/customer-research

name: customer-research
description: >
  Customer research and problem framing using the research-design discipline: hypothesis,
  null hypothesis, MECE questions, methods, findings. Produces Pyramid-base-shaped output
  ready for downstream composition into PR/FAQs, long-form narratives, or PRDs. Use when
  the user asks to design user research, run customer interviews, synthesize research
  findings, frame a problem statement, build a customer journey map, plan a VoC study, or
  mentions pain-point analysis, research plan, hypothesis testing, customer insights,
  jobs-to-be-done, or voice of customer.

Contents

| File | Path | When to load | | ------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | Research design method | `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/product-design-shared/references/research-design.md` | Hypothesis + null + MECE + findings | | Pyramid composition | `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/product-design-shared/references/pyramid-principle.md` | Where findings get composed into arguments | | Canonical Working Backwards reference | `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/product-design-shared/references/working-backwards.md` | Listen + Define stage context | | Research methods | `references/research-methods.md` | Interview protocols, affinity clustering, qual/quant taxonomy | | Customer-insights role | `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/working-backwards/references/roles/customer-insights.md` | Researcher agent for Listen-stage execution | | Research plan template | `templates/research-plan.md` | Hypothesis, null, MECE questions, methods, findings (fill-in) | | Problem statement template | `templates/problem-statement.md` | "Today [customers] have to..." | | Customer journey map template | `templates/customer-journey-map.md` | Phase / action / touchpoint / thought / feeling / opportunity |

Customer Research

The discipline of framing a testable hypothesis, gathering evidence via MECE sub-questions, and synthesizing findings into a shape the Pyramid Principle can compose. This is the *research bottom-up* half of Minto's core instruction — the upstream of `working-backwards` and any narrative composition.

When to Use

• You have a vague customer pain and need to know if it's real, at scale, and root-caused correctly.
• You need to produce a problem statement for a PR/FAQ or long-form narrative.
• You need to build a customer journey map for a design review.
• You have interview transcripts or survey data and need to synthesize them into decision-ready findings.
• You need to design a research plan before committing to a study (interviews, A/B test, survey).

When NOT to use:

• The customer problem is already well-framed and data-backed → go straight to `skills/working-backwards/` or `skills/product-discovery/`.
• You need writing critique for an existing prompt or document → `skills/meta-prompt-optimizer/`.

Core Concepts

The method: research-design

The load-bearing reference is `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/product-design-shared/references/research-design.md`. Five steps:

1. **Hypothesis** — one testable claim in one sentence. 2. **Null hypothesis** — the outcome that would disprove it. Pre-commit before gathering. 3. **MECE sub-questions** — 3–5 questions that collectively test the hypothesis without overlap. 4. **Methods per question** — behavioral, attitudinal, pain-point texture, segmentation, scale, causal. 5. **Findings in Pyramid-base shape** — per sub-question: Finding + Evidence + So what + Confidence.

The shape of your output is not optional. Pyramid-base-shaped findings feed `pyramid-principle.md` Phase 1 by construction.

Pyramid connection

This skill *produces* the Pyramid base. Downstream skills *compose* it:

• `working-backwards` uses the findings for the 5CQ's Q1, Q2, Q4 and the PR's Situation + Complication.
• `product-discovery` uses the findings for its research-scout role.
• A narrative-writing workflow of your choice composes a long-form document or one-pager from the findings.

Keeping findings in a structured shape means downstream composition becomes mechanical translation, not improvisation.

Three artifacts ship from this skill

| Artifact | Template | When | | -------------------- | ----------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Research plan | `templates/research-plan.md` | Before gathering — pre-commit the hypothesis and null | | Problem statement | `templates/problem-statement.md` | After Define — the Listen output used by WB Stage 2 | | Customer journey map | `templates/customer-journey-map.md` | When you need to visualize current-state pain points across a flow |

Quick Reference

A typical customer-research run:

1. **Capture intent.** What is the fuzzy question? Who is the primary customer segment? 2. **Frame the hypothesis + null.** Use `templates/research-plan.md`. Pre-commit in writing. 3. **Decompose MECE.** 3–5 sub-questions. Test: "Can I answer Q1 without answering Q2?" 4. **Pick methods per question** (see `references/research-methods.md` for the taxonomy). 5. **