What Is the Opportunity-Solution-Tree Skill in PM Skills? A Complete Guide

The opportunity-solution-tree skill in PM Skills codifies Teresa Torres’s Opportunity Solution Tree framework, providing a structured hierarchy that maps desired outcomes to customer opportunities, solutions, and validation experiments.

The opportunity-solution-tree skill is a standalone reference in the phuryn/pm-skills repository designed to help product teams structure continuous discovery work. Unlike traditional CLI-based tools, this skill operates as an agent-facing framework that guides AI assistants through the systematic process of opportunity mapping and solution generation. It is defined in the core skill file located at pm-product-discovery/skills/opportunity-solution-tree/SKILL.md.

Understanding the Opportunity-Solution-Tree Structure

The skill implements a four-layer hierarchical structure that connects strategic goals to tactical experiments. Each layer represents a distinct level of abstraction in the product discovery process.

Desired Outcome (Top Node)

The desired outcome sits at the root of the tree as a single, measurable metric derived from OKRs or product strategy. According to the skill definition in SKILL.md (line 16), this node must represent a specific target such as "increase 7‑day retention to 40 %" rather than vague aspirations. The skill enforces a strict one outcome at a time rule to maintain focus and prevent scope creep during discovery.

Opportunities (Second Level)

Opportunities represent real customer problems discovered through research, positioned as the primary objects of work rather than features. As documented in SKILL.md (line 18), the skill prioritizes these using the Opportunity Score formula: Importance × (1‑Satisfaction). This calculation ensures teams address high-impact problems where customer satisfaction is currently low, maximizing the potential value of discovery efforts.

Solutions (Third Level)

For each opportunity, the skill mandates generating three or more solutions before committing to any single approach. The SKILL.md file (line 20) specifies that solutions should be generated collaboratively by the Product Trio—the combination of Product Manager, Designer, and Engineer. This collaborative constraint prevents premature convergence on a single idea and ensures diverse perspectives inform the solution space.

Experiments (Bottom Level)

Experiments form the leaf nodes of the tree, designed as fast, cheap tests that validate solution assumptions across four dimensions: value, usability, viability, and feasibility. As noted in SKILL.md (line 22), these experiments emphasize "skin‑in‑the‑game" validation—tangible tests that provide clear evidence for killing or advancing solutions. Failed experiments trigger the iterative branching of new ideas rather than modification of the original solution.

Core Principles of the OST Skill

The opportunity-solution-tree skill enforces five disciplined principles extracted from lines 24‑31 of SKILL.md:

• One outcome at a time – Maintain strict focus on a single metric to prevent dilution of discovery efforts.
• Opportunities, not features – Treat customer problems as the primary currency of product work.
• Generate ≥ 3 solutions – Require multiple solution ideas per opportunity before selection.
• Iterative validation – Kill solutions that fail experiments and branch new ideas rather than iterating on failed concepts.
• Continuous update – Refresh the tree weekly as new insights emerge from ongoing research.

How to Use the Opportunity-Solution-Tree Skill

The opportunity-solution-tree skill does not expose a dedicated CLI command. Instead, agents (such as Claude) invoke it automatically when prompts require structuring discovery work, as explained in the repository root README.md.

Input Requirements

According to SKILL.md (lines 36‑40), the skill requires three inputs:

1. A clearly defined desired outcome
2. Raw research data containing customer insights
3. Optional pre-existing opportunities or solution ideas

The Six-Step Process

When invoked, the skill executes a structured workflow:

1. Defines the desired outcome based on the input metric.
2. Extracts opportunities from the supplied research data.
3. Prioritizes the top 2‑3 opportunities using the Opportunity Score.
4. Generates three distinct solutions per prioritized opportunity.
5. Proposes rapid experiments for the most promising solution combinations.
6. Returns a markdown hierarchy representing the complete tree structure.

Practical Implementation Examples

Prompt Template for AI Agents

When leveraging the opportunity-solution-tree skill through an AI assistant, use this structured prompt template:

Build an Opportunity Solution Tree for the outcome: {{OUTCOME}}.

Research data:
{{RESEARCH_SNIPPETS}}

Provide:
1. A list of 3‑5 opportunities (customer‑centric phrasing).
2. For each opportunity, 3 solution ideas.
3. For each solution, one experiment (hypothesis, method, metric, success threshold).
4. The full tree in markdown hierarchy.

The assistant processes this template by calling the opportunity‑solution‑tree skill, which follows the step‑by‑step process outlined in SKILL.md (lines 41‑55).

Markdown Output Structure

The skill generates hierarchical markdown that clearly visualizes the tree structure:

## Opportunity Solution Tree – Increase 7‑day Retention to 40 %

- **Outcome**: Increase 7‑day retention to 40 %
  - **Opportunity 1**: Users abandon onboarding after step 3
    - **Solution A**: Reduce onboarding steps from 5 → 3
      - **Experiment**: A/B test shortened flow; metric = completion rate
    - **Solution B**: Add progress indicator
      - **Experiment**: Show indicator; metric = time‑on‑step
    - **Solution C**: Provide inline help tooltip
      - **Experiment**: Tooltip click‑through; metric = help‑usage rate
  - **Opportunity 2**: Users forget to return after first week
    - **Solution A**: Push notification reminder
      - **Experiment**: Send reminder; metric = day‑7 return rate
    - **Solution B**: In‑app gamified streak badge
      - **Experiment**: Badge rollout; metric = repeat‑login count
    - **Solution C**: Email recap of benefits
      - **Experiment**: Subject line test; metric = open‑to‑return rate

Summary

The opportunity-solution-tree skill provides a rigorous framework for continuous product discovery:

• It structures work into four hierarchical levels: desired outcome, opportunities, solutions, and experiments.
• It enforces the Opportunity Score calculation (Importance × (1‑Satisfaction)) for prioritization.
• It requires collaborative solution generation by the Product Trio and mandates at least three solutions per opportunity.
• It operates as an agent-invoked skill without CLI commands, processing natural language prompts into structured discovery trees.
• The complete skill definition resides in pm-product-discovery/skills/opportunity-solution-tree/SKILL.md within the phuryn/pm-skills repository.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the primary purpose of the opportunity-solution-tree skill?

The opportunity-solution-tree skill serves to codify Teresa Torres’s Opportunity Solution Tree framework into a reusable agent skill. It transforms unstructured product discovery into a disciplined hierarchy that connects strategic outcomes to validated experiments, preventing premature commitment to unproven solutions.

How does the OST skill prioritize opportunities?

The skill uses the Opportunity Score formula defined in SKILL.md (line 18): Importance × (1‑Satisfaction). This calculation identifies high-value customer problems where current satisfaction is low, ensuring teams focus on the most impactful discovery targets rather than incremental improvements.

Can I use the opportunity-solution-tree skill without a CLI command?

Yes. The skill is designed specifically for agent invocation rather than command-line usage. You trigger it by prompting an AI assistant (like Claude) to build an Opportunity Solution Tree, providing the desired outcome and research data as inputs. The skill automatically structures the response according to the framework defined in SKILL.md.

Where is the opportunity-solution-tree skill defined in the repository?

The skill is defined in pm-product-discovery/skills/opportunity-solution-tree/SKILL.md, which contains the complete structural definition, principles, and process steps. The skill is listed among other discovery-related skills in pm-product-discovery/README.md, and the repository root README.md explains that it functions as a standalone reference invoked by agents.

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