# Scope Discovery Research

> Define the scope, goals, and methods for a product discovery research initiative. Use this skill before running any discovery research to ensure the team is investigating the right questions with the right methods.

- Skill: `alexe-ev/scope-discovery-research` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 4 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add alexe-ev/scope-discovery-research`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/alexe-ev/scope-discovery-research/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Product & Planning
- Author: alexe-ev (https://skillmd.com/u/alexe-ev)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/alexe-ev/scope-discovery-research

---


# Scope Discovery Research

## Purpose
Help teams define a focused, time-boxed discovery research scope — including the right questions, methods, participants, and expected outputs — before committing to research execution.

## Skill type
Conceptual skill

## Use this skill when
- A team is about to start discovery research without a clear scope
- Multiple research questions are competing and need to be prioritized
- A research proposal needs to be reviewed or approved
- A new product area requires an initial exploration plan

## Do not use this skill when
- Research is already underway and the goal is synthesis (use synthesize-qualitative-research)
- The question is specific to usability (use plan-ux-research)

## Required inputs
- Product area or problem space being explored
- Business or product decisions the research should inform

## Optional inputs
- Existing assumptions or hypotheses
- Available time and resources
- Prior research on the same topic
- Team constraints

## Upstream context
Works best when:
- A product problem or opportunity area is identified
- Strategic context exists (what are we trying to decide?)

## If upstream context is missing
Produce a set of framing questions to establish research scope before scoping the research itself.

## Downstream handoff
Output can feed:
- run-user-interviews (scoped research → interview plan)
- plan-ux-research (scope informs UX research design)
- synthesize-qualitative-research (scope defines what to synthesize)

## Instructions
1. Define the research goal: what decisions will this research enable?
2. Identify the key questions the research must answer (limit to 3–5).
3. Identify what is already known vs. what is genuinely unknown.
4. Select appropriate methods for each question (interviews, diary studies, observations, etc.).
5. Define participant criteria and volume needed.
6. Define timeline, output format, and how findings will be used.
7. Identify risks: what if we don't find what we need?

## Output
Provide:
- Research goal and decisions it will inform
- Key research questions (prioritized)
- Known vs. unknown assumptions
- Methods per question with rationale
- Participant criteria and volume
- Timeline and output format
- Risk and contingency plan

## Risks / caveats
- Research without a clear goal produces interesting but un-actionable findings
- Scope creep in research is common — limit to 3–5 key questions per initiative
- Methods must match questions — not all questions require interviews