2.3. Solution Hypothesis

When you are planning to introduce a new product or improve an existing one, you can’t fully rely on your senses or instincts. You need to use logic, analyse data, and test to be certain about your further decisions. Hence, hypotheses are valuable tools that help us with the steps that we need to take or actions that we need to implement.

Hypotheses that we test, confirmed or rejected, reveal the customers’ expectations, needs and wants, and allow to understand whether the products or services we are to develop are necessary and will have demand.

How to Formulate?

Solution hypothesis should be formulated as follows: People will pay for our solution with their time or money. Indeed, it is not only about the money. Sometimes we might understand that the solution we have provided is valuable, because customers are prepared to spend their time on it or anything for it. That is the strongest proof that the solution you have provided is necessary. An important thing that you need to remember: you should only formulate and run solution hypothesis if you know that there’s a problem that your solution is going to solve. Not the other way round. First, you discover that there’s a problem, and only then you develop, run, test, etc. solution hypotheses.

How to Check?

As with all other hypotheses, solution hypotheses are checked by doing CustDev. In order to understand whether your solution hypothesis will be validated, you need to collect data. You need to ask your customers, as your customers know best. But most importantly, you need to understand if at all there’s a problem that your solution will solve.

If there is no problem, your solution is worthless. Another way of checking is MVP. As a matter of fact, MVP is the earliest realisable solution that you can present to your customers to understand whether it will solve their problems and suit their needs. The advantage of MVP is that on the stage of presentation you can make observations and notice the customers’ reactions concerning the product, and, if necessary, carry out some changes or alterations that would make the customers feel happy. MLP is similar to MVP. After thoroughly analysing the market, getting acquainted with similar products, using minimum efforts you can design and introduce a MLP solution. With the help of MVP and/or MLP you are able to measure your success at an early point.

Interview Questions

Interview is a structured (in)formal conversation that takes place between two people, when one of them asks questions and the other answers. The purpose of an interview is to get more information about something. It is not about shoving in your product without even getting to know whether the customer really needs it. It is about asking.

So, what kind of questions can you ask? After you present your solution to the customer you may ask his opinion about the product, whether the provided solution will solve his problem or not. You can ask him to describe the strengths and weaknesses of the provided solutions, what he liked the most and what the least. You can also ask the customer if he knows any alternatives to your solution, to know if your competitiors have any benefits.

Finally, you can ask the customer if he would buy your solution at the moment of speaking or after implementing some changes. If the results of the interview are positive, if the client is interested in your solution, if he is ready to pay without further questions, then you are ready to go and develop the product.

Final Words

A strong hypothesis and its verification are a sign that you’re doing everything right. When planning to run or already running business, you must provide ideas, test them and make appropriate decision on a daily basis to provide the customers with more value. More value for the customer means higher price of the product, which altogether mean a strong financial background for you. Therefore, create and check as more hypotheses as you can and find the one (or two) that will eventually work out. By striving to make your customers happy, at the same time you are making yourself feel happy too.