Free tools · Elle Anderson · andersonco.uk

The Opportunity Brief

One page, before anyone writes a roadmap line or books a kickoff. If the brief cannot be completed honestly, the opportunity is not yet understood, and that is worth knowing now rather than several sprints later.

1. The customer problem

Describe it without naming any technology or solution. Quote real evidence: tickets, interviews, numbers.

2. Who exactly has this problem

A segment you could phone, not "users". How many of them, and how often does it bite?

3. What winning looks like

One falsifiable measure with a number and a date. If you can't be wrong, it isn't a target.

4. Why now

What changed: market, regulation, capability, cost. "It's on the strategy" is not a reason.

5. The hypothesis

We believe that [change] for [who] will result in [outcome]. We will know within [time] by [measure].

6. The smallest true test

The cheapest thing that could prove the hypothesis wrong. Weeks, not quarters.

7. Options we're declining

At least two alternatives considered, and why this beats them. No options means no decision was made.

8. Risks and gotchas

What kills this? Include the boring ones: data quality, dependencies, adoption. If AI is involved: what happens when it's wrong, and what does a wrong answer cost?

9. The decision requested

Fund the test, staff the team, kill it or wait. Name the decider and the date.

How I use this: in a room, together, in under an hour. The arguments the brief starts are the point. A brief that sails through unchallenged has usually been written to pass rather than to test, and that tells you something too.