Purpose
The method helps clarify customer problems, solution ideas, and evidence concretely. It separates problem, assumption, solution, and evidence. The result is captured as Interview Notes, Opportunity Themes, and Customer Quotes.
Product Discovery
Opportunity Interview
Clarifies customer problems, solution ideas, and evidence by framing an opportunity hypothesis, recruiting participants, and turning insights into opportunities.
Which situations, blockers, and coping strategies indicate whether the opportunity hypothesis is real and relevant for the target group?
MediumWorkshop + async30-60 min je Interview
How it works
The team follows the steps: frame an opportunity hypothesis, recruit participants, ask about situations and jobs, extract patterns and pain points, and formulate opportunities. Each step is captured visibly. At the end, Interview Notes, Opportunity Themes, and Customer Quotes are available so decisions, tests, or actions can follow directly.
Visual orientation
Method sketch for a quick mental model.
Flow
- 1Frame an opportunity hypothesis
- 2Recruit participants
- 3Ask about situations and jobs
- 4Extract patterns and pain points
- 5Formulate opportunities
The runsheet guides execution with 5 phases, timeboxes, 5 pitfalls, and clear stop criteria.
Open runsheetIdeal for
- Continuous Discovery
- Problem Framing
- Opportunity Mapping
Not good for
- Usability feedback on specific designs
- Sales pitches
Deep dive
In detail
Opportunity Interview follows a clear working logic: frame an opportunity hypothesis, recruit participants, ask about situations and jobs, extract patterns and pain points, and formulate opportunities. This turns the method into a visible thinking process rather than only a conversation. Participants move step by step from raw material, observations, or options toward a shared structure. The result is Interview Notes, Opportunity Themes, and Customer Quotes that make decisions, learning, or further planning actionable.
Facilitation
Prepare a clear guiding question, the right information, and a visible workspace. Plan about 30-60 min per interview with 5-12 interviews and use the format either in a workshop or asynchronously. The facilitation needs noticeable structure and preparation; short timeboxes, visible intermediate results, and a parking lot for open questions help.
Output artifacts
Interview NotesOpportunity ThemesCustomer Quotes
Artifact templates
Opportunity Interview Working TemplateCompact working template for Opportunity Interview with context, input, output artifacts, and next step.markdown
Opportunity Interview Working TemplateCompact working template for Opportunity Interview with context, input, output artifacts, and next step.
markdownopportunity-interview-working-template.md
Compact working template for Opportunity Interview with context, input, output artifacts, and next step.
Opportunity Interview Working Template
Goal
Explores situations, needs, and opportunities without selling a solution too early.
Context
When and for what do we use this method?
Input
Which data, observations, decisions, or materials are available?
Execution
Short notes along the runsheet.
Output artifacts
- Interview Notes:
- Opportunity Themes:
- Customer Quotes:
Assumptions and open questions
- ...
Decision / Next step
Owner, date, and success signal.
When to choose differently
Short decision aid for existing alternatives.
Problem Interview
Statt Opportunity Interview, wenn du mit Problem Interview ein Problem mit Betroffenen schärfen, bevor du Lösungen thematisierst willst.
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Statt Opportunity Interview, wenn du mit Problem Interview ein Problem mit Betroffenen schärfen, bevor du Lösungen thematisierst willst.
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