/user-interview

name: user-interview
description: "Guide for conducting Torres-style story-based interviews with the people whose experience you're researching, with bias mitigation and a JTBD lens."
metadata:
  instruction_budget: "39"
  framework_dependency: "mycelium"
  framework_dependency_note: "This skill is designed to run within the Mycelium framework (https://github.com/haabe/mycelium). Standalone use will skip the canvas state, theory gates, and harness behavior the skill assumes. Install: /plugin install mycelium@haabe-mycelium."

User Interview Guide

Discover opportunities through customer stories. Source: Torres (CDH), Kahneman, Christensen (JTBD).

Preflight: Read target canvas file(s) before any Write/Edit

**Hard rule.** Before issuing `Write` or `Edit` against any `.claude/canvas/*.yml`, use the **Read tool** on that file in this session. Claude Code's Read-before-Write check requires the `Read` tool specifically — `cat`/`head`/`grep` via Bash do NOT satisfy it.

**Edit vs Write — different cost profiles** (verified 2026-05-14):

• **`Edit`** (exact-string replacement): `Read` with `limit: 1` satisfies the check at ~50 tokens. State-tracking is per-file, not per-byte — subsequent `Edit` calls work anywhere in the file. Use this for partial updates against large canvas files (e.g., `purpose.yml` at 800+ lines).
• **`Write`** (full replacement): do a **full Read** first. Write obliterates the file; you should see what you're about to replace. The `limit:1` shortcut is *not* appropriate here.

**ID-bearing entries — scan the ID space before assigning** (added 2026-05-15, v0.23.19): When adding a new component, opportunity, solution, or any other ID-bearing entry to a canvas file, run a Bash grep first to confirm the next ID in your prefix sequence is actually free:

grep -o "<prefix>-[0-9][0-9]*" .claude/canvas/<file>.yml | sort -u -t- -k2 -n | tail -3

Replace `<prefix>` with the canvas's ID prefix (`comp` for landscape, `opp` for opportunities, `sol` for solutions, `ht` for human-tasks, etc.). Then pick the next free integer, **matching the zero-padding already used in that file**. The sort is NUMERIC (`-t- -k2 -n`) rather than lexical, and that is not pedantry: a plain `sort -u` orders `ht-1` after `ht-080`, so on a canvas with inconsistent padding it reports the wrong maximum and the next ID collides. Verified on the dogfood repo 2026-08-13, where lexical sort returned `ht-1` as the highest human-task ID against an actual `ht-080`. `grep -o` is also deliberate: it matches IDs wherever they appear, including cross-references and prose, so an ID that was promised somewhere but not yet defined is not handed out twice. `validate_canvas.py` has a duplicate-ID check (lines 230-239) that catches the failure on CI, but a duplicate can persist in the working tree for days if CI isn't run between edit and discovery — see roadmap-repo `corrections.md` 2026-05-15 "Duplicate canvas ID created in landscape.yml" for the worked example.

Original failure mode: anti-pattern #7 instance #5, 2026-05-09 — agent conflated Bash `head` with the Read tool, lost ~14k tokens to a Write-fail → remedial-full-Read → re-Write loop. The `limit:1` discipline (graduated 2026-05-14, v0.23.18) prevents the second-order cost where the agent *correctly* follows the rule but full-Reads every time. The ID-scan discipline (graduated 2026-05-15, v0.23.19) prevents the related class where the agent reads enough of the file to satisfy the Edit check but not enough to see existing ID assignments — kin to anti-pattern #8 (Stale State Read).

If this skill writes to multiple canvas files, register each one first (limit:1 for Edit-only paths; full Read for Write paths) AND ID-scan any prefix you intend to assign.

See `CLAUDE.md` *Canvas writes — Read before Write* for the canonical rule.

Pre-Interview (Mandatory)

1. **Run `/mycelium:bias-check`** before designing questions 2. Review current OST -- what are you trying to learn? 3. **Seed learning-target questions from open canvas gaps** (per `engine/canvas-guidance.yml#learning_target_coupling`): scan the canvas for entries explicitly waiting on evidence — ON HOLD / RE-GATED action flags, in-progress human-tasks naming a MISSING SIGNAL, low-confidence entries with an un-validated assumption — and seed AT LEAST ONE question per relevant gap. Tag each seeded question inline `[target → <file>#<anchor>]` so the answer routes back via `/mycelium:log-evidence`. Feedback capacity is scarce and non-repeating; an un-targeted session spends it without retiring any open gap. NUDGE-tier: zero-target sessions are allowed (pure discovery), but the omission should be a choice. 4. Design questions that are story-based and past-tense

Question Design Rules

ALWAYS Ask (story-based, past behavior)

• "Tell me about the last time you [tried to accomplish X]..."
• "Walk me through what happened when [situation]..."
• "What did you do when [problem occurred]?"
• "How did that make you feel?" (emotional dimension -- JTBD)
• "What did other people think about that?" (social dimension -- JTBD)

NEVER Ask (hypothetical, opinion, leading)

• "Would you use a feature that...?" (hypothetical)
• "Do you think X is a good idea?" (opinion)
• "Don't you find it frustrating when...?" (leading)
• "On a scale of 1-10, how important is...?" (abstract)
• "What features would you want?" (solution-space, not problem-space)

During Interview

Three Mindsets (Brown)

• **Curiosity**: Ask from genuine interest. "Walk me through..." not "What are your pain points?"
• **Skepticism**: Probe beneath surface responses. "Why does your team call this a 'power user'?" Challenge assumptions without being adversarial.
• **Humility**: "Can you say that again so I get it right?" Don't assume immediate comprehension.

**Master the pause**: Wait 3-5 seconds after each response before your next question. Silence often prompts the real insight.

Listening

• Listen for hiring/firing language (JT