Venn · Diagram Design

Good design · Desirable × Feasible × Viable

Three tests every product has to pass before it earns the word "shippable." Miss one and you get a prototype, a vaporware demo, or an internal tool nobody asked for. Coral marks the intersection worth the work.

Desirable PEOPLE WANT IT Feasible WE CAN BUILD IT Viable BUSINESS SUSTAINS Prototype no business model Vaporware can't build it Internal tool nobody wants it Shippable THE SWEET SPOT LEGEND All three — ship it Two of three — incomplete Coral marks the intersection that earns the work. The others name the traps.

THE HEADLINE

One sweet spot, in coral

Three overlapping circles create seven regions. Six of them are diagnostic — they name the failure mode. Only the center earns the coral. If every region is colored, the diagram stops prioritizing anything.

The three tests

  • Desirable — someone pulls for it
  • Feasible — the team can actually build it
  • Viable — the economics hold up over time
  • All three, or you don't ship

The named traps

Prototype (loved, buildable, no model). Vaporware (loved, profitable, un-buildable). Internal tool (buildable, profitable, unloved). Labeling each one makes the map more useful than the center alone.

good design · desirable × feasible × viable example · schematic skill