Overview
Opportunity Scoring is a quantitative method for identifying unmet customer needs. Customers rate each desired outcome on Importance and current Satisfaction. High importance + low satisfaction = biggest opportunity.
When to Use
When you have many possible areas to focus on and want data to determine which customer outcomes to prioritise.
How to Apply It
- Define a list of desired customer outcomes — what they're trying to achieve, not features
- Survey customers: 'How important is achieving [outcome]?' (1-5)
- Survey customers: 'How satisfied are you with current solutions for [outcome]?' (1-5)
- Opportunity Score = Importance + max(Importance - Satisfaction, 0)
- Rank outcomes by Opportunity Score — highest = biggest opportunities
- Focus product investment on top-ranked unmet outcomes
Examples in Practice
🎵 Spotify
Survey 500 listeners on 20 outcomes. 'Always have music matching my current mood without searching' scores Importance=4.7, Satisfaction=2.1. Opportunity=7.3. 'See what friends are listening to' scores Importance=2.4, Satisfaction=3.2. Low opportunity. Mood-matching is the clear product priority.
📊 Trade Surveillance
Please contact the author for more information on these examples at linkedin.com/in/kshitijrege
Common Pitfalls
- Using too small a sample — aim for at least 30 respondents per segment
- Defining outcomes as features rather than desired end results
- Ignoring that different customer segments have very different opportunity landscapes
Origin
Tony Ulwick — Outcome-Driven Innovation
1991
Further Reading
- What Customers Want — Tony Ulwick
Related Frameworks