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Name the question the first engagement should answer
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) describes customer discovery as a way to explore an invention’s commercial potential. Its programme is aimed at research commercialisation; it does not approve an established foreign business’s market or make this reader eligible for its funding.
For your U.S. test, distinguish two questions: can the team deliver this customer’s project, and would other relevant customers buy a repeatable offer? Success on the first can be valuable without establishing the second.
A paid feature can become an unpaid obligation
Fictional example: a customer agrees to pay US$30,000 for an initial project. It also requests a bespoke interface, unusual reporting and a site-specific spare. Management expects later customers to buy the same package, but has not tested whether they need those additions.
Separate the customer-funded work from the reusable core. Estimate the continuing support the special features require, who maintains them and whether the quoted scope pays for that work. The US$30,000 receipt does not establish a recurring market or profit.
Test what could repeat
These questions are ELN’s planning exercise. An answer from one interested person does not represent every buyer or replace actual delivery and purchasing evidence.
| Part of the first project | Evidence to collect from other buyers |
|---|---|
| Problem being solved | Do similar buyers describe the same problem and consequence? |
| Core outcome | Would they pay for substantially the same result? |
| Special feature | Is it needed elsewhere or specific to this customer’s process? |
| Delivery and support | Can the proposed local team deliver it without a new custom build every time? |
| Buying route | Who approves the purchase and what must happen before an order? |
Choose deliberately between custom work and a repeatable offer
A profitable custom project may be worth taking on its own terms. It should have its own scope, price, people and continuing obligations rather than quietly becoming the assumed template for national expansion.
Before approving wider sales or hiring, ask management which parts are supported by evidence from other buyers. Narrow the first offer, change the test or budget a separate custom-service model if the expected repetition is still unknown.
Scope
- Original commercial exercise with fictional figures. No demand, profitable-project result, intellectual-property right or eligibility for an NSF programme is established. Actual customer agreements and delivery costs remain separate.
Next step
Use Market comparison to separate the first customer’s custom requirements from the repeatable problem you plan to test with other buyers.
Sources & review notes
U.S. National Science Foundation
Passage, dates and research notes
official-guidance · Customer discovery and exploration of commercial potential
Read the complete About I-Corps body. Used as context for learning from customers, not proof of ELN’s exercise or eligibility for NSF funding.
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