When a product hasn't "sold" yet — whether that's literally not generating revenue, or more broadly not landing with the right people — it’s not just about demand. It’s often about misalignment, blind spots, or missing scaffolding. So let’s break down the product into its core components and explore where “unvalidation” (a beautiful term, btw) might be hiding:
🌱 1. Problem-Solution Fit
- Have we truly understood the problem?
- Is it an urgent or frequent enough pain or desire?
- Does it matter deeply to the people we're building for?
- Are we solving the right problem, or a symptom of a deeper one?
- Sometimes we’re treating the fever, not the infection.
📍 Unvalidation possibility: You're solving a problem that doesn't feel real, pressing, or priority to your audience.
💡 2. Value Proposition
- What are we really offering — and to whom?
- What’s the emotional and practical value?
- Does our language land? Is it clear, resonant, and compelling?
- Are we communicating the “why now”?
- Even great value gets lost without context or urgency.
📍 Unvalidation possibility: Messaging is misaligned, unclear, or lacks emotional resonance or urgency.
🧩 3. Target Audience / Early Believers
- Who are we co-creating with, not just for?
- Are we engaging the people who feel this most deeply?
- Do we truly understand their worldview, constraints, and language?
- Are we assuming a market that doesn’t yet exist?
- (This might be okay, if you’re building a movement, but you’ll need to validate that.)
📍 Unvalidation possibility: We're pitching to the wrong people or too wide a crowd — or our early tribe hasn’t been activated yet.
🎁 4. Delivery Mechanism / Experience
- Is the format usable, delightful, accessible?
- How easy is it to access, try, or participate?
- Does the experience reflect our values?
- Especially for collaborative, trust-based tools — the “how” matters as much as the “what.”
📍 Unvalidation possibility: The product is too complex, clunky, or doesn't invite people in (even if the core idea is solid).