Adaptable for startups, freelance, and corporate environments

1. PROBLEM & OPPORTUNITY DEFINITION

Core Problem

• What problem are we solving? (Stay solution-agnostic)
• Why does this problem matter right now? (Timing, urgency, business context)
• Who experiences this problem most acutely? (Internal teams, customers, partners)
• What's the cost of inaction? (Revenue loss, user churn, competitive disadvantage, operational inefficiency)

Root Cause Analysis

• Why is this happening? (Ask 5 Whys to get to root cause)
• What have you already tried? (Past attempts, why they didn't work)
• What evidence or data led you to identify this as a problem? (Metrics, user feedback, support tickets, observations)

Current State

• How are people solving this today? (Workarounds, manual processes, competitor tools)
• What's working well in the current approach that we should preserve?
• What existing systems, tools, or processes touch this problem space?

2. GOALS & SUCCESS METRICS

Business Objectives

• What specific outcomes would make this project successful? (Be concrete - revenue targets, user growth, efficiency gains)