Product Management playbook/Module 1 · Foundations

Day 05 / 100 · Foundations · Problem space vs solution space

Fall in love with the problem.

Stakeholders arrive with solutions. Your job is to walk them back to the problem before anyone starts building.

Problem space

Understand First

  • Who has this problem?
  • How painful is it, and how often?
  • How do they cope today?
  • What does it cost them?

Solution space

Then Explore

  • What are three ways to solve it?
  • What's the cheapest test?
  • What would we prototype first?
  • What must be true for it to work?

01 · Discover

Go wide on the problem

02 · DEFINE

Pick the one worth solving

03 · DEVELOP

Go wide on solutions

04 · DELIVER

Build, test, ship

Source: Design Council ↗

Problem first. Solution second.