Validate Demand
Does anyone actually want this, or are you building for an audience of one?
Listen for psychological triggers that instigate decision chains. What people say they want and what they actually do are different data sets.
Demand validation starts before the interview. Engineer more exposure to real struggling moments — then use this page to prove the signal is real. The venture discovery process turns validated demand into scored opportunities.
When you can explain a persons problem better than they can explain it themselves, then you have valuable story to build dreams upon.
Awareness Levels
Where your customer sits determines what you say.
| Level | They Know | Your Job |
|---|---|---|
| Unaware | Nothing about the problem | Show the problem exists |
| Problem Aware | The pain, not the solution | Name it better than they can |
| Solution Aware | Solutions exist, not yours | Differentiate |
| Product Aware | Your product, not convinced | Remove the hidden objection |
| Most Aware | Everything, ready to act | Reduce friction to zero |
Intent Signals
| Intent | Behaviour | Content Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Low | Browsing, not seeking | Lead with why — make the problem vivid |
| Medium | Comparing, could act | Why + how — show the path |
| High | Ready today | How to start + what to expect |
Validation Stack
Validate in this order. Kill early.
| Test | Method | Kill If... |
|---|---|---|
| Problem exists | Interviews, observation | Nobody describes the pain unprompted |
| People pay | Landing page, pre-orders, deposits | Attention without wallets |
| You can deliver | Prototype, pilot, manual version | You can sell but can't build |
| Unit economics work | Cost vs revenue per customer | Revenue doesn't cover cost at 10x |
JTBD Interviews
You understand the job when you can tell the pain-to-progress story better than the person living it. Reflective listening is the critical capability. Talk less than 10% of the time.
Four Moments
Every switch from old solution to new follows the same arc.
| Moment | Questions to Ask |
|---|---|
| First Thought | When did you realise something needed to change? How did the problem make you feel? |
| Consideration | What did you try first? Where did you look? What didn't work? |
| Decision | What almost stopped you? Who influenced you? What tipped it? |
| Reality | Did it match expectations? What new problems appeared? |
Interview Rules
- They talk, you listen. Never lead — "What did you think of X?" not "Did you like X?"
- Mirror back — "What I'm hearing is..." to confirm understanding
- When they request features, redirect — "Walk me through when you'd use that"
- Mark emotional moments. That's where the real job hides
Post-Interview
- Which questions got emotion? Those reveal the real job
- Which got bland answers? Revise or drop them
- What patterns repeat across interviews? That's your signal
Demand Evidence
Every validated demand produces a card. This is the typed artifact that flows into Create PRD Stories — no card, no PRD. Each Demand Card is a standalone markdown file (.invisible/context/demand-cards/<demand-card-id>.md) and must adhere to the schema below.
Demand Card Capture Schema (for .invisible/context/demand-cards/<demand-card-id>.md)
| Field | Capture Guideline | Required |
|---|---|---|
| demand_card_id | Unique identifier (e.g., jane-invoice-v1) | Yes (used in links) |
| named_person | Real or anonymized name (e.g., "Jane Doe") | Yes |
| source_link | Link to interview notes, call recording | Yes |
| verbatim_pain_quote | Direct quote from person's pain | Yes |
| awareness_level | From Awareness Levels table (this page) | Yes |
| pays_for_today | What they currently pay (money/time/stress) | Yes |
| struggling_moment | From Four Moments: First Thought Section | Yes |
| current_workaround | From Four Moments: Consideration Section | Yes |
| switch_trigger | From Four Moments: Decision Section | Yes |
| hidden_objection | From Sutherland's psycho-logic | Yes |
| kill_signal | What falsifies this demand | Yes |
The card forces you to name real people with real pain. "We think users want X" is a hypothesis. "Jane spends 3 days per month copy-pasting invoices and almost quit over it" is evidence.
The card forces you to name real people with real pain. "We think users want X" is a hypothesis. "Jane spends 3 days per month copy-pasting invoices and almost quit over it" is evidence.
Context
- Jobs To Be Done — The framework
- Advertising Industry — Awareness levels mapped to SME and enterprise buyers
- Idea Discovery — From validated demand to scored venture
- Business Development — From validation to plan
- Persuasion — Rhetoric that moves people
- Optimism & Luck — Engineer surface area for collisions
- Behavioural Economics — Psychological triggers
- Trust — Demand validation is trust verification: do people trust the problem statement enough to act?
- Predictions — Every demand hypothesis IS a prediction; track it
Links
- Airbnb JTBD — Switching trigger
- Business Banking JTBD — B2B job map
- CRM Purchase JTBD — Enterprise purchase
- Electric Car JTBD — Identity job
- Peloton JTBD — Aspiration vs reality
Questions
When someone describes their pain unprompted, are you hearing the job or projecting yours?
- What's the difference between a problem people complain about and one they'll pay to solve?
- If your interview subjects only give bland answers, is the problem your questions or your product?
- Which of the Four Moments reveals the most about what your product actually competes with?
- At what awareness level do most of your prospects stall — and what does that tell you about your messaging?
- What happens downstream when a Demand Evidence Card has a real named person vs an assumed archetype?