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inventory_2 ADAPT® Toolkit › Strategy & Product Cluster

Product Taxonomy Builder

The foundation for every other product tool. Guides you from an application and function view to a customer-outcome view — producing a three-level taxonomy of Portfolio → Product Groups → Products, each with lifecycle stage, product type, and team sizing. AI proposes the first draft and flags misclassifications before you finalize.

account_tree3-level structure
smart_toyAI-proposed draft
editInline editing
ruleMisclassification review
saveSaves to all product tools
1 Describe Your Portfolio
2 Review & Refine
3 AI Review & Save
edit_notePhase 1 — Describe your portfolio

Tell us about your business in plain language.

Don't try to describe your products yet — describe your customers, what problems they bring to you, and what applications and systems currently exist. The AI will propose the product taxonomy from that description.

info You're not logged in. You can build a taxonomy, but it won't be saved or available to other tools. Log in to save.
1
Portfolio name
A business-friendly name for this portfolio area. Not an IT org name — a business capability or customer area name.
2
What does your business area do?
Describe it in plain language. What does your organization exist to do for its customers? What value does it create? Don't mention technology yet.
3
Who are your customers — and what problems do they bring to you?
Name your customer types and describe the problems they turn to you to solve. The more specific you are here, the more useful the taxonomy.
4
What applications and systems currently exist? (optional but recommended)
List the applications, platforms, and systems your teams currently maintain. The AI will map these to customer outcomes rather than naming products after them.
5
What's most painful or strategic right now? (optional)
What problems are you trying to solve with this transformation? What competitive pressures or customer complaints are driving the change?
Please complete the required fields (portfolio name, business description, and customers) before generating.
What is a product?
The definition that changes everything

A product is a software offering that delivers value to a customer. By that definition, you must know who your customers are, what they value, and what ecosystem the product fits into.

The application is not the product. "Salesforce" is not a product — it is the vehicle. "Customer Relationship Management" is the product. The product stays consistent year after year. The application changes as better solutions emerge.

The research shows this is the most commonly missed distinction — and the most consequential. Organizations that name products after applications end up reorganizing around technology rather than customer outcomes.

Lifecycle stages
From the Seven Domains framework
Incubate
New hypothesis rapidly being tested. Goal is to validate or disprove value. Learning from failure is expected.
Invest
Value validated. Permanent team formed. Continuously designing, building, supporting based on customer feedback loops.
Sustain
Pace of new features has tapered. Maintaining quality and stability, minimising maintenance costs.
Sunset
No longer needed. Team decommissioning and transitioning users to an alternative.
Generating taxonomy draft…
editPhase 2 — Review & Refine

This is a starting point, not a final answer.

Click any product name, description, or outcome to edit it inline. Click a lifecycle stage badge to change it. Use the questions at the bottom to guide your team conversation. When the taxonomy reflects your thinking, move to Phase 3 for the AI review.

Portfolio
Reviewing taxonomy for misclassifications…