Discovery Process by @deanpeters · Skillet
Run a full discovery cycle from problem hypothesis to validated solution. Use when a team needs a structured path through framing, interviews, synthesis, and experiments.
Just instructions. No commands, network, or file access.
Frame the Problem — Define what you're investigating and whyConduct Research — Gather qualitative and quantitative evidenceSynthesize Insights — Identify patterns, pain points, and opportunitiesGenerate Solutions — Explore multiple solution optionsValidate Solutions — Test assumptions through experimentsDecide & Document — Commit to build, pivot, or kill
Why This Works
De-risks product decisions: Tests assumptions before expensive buildsCustomer-centric: Grounds decisions in real customer problems, not internal opinionsIterative: Builds confidence progressively through small experimentsFast learning: Discovers "no-go" signals early, saves wasted effort
Anti-Patterns (What This Is NOT)
Not waterfall research: Discovery runs continuously, not once before devNot user testing: Discovery validates problems; testing validates solutionsNot a substitute for shipping: Discovery informs delivery, doesn't replace it
When to Use This
Exploring new product/feature areas
Investigating retention or churn problems
Validating strategic initiatives before roadmap commitment
Continuous discovery (weekly customer touchpoints)
When NOT to Use This
For well-understood problems (move to execution)
When stakeholders have already committed to a solution (address alignment first)
For tactical bug fixes or technical debt (no discovery needed)
Facilitation Source of Truth When running this workflow as a guided conversation, use workshop-facilitation
session heads-up + entry mode (Guided, Context dump, Best guess)
one-question turns with plain-language prompts
progress labels (for example, Context Qx/8 and Scoring Qx/5)
interruption handling and pause/resume behavior
numbered recommendations at decision points
quick-select numbered response options for regular questions (include Other (specify) when useful)
This file defines the workflow sequence and domain-specific outputs. If there is a conflict, follow this file's workflow logic.
Application Use template.md for the full fill-in structure.
This workflow orchestrates 6 phases over 2-4 weeks , using multiple component and interactive skills.
Phase 1: Frame the Problem (Day 1-2) Goal: Define what you're investigating, who's affected, and success criteria.
Activities 1. Run Problem Framing Canvas
Use: skills/problem-framing-canvas/SKILL.md (interactive - MITRE)Participants: PM, design, engineering leadDuration: 120 minutesOutput: Problem statement + "How Might We" question 2. Create Formal Problem Statement
Use: skills/problem-statement/SKILL.md (component)Participants: PMDuration: 30 minutesOutput: Structured problem statement with hypothesis 3. Define Proto-Personas (If Needed)
Use: skills/proto-persona/SKILL.md (component)When: If target customer segment is unclearDuration: 60 minutesOutput: Hypothesis-driven personas 4. Map Jobs-to-be-Done (If Needed)
Use: skills/jobs-to-be-done/SKILL.md (component)When: If customer motivations are unclearDuration: 60 minutesOutput: JTBD statements
Outputs from Phase 1
Problem hypothesis: "We believe [persona] struggles with [problem] because [root cause], leading to [consequence]."Research questions: 3-5 questions to answer through discoverySuccess criteria: What would validate/invalidate the problem?
Decision Point 1: Do we have enough context to start research? If YES: Proceed to Phase 2 (Research Planning)
If NO: Gather existing data first:
Review support tickets, churn surveys, NPS feedback
Analyze product analytics (drop-off points, usage patterns)
Review competitor research, market trends
Time impact: +2-3 days
Phase 2: Research Planning (Day 3) Goal: Design research approach, recruit participants, prepare interview guide.
Activities 1. Prep Discovery Interviews
Use: skills/discovery-interview-prep/SKILL.md (interactive)Participants: PM, designDuration: 90 minutesOutput: Interview plan with methodology, questions, biases to avoid
Target: 5-10 customers per discovery cycle (Teresa Torres: continuous discovery = 1 interview/week)Segment: Focus on personas from Phase 1Recruitment channels:
Existing customers (email, in-app prompts)
Churned customers (exit interviews)
Cold outreach (LinkedIn, communities)
Incentive: $50-100 gift card or product creditDuration: 2-3 days (parallel with Phase 1)
Format: 45-60 min per interview (30-40 min conversation + buffer)Timeline: Spread across 1-2 weeksRecording: Get consent, record for synthesis
Outputs from Phase 2
Interview guide: 5-7 open-ended questions (Mom Test style)Participant roster: 5-10 scheduled interviewsSynthesis plan: How you'll capture and analyze insights
Phase 3: Conduct Research (Week 1-2) Goal: Gather qualitative evidence through customer interviews.
Activities 1. Conduct Discovery Interviews
Methodology: From skills/discovery-interview-prep/SKILL.md (Problem validation, JTBD, switch interviews, etc.)Participants: PM + optional observer (design, eng)Duration: 5-10 interviews over 1-2 weeksFocus areas:
Past behavior (not hypotheticals): "Tell me about the last time you [experienced this problem]"
Workarounds: "How do you currently handle this?"
Alternatives tried: "Have you tried other solutions? Why did you stop?"
