An idea becomes more useful when tied to a specific customer problem. State the current workaround and the cost of leaving the problem unresolved.

Worked example

Customer: small business owner. Problem: cannot prepare a reliable weekly sales report. Current workaround: manual spreadsheet copying.

Put it into practice

Write a problem statement and explain how you would recognize a customer who experiences it.

Check your understanding

• Explain the main idea in your own words.
• Compare your result with the worked example and identify any assumptions you made.
• Record one question or edge case to discuss with your instructor.

Connect this to your project

Prepare a validation plan for a small skills-training business with customer evidence, unit economics, and a launch experiment.

Keep the output of this activity in your project folder. You will use it when you review and present your final work.