/product-discovery

name: product-discovery
description: Product discovery and market research expert. Use when validating product ideas, conducting market research, user interviews, competitive analysis, or opportunity assessment. Covers JTBD, Kano model, and Value Proposition Canvas.

Product Discovery

Core Principles

• **Continuous Discovery** — Weekly user conversations, not episodic research
• **Outcome-Driven** — Start with outcomes to achieve, not solutions to build
• **Assumption Testing** — Validate risky assumptions before committing resources
• **Co-Creation** — Build with customers, not just for them
• **Data-Driven** — Use evidence over intuition and stakeholder opinions
• **Problem-First** — Deeply understand the problem space before ideating solutions

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Hard Rules (Must Follow)

> These rules are mandatory. Violating them means the skill is not working correctly.

No Solution-First Thinking

**Never start with a solution. Always define the problem and outcome first.**

❌ FORBIDDEN:
"We should build a search bar for the product page"
"Let's add AI recommendations"
"Users need a mobile app"

✅ REQUIRED:
"Problem: Users can't find products (40% exit rate on catalog)
Outcome: Reduce exit rate to 20%
Possible solutions:
1. Search bar with filters
2. AI-powered recommendations
3. Better category navigation
4. Visual product browsing"

Evidence-Based Decisions

**Never assume user needs without evidence from real user research.**

❌ FORBIDDEN:
- "Users probably want X" (assumption without data)
- "Our competitor has X, so we need it too" (copycat without validation)
- "The CEO thinks we should build X" (HiPPO without evidence)
- "It's obvious users need X" (intuition without validation)

✅ REQUIRED:
- "5 out of 8 interviewed users mentioned X as a pain point"
- "Analytics show 60% of users abandon at step 3"
- "Prototype test: 7/10 users completed task successfully"
- "Survey (n=500): 45% rated feature as 'must have'"

Minimum Interview Threshold

**Never validate a problem with fewer than 5 user interviews per segment.**

❌ FORBIDDEN:
- "We talked to 2 users and they loved the idea"
- "One customer requested this feature"
- "Based on a quick chat with sales..."

✅ REQUIRED:
| Segment | Interviews | Key Finding |
|---------|------------|-------------|
| Power Users | 6 | 5/6 struggle with X |
| New Users | 5 | 4/5 drop off at onboarding |
| Churned | 5 | 3/5 cited missing feature Y |

Minimum per segment: 5 interviews
Confidence increases with more interviews

Falsifiable Assumptions

**Every assumption must be testable and falsifiable with clear success criteria.**

❌ FORBIDDEN:
- "Users will like the new design" (not falsifiable)
- "This will improve engagement" (no success criteria)
- "The feature will be useful" (vague)

✅ REQUIRED:
| Assumption | Test | Success Criteria | Result |
|------------|------|------------------|--------|
| Users will complete onboarding in new flow | Prototype test with 10 users | >70% completion | TBD |
| Users prefer visual search | A/B test | >10% lift in conversions | TBD |
| Price point is acceptable | Landing page test | >3% conversion | TBD |

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Quick Reference

When to Use What

| Scenario | Framework/Tool | Output | |----------|---------------|--------| | Validate product idea | Product Opportunity Assessment | Go/no-go decision | | Size market opportunity | TAM/SAM/SOM | Market size estimates | | Understand user needs | User Research (interviews, surveys) | User insights, pain points | | Analyze competition | Competitive Analysis | Competitive landscape map | | Discover user motivations | Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) | Job stories, outcomes | | Prioritize features | Kano Model | Feature categorization | | Define value proposition | Value Proposition Canvas | Value prop statement | | Test product concept | Lean Startup / MVP | Validated learnings | | Map opportunities | Opportunity Solution Tree | Prioritized opportunities |

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Continuous Discovery Habits

The Product Trio

Discovery is led by three roles working together weekly:

Product Manager → Defines outcomes, owns roadmap
Designer        → Explores solutions, tests usability
Engineer        → Assesses feasibility, proposes technical solutions

Weekly Activities

## 1. Customer Interviews (Weekly)
- Schedule 3-5 interviews per week minimum
- Mix of current users, churned users, prospects
- Focus on understanding problems, not pitching solutions
- Record and share insights with team

## 2. Assumption Testing (Weekly)
- Identify riskiest assumptions about solutions
- Design quick tests (prototypes, landing pages, fake doors)
- Run experiments with real users
- Measure results against success criteria

## 3. Opportunity Mapping (Ongoing)
- Build opportunity solution tree
- Map customer needs to potential solutions
- Prioritize based on impact and feasibility
- Update as you learn

Discovery vs Delivery

Discovery (What to Build)          Delivery (How to Build It)
├─ Customer interviews             ├─ Sprint planning
├─ Prototype testing               ├─ Development
├─ Assumption validation           ├─ QA testing
├─ Market research                 ├─ Deployment
└─ Opportunity assessment          └─ Post-launch monitoring

Key difference: Discovery reduces risk BEFORE committing to build

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Product Opportunity Assessment

Marty Cagan's 10 Questions

Before starting any product initiative, answer these questions:

## 1. Problem Definition
**What problem are we solving?**
- Be specific and measurable
- Validate it's a real problem (not assumed)

## 2. Target Market
**For whom are we solving this problem?**
- Define specific user segments
- Size the addressable market (TAM/SAM/SOM)

## 3. Opportunity Size
**How big is the opportunity?**
- Revenue potential
- User growth potential
- Strategic value

## 4. Success Metrics
**How will we me