Specific Unmet Need Product Filter
Find a narrow unsolved problem, prove value, and clear a balanced scorecard
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 98%
Yoon's product filter begins with granular market research rather than bestseller labels. She recommends reading detailed reviews because customers may value a product for reasons that differ from its marketing. The team then defines a narrow unmet need, such as a combination of concerns rather than a broad category like oily skin, and states an authentic point of view on why a new solution is differentiated. Peach and Lily tested curated products with a balanced scorecard covering delivery of promised benefits, irritation, confusion, and genuine delight. A product had to clear hurdles across the scorecard. For internally developed products, the same problem-solution logic guides the formula. Trends and competitor activity remain useful for later positioning, but they do not determine the underlying product. The result is a filter that joins customer evidence, specificity, differentiation, and structured validation.
Origin
The method grew from Peach and Lily's years as a curated K-beauty destination and its later product development. The company combined market data, focus groups, and close work with labs and researchers.
Core principles
- 01Study why customers value products, not just how brands describe them
- 02Define the problem more narrowly than a broad customer category
- 03Require an authentic reason the product should exist
- 04Judge utility, usability, comfort, and delight together
- 05Use market trends for positioning, not as the core of innovation
How to run it
- 1
Mine customer language
Read detailed reviews and other market feedback to learn why customers value or reject current products. Note gaps between advertised benefits and actual reasons for use.
Pro tip Capture repeated phrases and contexts, not just star ratings.
Watch out A bestseller ranking alone does not reveal the need being served.
- 2
Specify the unmet need
Define the user, condition, and desired outcome narrowly enough to guide development. Move beyond broad labels toward the combination that remains poorly served.
Pro tip Write the problem without mentioning your proposed product.
Watch out Overly broad problems invite undifferentiated solutions.
- 3
State the point of view
Explain why the proposed solution should work differently or better than available alternatives. Reject a concept that exists only because a competitor or trend is growing.
Pro tip Make the differentiation meaningful to the specific customer need.
Watch out Novel packaging is not necessarily a distinct value proposition.
- 4
Run the balanced test
Put the prototype or candidate product in front of a balanced focus group. Score whether it delivers its promise, causes unwanted irritation, creates confusion, and feels genuinely delightful.
Pro tip Use the same questions and scoring scale for every candidate.
Watch out In skincare or other health-adjacent categories, appropriate safety and regulatory review remains necessary.
- 5
Enforce the hurdles
Set minimum acceptable performance for every critical dimension and proceed only when the product clears them. Iterate or reject candidates with a material weak point.
Pro tip Do not let one exciting score erase a failure on a core requirement.
Watch out Changing hurdles after seeing results defeats the filter.
- 6
Position after validation
Use current market language and trends to explain the validated solution clearly. Keep the product's core tied to the unmet need rather than the trend.
Pro tip Separate product truth from campaign language.
Watch out Trend-led development can produce a short-lived product without repeat value.
In the wild
Before curating a third-party product, Yoon says the company ran a focus-group test. Participants scored whether the product delivered its stated benefits, felt irritating, was confusing, and was sincerely delightful. The candidate had to clear a hurdle across the full scorecard rather than win on one attribute.
→ Only products with balanced evidence earned a place in the assortment.
Yoon contrasts the broad problem of oily skin with a more specific combination involving sensitivity and other possible concerns. The example shows how specificity changes the solution brief, although it is not presented as medical guidance or a diagnostic rule.
→ The development target becomes a differentiated unmet need rather than a generic category.
Common mistakes
Copying the bestseller
A competitor's success does not establish why customers buy it or whether another version adds value.
Defining the problem too broadly
A broad category such as oily skin does not identify the specific unmet context the product must solve.
Letting trends drive the formula
Yoon uses market analysis to position the product after the core solution has been defined, not to originate the formula.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for consumer-product teams that can access reviews, users, prototypes, and structured testing.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for emergency launches where there is no time to research or test the proposed solution.
From the transcript
“Literally reading through every last review on why it's a bestseller.”
“We had this like scorecard and you actually need to hit a hurdle across all of it.”
“the core of the innovation and the core of the formula doesn't for us what's really worked is 48 30 it does it's not born…”
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