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Practice / Product & Technology

Market need and investment
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A useful, supportable product

Invest in products people need and can use.

Test the problem before committing to a build. Define the first useful version and what people will need to adopt and support it.

Decide before you build

The business result

Understand the cause before choosing a fix.

Value path
Market need and investment → A useful, supportable product
The question we investigate
Is the need worth investing in, and can we deliver a useful first version that people will use?
When this helps
You are considering a product, platform or internal tool, but the user need, first-version scope or investment case is not clear.
Why it matters
Finishing a build does not mean it creates value. The need, adoption plan, support arrangements and success measures must be clear too.

Assess → Transform → Operate → Scale

Understand the problem, make the change and keep it working.

The assessment linked to this practice covers Assess. Any Transform, Operate or Scale phase has its own scope and requires approval after the findings are reviewed.

  1. Assess

    Understand the problem

    Check the evidence and how the work happens. Decide which problem needs attention first.

  2. Transform

    Put the change into practice

    Agree the scope, responsibilities and success measures, then implement the chosen changes.

  3. Operate

    Make the change hold

    Support the change in day-to-day use and review whether it is delivering the intended result.

  4. Scale

    Repeat what works

    Use results from day-to-day work to decide what to improve or extend, retaining the conditions that made it work.

Problems you may recognise

This may be relevant if...

  1. 01An idea has support but little evidence from users or the market
  2. 02Teams disagree on the first useful version
  3. 03The build is discussed before adoption and support
  4. 04You need to assess the commercial and technical case together

What the work should clarify

What matters, who acts and what happens next.

  • 01A product direction with supporting evidence and known limits
  • 02A defined first-version scope
  • 03The feasibility, adoption and support requirements
  • 04A recommendation to build, buy, change, test or stop

Capabilities

The tools follow the problem.

  • Product discovery
  • MVP definition
  • Solution architecture
  • Applied technology strategy
  • Platform strategy
  • Application and product development

Tafadzwa leads the assessment and brings the work together. Specialists can join when the agreed scope needs their expertise. These capabilities do not imply a large permanent team.

Where to start

Product Opportunity Sprint

Best for

Founders, product teams and internal innovation leaders considering a new digital product, platform or automation tool.

Decision question

Is this need worth investing in, and what must the first useful version prove?

Decide before you build →

Preview of deliverables

  • A decision brief covering the problem, users, intended result, evidence and assumptions
  • An opportunity assessment covering the market, commercial case, alternatives and evidence gaps
  • A user and use-case model with an MVP scope and reasons for including or excluding features

Decision the engagement supports

A decision to build, buy, change, test or stop, with a defined minimum viable product (MVP), open questions and requirements for the next phase.