Product Ideation Expert
Overview
Structured product ideation for both new product creation and existing product enhancement. This skill combines the Product Trio approach (PM + Designer + Engineer perspectives) with Teresa Torres' Opportunity Solution Tree framework to generate, evaluate, and prioritize product ideas systematically.
When to Use
- New Product Ideation -- Exploring greenfield opportunities where the focus is on core value delivery, speed to validate, and market differentiation.
- Existing Product Enhancement -- Identifying opportunities within a live product using the Opportunity Solution Tree to connect desired outcomes to concrete solutions.
Methodology
Phase 1: Frame the Problem Space
Before generating ideas, establish clarity on the context:
- Define the Target Outcome -- What measurable result are we trying to achieve? (e.g., increase activation rate by 15%, reduce churn by 10%)
- Identify the Target Segment -- Who specifically are we solving for? Include behavioral and situational context, not just demographics.
- Map Known Constraints -- Budget, timeline, technical platform, regulatory requirements, team capacity.
Phase 2: Product Trio Ideation
Generate 5 ideas from each of the three perspectives (15 total):
Product Manager Perspective (5 ideas) Focus: Business value, market positioning, customer pain points, strategic alignment
- What problems do customers report most frequently?
- Where are competitors weak that we could be strong?
- Which segments are underserved by current solutions?
- What would make customers willing to pay more or switch?
- How does this connect to our strategic objectives?
Designer Perspective (5 ideas) Focus: User experience, workflows, accessibility, delight, friction reduction
- Where do users drop off or struggle in current flows?
- What tasks take too many steps or too much cognitive load?
- How could we surprise users with unexpected value?
- What accessibility gaps exist that exclude potential users?
- Where can we reduce time-to-value for new users?
Engineer Perspective (5 ideas) Focus: Technical feasibility, scalability, platform capabilities, integration opportunities
- What new capabilities does our tech stack enable?
- Which features could we build quickly with high impact?
- Where could automation replace manual processes?
- What data do we have that we are not leveraging?
- Which technical debt, if resolved, would unlock new possibilities?
Phase 3: Approach by Product Type
For New Products
Apply these lenses to each idea:
| Lens | Question | |------|----------| | Core Value | Does this idea deliver a single, clear value proposition? | | Speed to Validate | Can we test the core assumption in under 2 weeks? | | Differentiation | Why would someone choose this over existing alternatives? | | Market Timing | Is the market ready for this? What tailwinds exist? | | Scalability | Can this grow beyond the initial use case? |
For Existing Products (Opportunity Solution Tree)
Follow Teresa Torres' Continuous Discovery Habits framework:
Desired Outcome
├── Opportunity 1 (unmet need / pain point / desire)
│ ├── Solution A
│ ├── Solution B
│ └── Solution C
├── Opportunity 2
│ ├── Solution D
│ └── Solution E
└── Opportunity 3
├── Solution F
└── Solution G- Start with the outcome -- The metric or business result you want to move.
- Map opportunities -- Interview-driven insights about what customers need, want, or struggle with.
- Generate solutions per opportunity -- Each opportunity gets multiple potential solutions.
- Compare and select -- Evaluate solutions within the same opportunity branch, not across branches.
Phase 4: Prioritize Top 5
From the 15 generated ideas, select the top 5 using this scoring model:
| Criterion | Weight | Scale | |-----------|--------|-------| | Customer Impact | 30% | 1-10 | | Strategic Alignment | 25% | 1-10 | | Feasibility | 20% | 1-10 | | Speed to Validate | 15% | 1-10 | | Differentiation | 10% | 1-10 |
Weighted Score = (Impact x 0.30) + (Strategy x 0.25) + (Feasibility x 0.20) + (Speed x 0.15) + (Differentiation x 0.10)
Phase 5: Document Each Idea
For each of the top 5 prioritized ideas, produce:
| Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | Name | Short, memorable name for the idea | | Description | 2-3 sentence summary of what it is | | Reasoning | Why this idea ranks highly -- connect to outcome and evidence | | Source Perspective | PM, Designer, or Engineer | | Key Assumptions | 2-3 assumptions that must be true for this to succeed | | Suggested Validation | How to test the riskiest assumption first | | Effort Estimate | T-shirt size (XS / S / M / L / XL) |
Output Format
Prioritized Ideas Table
| Rank | Name | Source | Score | Effort | Top Assumption | |------|------|--------|-------|--------|----------------| | 1 | ... | PM | 8.4 | M | ... | | 2 | ... | Design | 7.9 | S | ... | | 3 | ... | Eng | 7.6 | L | ... | | 4 | ... | PM | 7.2 | S | ... | | 5 | ... | Design | 6.8 | M | ... |
Detailed Idea Cards
For each idea, fill in the template from assets/ideation_workshop_template.md.
Supplementary Techniques
When the trio needs additional stimulus:
- SCAMPER -- Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to other use, Eliminate, Reverse. Apply to existing products or competitor features.
- How Might We (HMW) -- Reframe problems as opportunity questions. "Users churn after trial" becomes "How might we demonstrate value before the trial ends?"
- Crazy 8s -- 8 sketches in 8 minutes per person. Forces breadth over depth.
- Worst Possible Idea -- Generate deliberately bad ideas, then invert them to find hidden good ones.
See references/ideation-frameworks.md for detailed descriptions of each technique.
Integration with Other Discovery Skills
- After ideation, move top ideas to
identify-assumptions/to map and prioritize assumptions. - Use
brainstorm-experiments/to design validation experiments for key assumptions. - Run
pre-mortem/before committing to build, to surface hidden risks.
References
- Teresa Torres, Continuous Discovery Habits (2021)
- Marty Cagan, Inspired (2018)
- Jake Knapp, Sprint (2016)
- Michael Michalko, Thinkertoys (2006) -- SCAMPER origin
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely Cause | Resolution | |---------|-------------|------------| | Ideation session produces only incremental ideas, no breakthrough thinking | Anchoring bias -- team defaults to what they know; PM perspective dominates | Explicitly rotate perspectives (Designer first, then Engineer); use "Worst Possible Idea" technique to break anchoring; invite an outsider to challenge assumptions | | Prioritization scores cluster tightly, making ranking impossible | Scoring criteria are too similar, or the team is avoiding differentiation | Add a forced-rank step after weighted scoring; increase weight spread between criteria; use pairwise comparison for the top 5 | | Opportunity Solution Tree has too many branches to be actionable | Team brainstormed opportunities without filtering by evidence | Require each opportunity to link to at least 2 user interview quotes or data points; prune branches without evidence | | Stakeholders reject prioritized ideas because "the real problem is different" | Problem framing was done without stakeholder input; target outcome not validated | Run a problem framing workshop with stakeholders before ideation; validate the target outcome with data before generating solutions | | Same ideas keep resurfacing across sessions | Previous ideation results not documented or accessible; no "already considered" registry | Maintain an idea backlog with status (explored, parked, rejected with rationale); review it at the start of each session | | Engineer perspective ideas are too implementation-focused | Engineers