outcome? This is a strategic decision about where to play and which problem to solve before getting into what to build.
Why prioritize opportunities instead of solutions?
Many teams have complex spreadsheets with ranking formulas for a long list of ideas, simply working their way down from the top. The problem? They're missing the strategic decision. Without comparing the relative contribution of solving different customer problems, teams may work on issues that matter to some customers but don't move the needle on customer value or success metrics.
When you prioritize in the opportunity space first, you make deliberate choices about which customer problems are most important. You compare and contrast the impact of addressing one opportunity against another in a systematic way. Then, once you've chosen a target opportunity, you explore solutions that address it.
How do teams prioritize opportunities effectively?
Using an opportunity solution tree structure helps teams avoid comparing opportunities of different shapes and sizes in a flat list. Instead of ranking every opportunity against every other opportunity, you can prioritize row by row, comparing similar opportunities at the same level of the tree.
Don't get mired in the need for perfect data. Use the information you have today to pick a target opportunity. Keep collecting data through your continuous discovery practices, and when new information comes in, revisit your choice. Opportunity prioritization isn't a one-time decision—as you learn more about customer needs and test solutions, you can adjust which opportunities deserve focus.
Learn more:
- Opportunity Mapping: An Essential Skill for Driving Product Outcomes
Related terms:
- Opportunity
- Opportunity Space
- Opportunity Solution Tree
- Target Opportunity
Last Updated: October 25, 2025