Assumption Mapping
Surface and prioritise riskiest product assumptions before investing in build.
Methodology
A structured approach to finding why products underperform and what to fix first.
| Stage | Typical problem | How it appears | How I help |
|---|---|---|---|
| Idea | The team believes in the concept but has not validated who will use it or why. | Pitch decks outpace customer conversations. Features are listed before problems are confirmed. | I clarify who the customer is, what job the product must do, and which assumptions are riskiest to test first. |
| MVP | Something ships, but early users do not return or cannot reach first value. | Sign-ups without activation. Long onboarding. Debates about what to build next without evidence. | I map the path to first value, cut scope to what matters, and validate with real users before more engineering. |
| Early customers | A small group uses the product, but growth is fragile and feedback is noisy. | Champions love it; most accounts go quiet. Support themes repeat. Roadmap reacts to the loudest request. | I identify what separates retained users from the rest and turn that into repeatable onboarding and workflow fixes. |
| Product-market fit | Demand appears, but the product creaks under real operational load. | Sales outpaces product readiness. Edge cases multiply. Teams patch instead of fixing root causes. | I find structural friction in core workflows and prioritise fixes that protect retention while you scale. |
| Growth | Acquisition works, but conversion, activation or retention leak value. | Marketing spend rises; unit economics do not. New features ship unused. Churn hides in averages. | I trace funnel leaks, support patterns and user behaviour to find where growth is lost — and what to fix first. |
| Scaling | Complexity compounds — more roles, markets and systems, inconsistent experience. | Every team ships differently. Enterprise customers struggle. Training and support costs climb. | I simplify workflows for multiple personas, align patterns across surfaces, and reduce cognitive load without removing capability. |
Frameworks
Opportunity Solution Tree
Connect business outcomes to opportunities and solution options with clear traceability.
Jobs-to-be-Done Interviews
Understand what users hire your product to do, not just what features they request.
Service Blueprinting
Align customer-facing experience with operational capabilities and backstage processes.
Something is not working. Let's find out what.
A direct conversation about your product, the symptoms you see, and whether an investigation would be worth it. No pitch deck.