In a saturated market, guessing what your users want is a high-risk gamble 🎲. Many product teams fall into the trap of building features based on loud feedback rather than actual market gaps. To achieve true Outcome-Driven Innovation, you need a mathematical approach to empathy 📊.
At Quikest, we utilize opportunity scoring to strip away the noise and pinpoint exactly where a product is failing to meet user expectations 🎯.
What is Opportunity Scoring? 🤔
Opportunity scoring is a quantitative research methodology used to identify the gaps between how important a "job" is to a user and how satisfied they are with current solutions.
This framework is a pillar of the Jobs to be Done (JTBD) theory. Instead of asking users what features they want, we ask them what outcomes they are trying to achieve. By measuring the "Importance" and "Satisfaction" of these outcomes, we can calculate an Opportunity Score.
The Formula for Discovery 🧪
To identify an underserved need, we use a standard formula popularized by Tony Ulwick:
$$Importance + \max(Importance - Satisfaction, 0) = Opportunity$$
How to read the results:
- High Importance + Low Satisfaction: This is your "Gold Mine." 💰 These are underserved needs ripe for innovation.
- High Importance + High Satisfaction: These are "Table Stakes." 🃏 You must maintain these, but don't expect new growth here.
- Low Importance: Regardless of satisfaction, these are "Irrelevant." 🛑 Avoid investing resources here.
Implementing Opportunity Scoring at Quikest 🛠️
At Quikest, we don't just look at data; we look for the story behind the numbers. Here is our tactical approach to finding your next big win:
- Define the "Job to be Done" 📋 We start by defining the core functional job. For example, a user doesn't want a "faster database"; they want to "retrieve customer records without delay."
- Capture Desired Outcomes ✨ We list 50–100 specific "outcome statements" related to that job. These focus on time, precision, and reliability.
- Quantify via User Surveys 📝 We ask a representative sample of your target audience to rate each outcome on two scales:
- How important is this outcome to you? (1–10)
- How satisfied are you with your current solution? (1–10)
- Map the Opportunity Landscape We plot these scores to visualize the market gaps.
Why Strategic Teams Choose Opportunity Scoring 🚀
The beauty of this niche framework lies in its objectivity. At Quikest, we've found it provides three major advantages for product leaders:
- Eliminates Internal Bias: Decisions are based on mathematical user pain, not the "highest-paid person's opinion" (HiPPO).
- Predicts Success: Features built to address high-opportunity scores have a statistically higher success rate in the market 📈.
- Niche Dominance: It allows you to find "micro-segments" of users who are specifically underserved by the giant, "all-in-one" competitors 🔍.
Final Thoughts 💡
Innovation isn't about being the most creative person in the room; it’s about being the most observant. By applying opportunity scoring and focusing on Jobs to be Done, Quikest helps you stop chasing trends and start solving problems that people are willing to pay for 💸.
