Startup / LEARNING STUDIO
I have a product idea but do not know whether it solves a need.
A specific group and situation; a product is not required.
Start with diagnostics; skip explanations you can already apply independently.
Describe who is trying to do what, the trigger, existing workarounds and costs. Students need AI is unbounded; group leaders losing changes during submission is observable. Users, buyers and payers may differ; record each.
List assumptions about existence, severity, access, willingness to change and delivery. Test the assumption that would invalidate the idea first. Praise is opinion; costs and active workarounds are behavioral evidence, but not market-size estimates. Define continue, narrow and stop conditions.
Worked example · fictional
Fictional: two friends praise a proposed campus AI assistant.
Narrow to version checking by group leaders and observe a real handover; willingness to pay and market size remain unknown.
Treat friends saying they would use it as validated demand.
Attitudes become false behavioral evidence and encourage premature features.
Investigate a recent event, costs and counterexamples.
Read/watch evaluating a real problem, its frequency and existing alternatives.
Output: Create a problem hypothesis card separating facts and assumptions.
Free public course; progress and community tools may require free registration. · Source checked 2026-10-26
Watch 00:00–03:33 on testing business hypotheses with customers; the source also links a transcript.
Output: Turn three opinions into questions about observable behavior.
Free public video; use the original clip if the transcript is unavailable. · Source checked 2026-10-26