Pain intensity: "How much time/money does this cost you?"
Template:
Participant: [Name, role, company size]
Context: [When/where they experience problem]
Actions: [What they do, step-by-step]
Pain points: [Frustrations, blockers]
Workarounds: [Current solutions]
Quotes: [Verbatim customer language]
Insights: [Patterns, surprises]
3. Review Support Tickets & Analytics (Parallel)
Support tickets: Tag by theme (onboarding, feature confusion, bugs)Analytics: Identify drop-off points, feature usage, cohort behaviorSurveys: Review NPS comments, exit surveys, feature requests
Outputs from Phase 3
Interview transcripts: Recorded sessions + detailed notesSupport ticket themes: Top 10 issues by frequencyAnalytics insights: Quantitative data on behavior (e.g., "60% abandon onboarding at step 3")
Decision Point 2: Have we reached saturation? Saturation = same pain points emerge across 3+ interviews, no new insights
If YES (saturated after 5-7 interviews): Proceed to Phase 4 (Synthesis)
If NO (still learning new things): Schedule 3-5 more interviews
Phase 4: Synthesize Insights (End of Week 2) Goal: Identify patterns, prioritize pain points, map opportunities.
Activities 1. Affinity Mapping (Thematic Analysis)
Method:
Write each insight/quote on sticky note
Group by theme (e.g., "onboarding confusion," "pricing objections," "mobile access")
Count frequency (how many customers mentioned each theme)
Participants: PM, design, optional engDuration: 90-120 minutesOutput: Themed clusters with frequency counts 2. Create Customer Journey Map (Optional)
Use: skills/customer-journey-mapping-workshop/SKILL.md (interactive)When: If pain points span multiple phases (discover, try, buy, use, support)Duration: 90 minutesOutput: Journey map with opportunities ranked by impact 3. Prioritize Pain Points
Criteria:
Frequency: How many customers mentioned this?Intensity: How painful is it? (time wasted, money lost, emotional frustration)Strategic fit: Does solving this align with business goals?
Method: Score each pain point (1-5) on frequency, intensity, strategic fitOutput: Ranked list of top 3-5 pain points to address 4. Update Problem Statement
Use: skills/problem-statement/SKILL.md (component)Refine based on research: Did initial hypothesis hold? Adjust if needed.Output: Validated problem statement
Outputs from Phase 4
Affinity map: Themes with frequency countsTop 3-5 pain points: Prioritized by frequency × intensity × strategic fitCustomer quotes: 3-5 verbatim quotes per pain pointValidated problem statement: Refined based on evidence
Phase 5: Generate & Validate Solutions (Week 3) Goal: Explore solution options, design experiments, validate assumptions.
Activities 1. Generate Opportunity Solution Tree
Use: skills/opportunity-solution-tree/SKILL.md (interactive)Input: Top 3 pain points from Phase 4Participants: PM, design, engineering leadDuration: 90 minutesOutput: 3 opportunities, 3 solutions per opportunity, POC recommendation Alternative: Use Lean UX Canvas
Use: skills/lean-ux-canvas/SKILL.md (interactive)When: Prefer hypothesis-driven approach over OSTOutput: Hypotheses to test, minimal experiments
For each solution: Define "What's the least work to learn the next most important thing?"Experiment types:
Concierge test: Manually deliver solution to 10 customers, observePrototype test: Clickable mockup, usability test with 10 usersLanding page test: Fake door test (show feature, measure interest)A/B test: Build minimal version, test with 50% of users
Success criteria: What metric/behavior validates hypothesis?
Timeline: 1-2 weeks per experimentParticipants: PM + design (for prototypes), eng (for A/B tests)Output: Quantitative and qualitative validation data
Outputs from Phase 5
Solution options: 3-9 solutions (3 per opportunity)Experiment results: Did hypothesis validate or invalidate?Customer feedback: Qualitative reactions to prototypes/concepts
Decision Point 3: Did experiments validate solution? If YES (validated): Proceed to Phase 6 (Decide & Document)
Pivot to next solution option
Re-run experiments with adjusted approach
Time impact: +1-2 weeks
Phase 6: Decide & Document (End of Week 3-4) Goal: Commit to build, document decision, communicate to stakeholders.
