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The opportunity to scratch your own itch

We have seen in the previous chapter that mapping will help you to achieve the most, with as little as possible; in other words, maximize the opportunity, while minimizing the outputs.

Let's refresh the mapping lingo: The outputs are products of the map’s usage, whereas the outcomes are the results. The opportunity is the desired outcome we plan to achieve with the aid of the map. This is how we want to change the world. We should start the map with the opportunity.

The opportunity should not be defined as selling surplus food and drink to our visitors. If you approach a project or a business without solving the users' problem, the project might become a failure. In Chapter 5, Remote and Lab Tests for Map Creation, we will see the best way to find out what our users want, by researching them, through remote and lab-based user experience testing. Until that time, we need to settle for the second best solution, which happens to be free, the need to solve your own problem, in other words, scratch your own itch. Probably, the best summary of this mantra comes from Jason Fried, the founder and CEO of Basecamp:

When you solve your own problem, you create a tool that you're passionate about. And passion is key. Passion means you'll truly use it and care about it. And that's the best way to get others to feel passionate about it too. (Getting Real: The Smarter, Faster, Easier Way to Build a Successful Web Application)

So, we will create the web store that we would love to use. Although, as the cliché goes, there is no I in team, but there is certainly an I in writer. My ideal e-commerce site could be different to yours.

When following the examples of this chapter, try to think of your itch, your ideal web store, and use my words only as guidance. You can create the user story map for any other project, ideally something you are passionate about. I would encourage you to pick something that's not a webshop, or maybe not even a digital product if you feel adventurous.

You need to tell the story of your passion. My passion is reducing food waste (that's also the poor excuse I'm using when looking at the bathroom scale). Here is my attempt to phrase the opportunity:

The opportunity is where our shoppers want to save money while reducing global food waste. They understand and accept what surplus food and drink means, and they are happy to shop with us.

Actually, the first sentence would be enough. Remember, you want to have a simple one or two sentence opportunity definition.

I ended up working for two tapestry webshops as a consultant. Not at the same time, though, and the second company approached me mostly as the result of how successful the first one was. It's a relatively small industry in Europe, and business owners and decision-makers know each other by name.
I still recall the pleasant experience I had meeting the owners of the first webshop. They invited me to dinner at a homely restaurant in Budapest. We had a great discussion, and they shared their passion. They were an elderly couple, so they must have spent most of their life in the communist era. In the early 90s, they decided to start a business, selling tapestry in a brick and mortar store. Obviously, they had no background in management or running a capitalist business, but that didn't matter, they only wanted to help people to make their homes beautiful. They loved tapestry, so they started importing and selling it. When I visited their physical store, I saw them talking to a customer. They spent more than an hour discussing interior decoration with someone, who just popped by to ask the square meter prices of tapestry. Tapestry is not sold per square meter, but they did the math for the customer among many other things. They showed her many different patterns and types and discussed application methods. After leaving the shop, the customer knew more about tapestry than most other people ever will.
Fast forward to the second contract. I only talked to the client on Skype, and that's perfectly fine because most of my clients don't invite me to dinner. I saw many differences in this client's approach to the previous one. At some point, I asked him “Why do you sell tapestry? Is tapestry your passion?” He was a bit startled by the question, but he promptly replied: “To make money, why else? You need to be pretty crazy to have tapestry as a passion.” Seven years later, the second business no longer exists, yet the first one is still successful. Treating your work as your passion works wonders.

Passion is an important contributor to the success of an idea. Whenever possible, pour your passion into a product and summarize it as your opportunity.