Aglet

Triage Product Solution Alternatives

Once a problem is clear, a team can still choose among a product change, process change, reuse, or deferment. Triage the alternatives before a favored design becomes inevitable. Describe the user outcome first, then map what each path would change and leave untouched.

Establish what is happening

  1. Define the outcome

    State the user situation, desired result, current barrier, and constraints that matter. Remove solution labels from the problem frame. Record evidence for the opportunity separately from evidence about any candidate approach.

  2. List distinct paths

    Describe product, service, process, reuse, and defer options at comparable levels. Note dependencies, affected teams, user learning, and ongoing work. Avoid presenting small variants of one interface as genuinely different alternatives.

  3. Bound the comparison

    Choose criteria, excluded options, evidence gaps, and the decision owner. Flag paths that are not currently testable or that move burden to another group. Keep a reversible exploration available when the evidence is thin and the choice is still uncertain.

What to carry forward

The triage output is an outcome-first alternative set with constraints, affected parties, comparison criteria, and open evidence. Stop when options are genuinely distinct and comparable. Keep a path provisional when feasibility or user impact is only assumed.

Technical background: IDEO research guidance.

Keep the decision with the work.

Use a Work Item in Aglet to record the problem, the evidence you have, and the next decision. Add an owner and priority, then keep updates in the discussion so the next person can follow the reasoning.

Create an account See the product workflow