5.8.2 (HL)—Unmet customer needs

An unmet customer need is a problem or desired outcome not adequately served by current alternatives. Discovering it can create opportunity, but the need must be real, reachable and valuable enough to pay for.

Observation, interviews and usage data reveal friction customers may not articulate. The business must distinguish a genuine need from a preference with no viable market.

Describe the user, problem, evidence and willingness-to-pay or adoption constraint before designing a solution.

Commuters struggle with unreliable transfer information; a simple live alert service solves a specific problem if users trust its accuracy.

An interesting idea is not evidence of an unmet need.