Activities 1. Make Go/No-Go Decision
Criteria:
Problem validated? (Phase 3-4)
Solution validated? (Phase 5)
Strategic fit? (aligns with business goals)
Feasible? (engineering capacity, technical complexity)
Decision:
GO: Move to roadmap, write epics/storiesPIVOT: Explore alternative solutionKILL: De-prioritize, not worth solving now
2. Define Epic Hypotheses (If GO)
Use: skills/epic-hypothesis/SKILL.md (component)Participants: PMDuration: 60 minutes per epicOutput: Epic hypothesis statement with success criteria
Use: skills/prd-development/SKILL.md (workflow)Participants: PMDuration: 1-2 daysOutput: Structured PRD with problem, solution, success metrics
Format: 30-min readout covering:
Problem validation (Phase 3-4 insights)
Solution validation (Phase 5 experiments)
Recommendation (GO/PIVOT/KILL)
Participants: Execs, product leadership, key stakeholdersOutput: Alignment on next steps
Outputs from Phase 6
Decision: GO, PIVOT, or KILLEpic hypotheses: (if GO) Testable epic statementsPRD: (if GO) Formal product requirements documentStakeholder alignment: Exec buy-in on recommendation
Complete Workflow: End-to-End Summary Week 1:
├─ Day 1-2: Frame the Problem
│ ├─ skills/problem-framing-canvas/SKILL.md (120 min)
│ ├─ skills/problem-statement/SKILL.md (30 min)
│ └─ [Optional] skills/proto-persona/SKILL.md, skills/jobs-to-be-done/SKILL.md
│
├─ Day 3: Research Planning
│ ├─ skills/discovery-interview-prep/SKILL.md (90 min)
│ ├─ Recruit participants (2-3 days)
│ └─ Schedule 5-10 interviews
│
└─ Day 4-5: Conduct Research (Start)
└─ First 2-3 customer interviews
Week 2:
├─ Day 1-3: Conduct Research (Continue)
│ └─ Remaining customer interviews (3-7 more)
│
├─ Day 4-5: Synthesize Insights
│ ├─ Affinity mapping (120 min)
│ ├─ [Optional] skills/customer-journey-mapping-workshop/SKILL.md (90 min)
│ ├─ Prioritize pain points
│ └─ Update problem statement
│
└─ Decision: Reached saturation? (if NO, +1 week more interviews)
Week 3:
├─ Day 1-2: Generate & Validate Solutions
│ ├─ skills/opportunity-solution-tree/SKILL.md (90 min)
│ └─ Design experiments
│
├─ Day 3-5: Run Experiments
│ ├─ Concierge tests, prototypes, or A/B tests
│ └─ Gather validation data
│
└─ Decision: Validated? (if NO, pivot to next solution, +1-2 weeks)
Week 4:
└─ Decide & Document
├─ Make GO/NO-GO decision
├─ [If GO] skills/epic-hypothesis/SKILL.md (60 min per epic)
├─ [If GO] skills/prd-development/SKILL.md (1-2 days)
└─ Communicate findings (30 min readout)
Fast track: 3 weeks (5 interviews, 1 experiment)Typical: 4 weeks (7-10 interviews, 1-2 experiments)Thorough: 6-8 weeks (10+ interviews, multiple experiment rounds)
Examples See examples/sample.md for a full discovery process example.
**Problem:** Onboarding drop-off due to jargon
**Insight:** 6/10 users quit at step 3
**Decision:** Go with guided checklist experiment
Common Pitfalls
Pitfall 1: Skipping Customer Interviews Symptom: Rely only on analytics and support tickets, no qualitative research
Consequence: Miss "why" behind behavior, build wrong solutions
Fix: Always interview 5-10 customers per discovery cycle (even if you have data)
Pitfall 2: Asking Leading Questions Symptom: "Would you use [feature X] if we built it?"
Consequence: Confirmation bias, customers say "yes" to be polite
Fix: Use Mom Test questions from skills/discovery-interview-prep/SKILL.md (focus on past behavior)
Pitfall 3: Not Reaching Saturation Symptom: Interview 2-3 customers, declare discovery complete
Consequence: Small sample, not representative
Fix: Continue interviews until same patterns emerge across 3+ customers (typically 5-7 interviews minimum)
Pitfall 4: Analysis Paralysis Symptom: Spend 6 weeks synthesizing insights, never move to solutions
Consequence: No delivery, team loses momentum
Fix: Time-box discovery to 3-4 weeks; after Phase 6, move to execution
Pitfall 5: Discovery as One-Time Activity Symptom: Run discovery once before building, then stop
Consequence: Miss evolving customer needs, market changes
Fix: Continuous discovery (Teresa Torres): 1 customer interview per week, ongoing
References
Related Skills (Orchestrated by This Workflow)
skills/problem-framing-canvas/SKILL.md (interactive)skills/problem-statement/SKILL.md (component)skills/proto-persona/SKILL.md (component, optional)skills/jobs-to-be-done/SKILL.md (component, optional)
skills/discovery-interview-prep/SKILL.md (interactive)
skills/customer-journey-mapping-workshop/SKILL.md (interactive, optional)
skills/opportunity-solution-tree/SKILL.md (interactive)skills/lean-ux-canvas/SKILL.md (interactive, alternative)
skills/epic-hypothesis/SKILL.md (component)skills/prd-development/SKILL.md (workflow)
External Frameworks
Teresa Torres, Continuous Discovery Habits (2021) — Weekly customer touchpoints, OST framework
Rob Fitzpatrick, The Mom Test (2013) — How to ask good interview questions
Marty Cagan, Inspired (2017) — Product discovery principles
Dean's Work
Productside Blueprint — Strategic discovery process
[If Dean has discovery resources, link here]
Skill type: Workflow
Suggested filename: discovery-process.md
Suggested placement: /skills/workflows/
Dependencies: Orchestrates 10+ component and interactive skills across 6 phases
