Outcome vs output: examples for product teams

You

I went through the spreadsheet. Here are the top rows: bulk ordering for clinics, a mobile app, loyalty points, reorder reminders, a new checkout, dark mode.

Alex Tutor

What do they have in common?

You

They're all things we'd build?

Alex Tutor

Right. Each one is an output: something the team ships. A feature, a release, a campaign, a document. Output is necessary, but on its own it says nothing about whether anything got better.

An outcome is the change the output is supposed to cause, in customer behavior or in business results. Fewer subscribers running out of food. More clinics reordering without calling us. A higher renewal rate.

You

So “reminders” is the output, and “people reorder before they run out” is the outcome?

Alex Tutor

Exactly. Outputs are what we do; outcomes are what changes because we did it.

Alex Tutor

Question 1

Which of these are outcomes rather than outputs? Select all that apply.

Choose all that applyLaunch a loyalty points programMore subscribers who pause a delivery resume it within 30 daysRedesign the checkout pageFewer first orders are abandoned at the payment stepPublish 12 blog posts about cat nutritionVet clinics place repeat orders without calling the sales team

Ihor

Sofia, one more thing for Friday. Last year we shipped all 14 features on the roadmap, on time. Churn hasn't moved. I'd rather the board didn't ask me why.

You

Ouch. 14 out of 14, and nothing changed?

Alex Tutor

That's what a feature factory looks like: success is measured by how many features ship, and nobody checks what they changed. Every item was delivered; none of them was aimed at churn.

Output roadmaps make this easy. “Build the mobile app” counts as done when the app is in the store, whether or not anyone orders through it. An outcome is done when the number moves.

You

Doesn't that make outcomes riskier for the team? We could build everything and still fail.

Alex Tutor

The team was already failing; it just couldn't see it. With outcomes you find out early, and you're free to try a different solution instead of defending the first one.

Alex Tutor

Question 2

If a team ships every roadmap item on time, the roadmap has succeeded.

TrueFalse

You

So how do I turn “bulk ordering for clinics” into an outcome? Bohdan called PurrPoint this morning.

Bohdan

Here's what I learned. Their admins order by phone every week, one clinic at a time. Orders get mixed up, and twice last month a clinic ran out of a prescription diet and had to send pet owners elsewhere.

Alex Tutor

Great notes. Now ask “why does that matter?” one step at a time. Why do they want bulk ordering?

You

To stop ordering by phone, clinic by clinic. Why does that matter? Because orders get mixed up and diets run out. And why does that matter to us?

Alex Tutor

Because every clinic that runs out sends its clients to a competitor, and PurrPoint could move all 14 clinics away from us. That's our business objective: grow and keep the vet clinic channel.

You

So the outcome is something like “clinics always have the diets they need, without phoning us”?

Alex Tutor

Question 3

Put the “why” ladder in order, from Bohdan's feature request up to CatChow's business objective.

Tap an item, then tap where it should go. You can also drag or use the arrows.

Alex Tutor

Nice. Now let's sharpen it. A good outcome names who changes, what they do differently and how you'll measure it. And it doesn't name a solution.

You

Measure it how?

Alex Tutor

Pick a signal you can already see or can start tracking: the share of clinic orders placed without a phone call, or prescription-diet stock-outs per month. A baseline and a target turn it into a real goal.

For example: “Prescription-diet stock-outs in partner clinics drop from 6 a month to 1.” Bulk ordering might get us there. So might automatic reorders, or a simple shared order sheet.

You

And the team gets to choose.

Lesia

Wait, so I don't have to estimate “bulk ordering” right now? I'd much rather explore two or three options and tell you which one reaches that target most cheaply.

Alex Tutor

That's the deal: the team commits to the outcome and in return chooses the output. Lesia estimates solutions once she understands the problem, not before.

Alex Tutor

Question 4

CatChow's research shows that subscribers' biggest problem is forgetting to reorder and running out of food. The spreadsheet says “Build a mobile app”. Which rewrite is the best outcome?

Choose one answerLaunch the CatChow iOS and Android app by JuneMake our mobile app the best in the pet food marketRaise the share of subscribers who get their next delivery before running out from 70% to 85%Reach 10,000 app downloads

You

Let me try one: “Launch loyalty points in Q2 to increase engagement.” That has a why in it!

