Continuous discovery
Continuous discovery is the habit of small, weekly touchpoints with customers feeding product decisions, rather than a single research phase at the start of a project. Coined by Teresa Torres, it keeps the Opportunity Solution Tree alive: each interview can add or sharpen opportunities, and decisions stay grounded in fresh evidence.
Related terms
Assumption
A belief a solution depends on. If it turns out to be wrong, the solution fails — so the risky ones are worth testing first.
Assumption mapping
Plotting each assumption by importance and evidence to find which to test first — the high-importance, low-evidence ones.
Customer interview
A story-based conversation that uncovers real needs — you ask about specific past moments, not hypotheticals or opinions.
North star metric
The single metric that best captures the value customers get from your product, used to align the whole team.
Opportunity
A customer need, pain, or desire — phrased as a problem (“I can’t tell which teams are active”), never as a solution.
Opportunity Solution Tree
A visual map connecting a measurable outcome to the opportunities, solutions, and assumptions you bet on to reach it.