This is a continuation of a series of conversations with my readers and the last entry to this blog.

What we’re discussing here is part of the Discovery part of product development, where you validate either the problem or the solution you’re trying to build.

A key thing to validate during discovery is desirability. Now, as mentioned in the previous post, this has traditionally been framed as a user’s level of awe for a certain product’s quality or feature. It’s what makes users emotionally engaged, solves the pulls and pushes of their jobs to be done, and creates stickiness. It’s the kind of emotional investment that checks all the boxes that make it an experience worth talking about. 

By contrast, Willingness to Pay (WTP) is regarded as a side effect of this state. It’s more closely affiliated with the viability part of the evaluation process. Essentially, how might this product or feature drive revenue to the company?

But WTP isn’t just about monetisation. It’s a signal of desirability in real markets. Testing ideas as part of discovery should involve testing WTP. That’s not a later-stage thing. That’s how you uncover whether your solution actually matters to the business.

This becomes even more important in crowded spaces, where features are commodities and differentiation is weak. 

I’ve been thinking about this in the context of AI assistants. As a private consumer, I can select between ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, or Le Chat. I only pay for one, though. It’s not because it’s more desirable. In fact, I probably hype up Claude and Anthropic more than the one I’m actually paying for. This is where WTP becomes essential.

Any attempt to create a new value curve or market space (aka a blue ocean) without understanding customers’ willingness to pay is likely to misallocate resources. In red oceans, WTP helps you differentiate based on value rather than cost. Without it, you’re just fighting over features.

What’s necessary then is testing both desirability and pricing power. It’s about testing real demand, not just interest. Customers often say they want a new solution, but this solution is not viable to sustain a business. This ties directly into viability. If no one pays, there’s no business.

The questions that should ultimately be asked during discovery:

• Is the new value proposition compelling enough?
• Does it solve a pain point or create a gain that feels urgent or valuable?
• Can it justify a price premium or monetisable differentiation?

The last point is particularly important when you’re not benchmarking against existing prices.

Not all segments will value the new offer equally. The GTM strategy should in that case prioritise the highest-margin segments and focus on understanding which customer types are truly underserved. 

In the end, people vote with money. That should be part of the validation process.