Solutions explained

A solution is a delivery option: a concrete way you might respond to one or more opportunities. Opportunities describe demand. Solutions describe work. Keeping them apart means that planning or shipping a solution never erases the customer problem it addresses.

Who can do this: people who can manage solutions and record decisions (Member, Admin, Owner).

Create a solution

1. Open Solutions and choose to create one.
2. Enter a title (3 to 200 characters) and a description (10 to 5,000 characters).
3. Link at least one opportunity. The first one you pick is the primary; others are supporting.
4. Choose an owner from your active members. It defaults to you.
5. Save.

Propose with AI can draft the title, description and links from opportunities that have no solution yet. It only fills the form. You review it and submit it yourself.

The lifecycle

A solution moves through these statuses:

• Draft. An idea being shaped.
• Evaluating. Being weighed against alternatives.
• Planned. Approved and scheduled.
• Building. In progress.
• Shipped. Released to customers. This is final.
• Abandoned. Dropped, which archives it.

Moves forward and back are allowed where they make sense, for example from building back to planned. Shipped can only be reached from building. An abandoned solution can return to draft.

Every move needs a rationale of 3 to 5,000 characters. See Recording decisions.

One solution, many problems

A solution can address several opportunities, and an opportunity can have several solutions. Compare options side by side by linking more than one solution to the same problem.

Custom fields

Add your own fields, such as estimate or quarter, in Settings › Custom fields. Opportunities and solutions have separate field catalogs.

Removing a solution

• Archive by moving it to abandoned. Shipped solutions cannot be archived.
• Delete is possible only for a draft that has no decisions or milestones. Anything with history can be archived but not deleted.

When a solution ships

The opportunities it addresses stay open until you mark them addressed. CustomerSaid lists the open ones and prompts you. It also shows which customers to tell. See Broadcasts.

Tips

• Write descriptions that explain the approach, not just the feature name.
• Link every relevant opportunity so the "who asked for this" list is complete.