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CH03-EX01. The Bone Soup Restaurant Case: Translating a Field Problem into an Attribute

  • Related Chapter: CH03 (Defining the Customer, the Buyer, and the Problem)
  • Related MN: MN03 Customer, Buyer, and Problem
  • Related KM: KM024-problem-attributes.md

What This Case Illustrates

A B2C case showing how to translate an inconvenience that a customer expresses in field language into market language (an attribute) that is comparable and purchasable.

When a customer says something in field language, such as “I want to eat it at dawn” or “it leaves a heavy, greasy aftertaste,” the business planner can translate that problem into attribute keywords usable for comparison and purchase decisions, such as “open 24 hours” or “no added MSG.” This case concretely illustrates the principle that a problem should not be connected directly to a solution or product idea, but must pass through the intermediate translation step of “problem → attribute.”

Source: The Meticulous Way to Do a Startup, Part 4, “Turn Field Language into Market Language,” and the bone soup restaurant case, pp. 170-175 (quoted in KM024).