Playbook 1 of 10, Dream
Validate the problem
Test whether a real, painful problem exists before you write code: a problem brief, honest interviews and a written decision.
What you will have at the end
- A one-page problem brief
- An ordered list of assumptions with a status for each
- Interview notes in a single format
- A written decision to continue, change or stop, with the evidence behind it
The steps
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Write the problem brief
State who has the problem, what they do about it today and why that is not good enough, on one page. If you cannot write it plainly, you are not ready to interview anyone.
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List the assumptions that would sink the idea
Separate what you know from what you hope. Rank each assumption by how badly the idea fails if it is wrong, then test the top ones first.
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Find people who have the problem
Recruit from the group your brief describes, not from friends. Prefer people who dealt with the problem recently, because recent behavior is better evidence than opinion.
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Interview about the past, not the future
Ask what happened the last time, what they tried and what it cost them. Keep your solution out of the conversation. Write notes the same day, in the same format every time.
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Look for commitment, not compliments
Praise costs nothing. Evidence is time, access, money or a written pilot commitment. Record each person's response honestly, including a plain no.
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Decide, and write the decision down
Set what you learned against your assumptions. Choose to continue, change the problem or stop, and write the evidence behind the choice so someone else can read it.
The playbook at a glance
A cover, one public figure that frames the question this playbook answers, and the steps drawn as one path.
These figures describe the wider market, not WE's results.
The steps, in order
- Write the problem brief
- List the assumptions that would sink the idea
- Find people who have the problem
- Interview about the past, not the future
- Look for commitment, not compliments
- Decide, and write the decision down
What good looks like
Validation is finished when a stranger could read your notes and reach the same conclusion you did. That is a higher bar than “people liked the idea”, and it is the bar that protects your time.
- The problem brief names one kind of person, one situation and one thing they do about it today. It does not name a market.
- You have spoken with people who match the brief and do not know you, and every conversation is written down in the same format on the same day.
- Some of those people have given you something that costs them, such as an introduction, access to their data, a second conversation or a written commitment to try a pilot.
- You wrote down what would make you stop before the first interview, and you can say whether that line was crossed.
- The decision to continue, change the problem or stop is in writing, with the evidence beside it.
Decision aid: continue, change the problem or stop
Read the evidence you have against the rows below. Pick the row that matches what you saw, not the one you hoped for.
| What the evidence shows | What it usually means | The next move |
|---|---|---|
| Several unconnected people describe the same problem in similar words, and each has already tried to fix it | The problem is real for this group. | Continue. Write down who they are and move to design. |
| People agree the problem exists but have never tried to solve it | It may be a nuisance and not a priority. | Ask what would have to change for it to matter. Change the problem or stop if nothing would. |
| Different people describe different problems | Your brief is too broad. | Narrow the group or the situation and interview again. |
| People like the idea but offer nothing: no time, no access, no commitment | Politeness, not demand. | Treat the idea as untested and ask for a small commitment in the next conversation. |
| The only enthusiastic people are friends or people who already know you | You have not yet reached the market. | Recruit people from your brief who do not know you before you decide. |
| People already pay in money or time to work around the problem | There is a budget, and the workaround is your real competitor. | Map what they use today and what it costs them. Continue if you can describe a clear gap. |
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Why it costs you | Do this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Interviewing friends and family | They want to be kind, so their answers say little about the market. | Recruit people who match your problem brief and do not know you. |
| Describing your solution while you ask | People react to the idea instead of describing their own situation. | Ask about the last time the problem happened. Keep the idea out of the first conversation. |
| Counting compliments as demand | Praise is cheap and does not predict what a person will do. | Record what each person did, offered or committed to. |
| Stopping at the first enthusiastic yes | One keen person is a story, not a pattern. | Look for the same problem in similar words from several people who do not know each other. |
| Believing that nobody else does this | An empty field often means no one has a budget for the problem. | Map what customers use today, including spreadsheets and manual work, before you call the field empty. |
| Deciding the stopping rule after the results are in | You will bend the rule to fit the outcome you wanted. | Write the stop criteria before the first interview and check them at the end. |
Evidence to check before you move on
Move to Design the product when each of these is true and you could show it to a stranger.
- The problem brief reads clearly to someone outside your field in about two minutes.
- Every assumption has a status: supported, contradicted or still untested.
- Interview notes exist for every conversation, in one format, with the date.
- The decision to continue, change or stop is written down with the evidence beside it.
A “stop” is a useful result. It costs far less than building the wrong product, and your notes still show how you think.
Where WE can help
WE’s Customer Relations and Market Development line covers customer discovery: interviews, notes and a summary of what buyers actually said. It does not promise that conversations will turn into customers or revenue. The service line page lists what it covers and what it does not.
Sources
The steps and the decision aid draw on the articles and templates below. Each article names the public sources it read.
Start a readiness review
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A short PDF of the charts and sources, sent by email to the address you give.
Talk to WE : A question that does not fit a form.