Consider a scenario where a software product passed all stages of verification but encountered several issues during validation. What could be the potential reasons, and how could these issues be mitigated in future projects?

In this scenario, the potential reason for encountering issues during validation could be over-verification. Over-verification may lead to a false sense of confidence that the software is free of issues when, in fact, it isn't. To mitigate such issues in future projects, it's essential to strike a balance between verification and validation activities, ensuring that both are performed adequately without overemphasizing one over the other.