Real Futures: Developing use cases that create value

​Early-stage founders often have strong ideas, compelling technology, and access to increasing volumes of data yet still struggle to determine whether they are solving a real, valuable, and defensible problem.

​This masterclass introduces a structured approach to gap discovery: helping participants assess where existing solutions fail, where value is missing, and whether their idea genuinely addresses an unmet need worth building.

​Using Acuity Data’s Integrated Service Optimisation Matrix, participants will explore how user experience challenges, operational constraints, sustainability pressures, and risk considerations intersect with outcomes such as cost, value, trust, and growth. Rather than starting with solutions, the session focuses on identifying and validating problem spaces and gap hypotheses that can support strong product decisions, credible pitches, and sustainable ventures.

​Through guided exercises, participants will learn how to evaluate their ideas through the lenses of impact, feasibility, and ethical or trust risk enabling them to confidently proceed, pivot, or stop before investing significant time or resources.

​Desired Outcomes:

• ​Understand how to identify meaningful gaps in existing products, services, or workflows.

• ​Use the Integrated Service Optimisation Matrix as a gap-mapping tool rather than an ideation canvas.

• ​Articulate clear gap hypotheses grounded in user pain points and unmet outcomes.

• ​Evaluate ideas against impact, feasibility, and ethical or trust risk criteria.

• ​Select a primary opportunity that can form the foundation of a pitch, prototype, or validation plan.

​Agenda:

​Duration: 2hours

• ​Welcome & Introduction
  Why good ideas fail. The difference between a clever solution and a real market gap.

• ​Understanding the Gap
  What an “unsolved problem” actually looks like, and why existing solutions often fall short.

• ​The Gap Discovery Matrix
  Guided walkthrough of the Integrated Service Optimisation Matrix, including strategic focus areas (Experience, Community, Sustainability, Flexibility, Resilience) and outcome domains (Cost, Value, Satisfaction, Risk, Growth).

• ​Founder Exercise: Gap Mapping
  Participants map observed pain points and unmet outcomes within the matrix to develop and refine gap hypotheses.

• ​Decision & Prioritisation
  Score gaps based on impact, feasibility, and ethical or trust risk to determine which ideas should move forward.

• ​Wrap-Up
  Key insights, top opportunities, and how to translate gap clarity into validation, pitching, or pilot activity.

​This event is open to any students, researchers, academics, entrepreneurs, professionals - anyone, with a business, start-up or scale up.

​If you would like to apply to join our accelerator, or support as a delivery partner, expert or investor - click here