JTBD Opportunity Scoring

Use when prioritizing features, stories, or backlog items based on customer-defined outcomes. Opportunity scoring (Ulwick's ODI) replaces gut-feel prioritization with evidence-based ranking.

Outcome Statements

Every customer need expressed as a desired outcome following strict format:

[Direction] + the [metric] + [object of control] + [contextual clarifier]

• Direction: "Minimize" or "Maximize"
• Metric: time, likelihood, number, or frequency

Examples

• "Minimize the time it takes to identify the root cause of a production issue"
• "Minimize the likelihood of deploying untested code to production"
• "Maximize the likelihood that acceptance criteria cover all relevant scenarios"
• "Minimize the number of iterations needed to reach shared understanding"
• "Minimize the frequency of false positive alerts during monitoring"

Quality Checks

Outcome statement must be: Solution-free (no specific technology) | Measurable (ratable on importance/satisfaction 1-5) | Controllable (customer can assess improvement) | Unambiguous (same interpretation by all stakeholders)

Deriving Outcome Statements

Walk the 8-step job map (see jtbd-core skill) and generate 2-3 per step. Produces 16-24 outcome statements per job -- comprehensive view of customer needs.

Job Map Step	Outcome Statement Pattern
Define	"Minimize the time to determine [what is needed]"
Locate	"Minimize the likelihood of missing [required input]"
Prepare	"Minimize the time to set up [environment/context]"
Confirm	"Minimize the likelihood of proceeding with [invalid state]"
Execute	"Minimize the time to complete [core action]"
Monitor	"Minimize the likelihood of [undetected failure]"
Modify	"Minimize the time to recover from [exception]"
Conclude	"Minimize the likelihood of [incomplete cleanup]"

The Opportunity Algorithm