Unmet needs are the conscious or unconscious pains or desires of value-network actors — most often end customers — when trying to perform a task or achieve a desired outcome in a specific context. They are the demand-side starting point of any strategy: a solution earns the right to exist only by satisfying a need that current alternatives leave unmet. In BRI Associates' methodology, unmet needs are identified through jobs-to-be-done (JTBD) analysis — examining the job a customer is trying to get done, across the whole customer journey, is what exposes where existing solutions fall short — and are then translated into the Market Requirements a whole solution must satisfy.
Unmet needs anchor the Target Markets & Unmet Need dimension of the BRI Strategy Framework and drive the Desirability side of the Desirability–Feasibility–Viability (DFV) evaluation — the test of whether a strategy responds to a real, motivating need in a viable market. For the full treatment, see the Strategy Framework pillar at /supporting/strategy-framework. Related Terminology Index entries: Jobs to Be Done (JTBD); Target Markets; Desirability; Value Propositions; Competing Alternatives.
