SaaS audience hypothesis and evidence worksheet

Use this worksheet to define whom to learn from and why. Keep unknowns visible. The example is fictional and does not establish demand.

1. Name the decision

• Definition owner:
• Version and date:
• Decision this definition supports:
• Current product or offer constraints:
• Review date or evidence that triggers a review:

2. Describe the workflow

• Job the customer wants to accomplish:
• Context in which it happens:
• Problem and consequences:
• Trigger for considering change:
• Current alternatives and why they persist:
• Result our product could provide:
• Most important uncertainty:

3. Separate the people involved

One person may hold multiple roles. Titles are discovery clues, not proof of authority.

4. Classify audience criteria

List explicit disqualifiers separately. Avoid using a convenient search filter as a product requirement without evidence.

5. Keep the evidence ledger

Record missing evidence as missing. Do not fill gaps with invented quotes or purchasing intent.

6. Compare candidate segments

Use supported qualitative judgments before adding numeric scores.

• Segment selected for the next test:
• Evidence supporting the choice:
• Alternatives retained for later:
• Conditions that would change the choice:

7. Write the hypothesis

“We are testing whether [people in a specific context] who encounter [problem or trigger] can achieve [result] with our product, provided [requirements]. We will initially reach them through [observable route].”

• Next test:
• Owner:
• Result to observe:
• Review condition:

Fictional completed hypothesis

We are testing whether engineers investigating recurring API test failures can reach a useful diagnosis with our monitoring product, provided their test environment is supported. We will initially recruit through existing engineering relationships and relevant discussions we participate in. Integration compatibility is a requirement; company size is only a discovery filter until evidence shows that it changes product fit. Actual urgency and purchasing authority remain unknown.

8. Record revisions