Discover Outcomes
Overview
Define outcomes that describe measurable behavior change or business impact, not features. Build a clear outcome ladder so opportunity discovery and solution ideas have a shared target.
Position in Workflow
Step 1 of product strategy workflow:
/discover-outcomes- Define outcomes (THIS)/discover-opportunities- Identify opportunities/ideate-solutions- Explore solution concepts/discover-assumptions- Validate with experiments
Inputs (ask if missing, max 5)
- Business or product goal (north star)
- Target segment or market
- Baseline metrics or current state
- Time horizon for change
- Constraints (budget, compliance, strategy)
Workflow
- Separate outcomes from outputs
- Outcomes are measurable changes; outputs are features or deliverables.
- Outcome laddering (OST-style)
- Start with the top-level outcome.
- Ask: "What must be true for this to happen?" to create 2-3 supporting levels.
- Write precise outcome statements
- Use actor + behavior change + context + metric.
- Attach metrics and baselines
- Include leading and lagging indicators.
- Specify baseline, target, and time window.
- Prioritize outcomes
- Score impact, controllability, time-to-learn, and strategic fit.
- Handoff
- If outcomes are set, move to
/discover-opportunitiesor/discover-assumptions.
- If outcomes are set, move to
Outcome Statement Templates
Increase [actor behavior] in [context] from [baseline] to [target] within [time].
Reduce [friction/cost/risk] for [actor] during [context] by [amount] within [time].
Output Format
## Outcome Discovery
### Context Summary
[1-3 sentences]
### Outcome Ladder
- Level 1 (Top outcome): ...
- Level 2: ...
- Level 3: ...
### Metrics
- Outcome: ...
- Leading indicators: ...
- Lagging indicators: ...
- Baseline: ...
- Target: ...
- Time window: ...
### Prioritized Outcomes
1) ... (impact X, controllability X, time-to-learn X, strategic fit X)
2) ...
### Open Questions
- ...
### Next Step
Proceed to opportunity discovery. Run `/discover-opportunities`.
Quick Reference
- Outcomes = behavior or business change; outputs = features.
- Always include baseline + target + time window.
- Keep ladder depth to 2-3 levels unless complexity demands more.
Common Mistakes
- Writing features as outcomes
- No baseline or time window
- Skipping leading indicators
- Ladders that are too deep or too vague