Alex Tutor

It has a feature, a date and a fuzzy word. What would “engagement” look like in the data? Who does what more often?

You

Hmm. Customers buy again sooner? Spend more per order?

Alex Tutor

Now you're getting there. Watch for four traps: an outcome that names a solution, one you can't measure, one so broad the team can't influence it, and an output in disguise such as “launch X by Q2”.

“Grow company revenue by 30%” is the too-broad kind. It's a fine business objective, but no single team can move it alone. Break it down into something a team can actually influence.

Alex Tutor

Question 5

Match each flawed outcome to its main problem.

Tap an answer, then tap the row it belongs to. You can also drag.

“Make customers happier”
“Launch the loyalty program by the end of Q2”
“Reduce churn by adding a subscription pause button”
“Double CatChow's company valuation”

Answers left to place

You

OK, I want to try one from the spreadsheet myself. Loyalty points: the founders love that idea.

Alex Tutor

Then ask what the founders hope it will change. Loyalty points are usually meant to bring customers back sooner or to stop them drifting to competitors.

You

And if they just say “every competitor has one”?

Alex Tutor

Then it's a copy, not a goal. Ask what the competitors' customers actually do differently because of it. That change is the outcome worth writing down.

Write the outcome without mentioning points at all. If the sentence still makes sense, you've found the real goal.

You

And add a number, so we know when we've got there.

Alex Tutor

Question 6Short answer · AI-checked task

The spreadsheet says “Add a loyalty points program”. CatChow's data: 38% of first-time buyers place a second order within 60 days. Rewrite the request as an outcome with a measurable signal, without mentioning points or any other solution.

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Bohdan

OK, I get the idea. But what do I tell PurrPoint now? They want something they can put in the contract.

Alex Tutor

Offer the outcome instead of the feature. The clinics don't really care about “bulk ordering”. They care about never running out of prescription diets and not spending an hour on the phone.

You

And we can commit to working on that and reporting progress, without promising a specific feature by April.

Alex Tutor

Right. You might even invite their admins to try early versions. Clients trust a team that is solving their problem more than one that only promises a feature.

Bohdan

A pilot I can sell. A vague “we're working on it” I can't.

Alex Tutor

Fair. That's why the outcome needs a number and a concrete first step. Write the message for him.

Alex Tutor

Question 7Short answer · AI-checked task

Write a message Bohdan can send to PurrPoint (2–4 sentences). Instead of “bulk ordering by April”, state the outcome CatChow will work on and what CatChow can commit to now.

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Alex Tutor

Last exercise, on another company. An online bookstore sent me its quarterly plan. It's six outputs and not a single outcome.

You

Let me guess: one of them doesn't serve any goal at all.

Alex Tutor

Maybe. Your job is to work out what each output is for, group them under a few outcomes and say how you'd measure each one.

You

Outputs under outcomes. Got it.

Alex Tutor

One hint: start from the three facts the team already knows, not from the list. The list comes second, as a pool of possible solutions.

Alex Tutor

Question 8Case · AI-checked task

Rewrite Chapterly's quarterly plan as outcomes.

Chapterly is a Ukrainian online bookstore. What the team knows:

55% of visitors who add a book to the cart don't complete the order; most leave at the delivery step.
Only 22% of first-time buyers make a second purchase within 90 days.
Support receives about 400 “where is my order?” messages a month.

The head of e-commerce proposes this quarterly plan:

Redesign the cart page.
Add parcel lockers as a delivery option.
Launch a reading-club newsletter with personal recommendations.
Send an SMS at every delivery step.
Build an order-tracking page in the customer account.
Add animated 3D book covers to product pages.

Rewrite the plan as 2–3 outcomes (150–300 words). For each outcome, say who changes and how, give a measurable signal with a baseline and a target, and list which outputs could serve it. Flag any output that fits no outcome and say what you would do with it.

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You

So my spreadsheet isn't useless. It's a pile of possible outputs, and my job is to find the outcomes they're meant for.

Alex Tutor

And some rows will turn out to serve no outcome at all. Those are the easiest decisions you'll make this week.

Exactly. Next time we'll give those outcomes the shape of a real roadmap: vision, objectives, themes, timeframes and a disclaimer. A theme, by the way, is an outcome for customers.

Alex Tutor

That’s the lesson. You answered every task — nicely done.

Next lesson: Anatomy of a roadmap: the five primary components