PM Opportunity Solution Tree

Use this skill to stop a request from collapsing straight into "build feature X."

What this skill does

It builds a structured tree:

• outcome
• opportunities
• solution options
• validation tests

The goal is not to draw a pretty tree. The goal is to force divergence before commitment.

Use when

• A stakeholder has jumped to a proposed feature.
• You have a goal but several possible customer problems could explain it.
• The team needs a lightweight discovery artifact before PRD or roadmap work.

Avoid these failures

• Writing opportunities that are secretly features
• Starting from the loudest stakeholder instead of the desired outcome
• Listing one opportunity and one solution, then pretending alternatives were considered
• Treating the tree as a roadmap rather than a discovery lens

Building the tree

Step 1: Lock the outcome

State one measurable outcome.

Examples:

• Increase activation from 42% to 55%
• Reduce admin setup time from 3 days to 1 day
• Improve enterprise expansion conversion by 20%

If the outcome is not measurable, it is too weak for the top of the tree.

Step 2: Generate 3 opportunities

Write 3 distinct customer opportunities that could move the outcome.

Each opportunity should be phrased as a customer struggle, unmet need, or blocked job.

Checklist:

• grounded in behavior or evidence
• not a feature in disguise
• distinct from the other branches
• plausible path to the outcome

Step 3: Expand solution options under each opportunity

Generate multiple solution ideas under each opportunity.

Good branching looks like:

• workflow change
• product feature
• messaging or onboarding change
• service or human assist
• instrumentation or internal tooling

Do not assume the right answer is always a shipped product feature.

Step 4: Add a validation move

Every solution branch needs a test before commitment.

Examples:

• interview script
• concierge trial
• prototype review
• messaging test
• analytics instrumentation
• lightweight A/B test

The test should answer the biggest unknown on that branch.

Step 5: Pick the best branch to pursue

Select the next branch using four filters:

• customer pain intensity
• evidence quality
• expected outcome leverage
• implementation feasibility

If two branches are close, prefer the one with the cheapest decisive test.

Output template

Use this structure:

Desired outcome

• metric
• baseline
• target
• time horizon

Opportunities

1. Opportunity
   • evidence
   • why it matters
   • confidence
2. Opportunity
   • evidence
   • why it matters
   • confidence
3. Opportunity
   • evidence
   • why it matters
   • confidence

Candidate solutions by opportunity

• Opportunity 1
  • Solution A
  • Solution B
  • Solution C
• Opportunity 2
  • Solution A
  • Solution B
  • Solution C
• Opportunity 3
  • Solution A
  • Solution B
  • Solution C

Best next branch

• selected opportunity
• selected solution hypothesis
• validation test
• success signal
• kill signal

Quality bar

The tree is useful only if:

• the top outcome is specific
• the opportunity layer is written in problem language
• multiple branches were truly considered
• the output ends in a testable next move, not just a brainstorm list

Use together with

• pm-discovery-process when the evidence base is still weak
• pm-prd-development once one branch has earned commitment