Value system

Use this lens to determine what the user exchanges resources for.

Three value types

• Functional value: reduces time, money, error, risk, coordination, or effort. Locate the advantage in the product, supply chain, platform, or infrastructure.
• Emotional value: reliably creates safety, control, pleasure, recognition, distinction, or belonging in a specific scene and psychological account.
• Asset value: preserves or increases value through scarcity, ownership, durable consensus, accumulation, or transfer. Data and lock-in are not automatically assets.

Choose one primary value for the current transaction. Treat other values as reinforcement until behavior proves otherwise. Compare the complete alternative, including migration and trust costs.

Product and brand stage

Stage	Market evidence
White-label	Standard function matters; provider is replaceable.
Established	Continued presence supplies familiarity and assurance.
Viral	Novelty and discussion produce short-lived attention.
Recognized brand	Distinctive memory repeatedly evokes a proven promise.
Category leader	Products and actions credibly lead industry direction.

Do not prescribe brand investment before functional value, repeat choice, and delivery proof exist.

Value evidence

Prefer paid pilots, replacement of an existing workflow, repeated use, migration, reduced measured loss, or renewal over praise and stated willingness.

Source boundary: synthesized from True Demand, Part One. For source checking, use the workspace notes/true-demand-source-map.md and true-demand-markdown/.