Example data. Fieldnote is a fictional company used to fill all 61 boards, so the examples tell one consistent story.
Post-PMF Fieldnote, quarter kick-off: the trio (Karim, Ana, Tom) builds the tree for the outcome 'cut time to first 10 interventions from 14 days to 5'.
What the team took away
The tree exposed that two of three opportunities are about the company, not the app. The onboarding kit was tested before any code.
How to run it
Preparation
Invite the product trio only: PM, designer, tech lead. The tree is theirs; stakeholders see it later.
Have the outcome ready: one measurable metric the team owns this quarter, agreed with leadership. Without it, postpone.
Bring the synthesis of your last 6 to 10 interviews: the affinity map themes or the journey pain points.
On the board: the outcome at the top, then empty levels for opportunities, solutions, experiments.
Agenda
15 min
Lock the outcome Write it at the root as a number to move: 'raise week-4 retention from 32 to 40 %'. If it is an output ('ship the new onboarding'), rewrite it.
40 min
List opportunities From the research, post every need, pain, or desire heard from customers, in their words. Opportunities are not solutions: 'I never know if my invite was received' yes, 'add notifications' no.
30 min
Structure the opportunity space Group opportunities into parents and children. A parent is a moment in the journey; children are specific pains inside it. Cut anything that does not plausibly move the outcome.
20 min
Choose the target opportunity Compare sibling opportunities on size (how many customers), frequency, and confidence. Pick one. One. Write why the others wait.
30 min
Generate solutions Under the target opportunity: at least 3 solution ideas, each one written by a different trio member first, then discussed. Cross out the solution that was in someone's head before the session.
15 min
Define the first experiments For each surviving solution: the riskiest assumption and a test for it this sprint. Post it as a leaf under the solution.
Pitfalls
Do not put solutions at the opportunity level. If the sticky names a feature, it goes down one level or in the trash.
Do not pick three target opportunities to keep everyone happy. The tree exists to make one choice visible.
An outcome the team cannot influence within a quarter ('grow revenue') makes the tree useless. Pick the leading metric the team really moves.
Afterwards
The tree lives in the team's space and is updated weekly during discovery. The experiments go to the experiment board. Show the tree, not a slide, when leadership asks why you build what you build.