Product Layer
This group covers the full product thinking stack: from raw idea validation through discovery, prioritization, spec writing, and retention design. When activated, identify the right sub-skill and follow its workflow.
Skill Map
Idea Validation (Start Here for Any New Feature or Pivot)
- product-lens — founder-style diagnostic. Asks the hard questions: who is this for, what's the pain, why now, what's the MVP, what's the anti-goal, how do you know it's working. Use before building anything new.
- lean-startup — Build-Measure-Learn loop, validated learning experiments, pivot-or-persevere decisions, innovation accounting. Use when deciding whether to continue a direction or change it.
- 37signals-way — build less, fixed time/variable scope, six-week cycles, appetite vs estimates. Use when scoping work or deciding what to cut.
Customer Discovery
- mom-test — interview rules that prevent false positives: discuss their life not your idea, ask about specifics in the past, talk less. Use when preparing customer discovery interview questions or interpreting feedback.
- discovery-interview-prep — structured interview plan with goal, segment, constraints, and method. Use when preparing to talk to accounting firms or school admins for Antibody/SchoolOrder.
- jobs-to-be-done — uncover functional, emotional, and social jobs customers are hiring the product for. Use when repositioning or improving messaging.
Prioritization & Roadmap
- prioritization-advisor — RICE, ICE, value/effort scoring. Use when choosing between competing features or deciding what to work on next.
- opportunity-solution-tree — maps outcomes → opportunities → solutions → experiments. Use when a stakeholder request needs problem framing before building starts.
- problem-framing-canvas — MITRE-style problem statement before jumping to solutions. Use when the problem itself feels fuzzy.
Specs & Documentation
- prd-development — PRD that connects problem, users, solution, and success criteria. Use when a feature needs to become an engineering-ready document.
- to-prd — turns conversation context into a PRD and pushes it to the issue tracker. Use after a product discussion to capture decisions.
- to-issues — breaks a plan or PRD into independently-grabbable issues. Use when turning a spec into actual development tickets.
- user-story — Mike Cohn format with Gherkin acceptance criteria. Use when writing development-ready stories.
Retention & Engagement
- hooked-ux — Hook Model: Trigger → Action → Variable Reward → Investment. Use when designing engagement loops, notification strategies, or retention mechanics for SchoolOrder or Antibody.
How to Use
- Before building: product-lens → lean-startup (in that order) to validate the why.
- Before talking to customers: mom-test → discovery-interview-prep.
- When choosing what to build: prioritization-advisor → opportunity-solution-tree.
- Once decided: prd-development → to-issues to go from idea to tickets.
- For retention problems: hooked-ux to design the loop.
The Key Question
Before any feature gets built, answer: "What behavior changes in a real user if this works?" If you can't answer that concretely, go back to product-lens.
1---2name: product-layer3description: Product Layer4---56# Product Layer78This group covers the full product thinking stack: from raw idea validation through discovery, prioritization, spec writing, and retention design. When activated, identify the right sub-skill and follow its workflow.910## Skill Map1112### Idea Validation (Start Here for Any New Feature or Pivot)13- **product-lens** — founder-style diagnostic. Asks the hard questions: who is this for, what's the pain, why now, what's the MVP, what's the anti-goal, how do you know it's working. Use before building anything new.14- **lean-startup** — Build-Measure-Learn loop, validated learning experiments, pivot-or-persevere decisions, innovation accounting. Use when deciding whether to continue a direction or change it.15- **37signals-way** — build less, fixed time/variable scope, six-week cycles, appetite vs estimates. Use when scoping work or deciding what to cut.1617### Customer Discovery18- **mom-test** — interview rules that prevent false positives: discuss their life not your idea, ask about specifics in the past, talk less. Use when preparing customer discovery interview questions or interpreting feedback.19- **discovery-interview-prep** — structured interview plan with goal, segment, constraints, and method. Use when preparing to talk to accounting firms or school admins for Antibody/SchoolOrder.20- **jobs-to-be-done** — uncover functional, emotional, and social jobs customers are hiring the product for. Use when repositioning or improving messaging.2122### Prioritization & Roadmap23- **prioritization-advisor** — RICE, ICE, value/effort scoring. Use when choosing between competing features or deciding what to work on next.24- **opportunity-solution-tree** — maps outcomes → opportunities → solutions → experiments. Use when a stakeholder request needs problem framing before building starts.25- **problem-framing-canvas** — MITRE-style problem statement before jumping to solutions. Use when the problem itself feels fuzzy.2627### Specs & Documentation28- **prd-development** — PRD that connects problem, users, solution, and success criteria. Use when a feature needs to become an engineering-ready document.29- **to-prd** — turns conversation context into a PRD and pushes it to the issue tracker. Use after a product discussion to capture decisions.30- **to-issues** — breaks a plan or PRD into independently-grabbable issues. Use when turning a spec into actual development tickets.31- **user-story** — Mike Cohn format with Gherkin acceptance criteria. Use when writing development-ready stories.3233### Retention & Engagement34- **hooked-ux** — Hook Model: Trigger → Action → Variable Reward → Investment. Use when designing engagement loops, notification strategies, or retention mechanics for SchoolOrder or Antibody.3536## How to Use37381. Before building: **product-lens** → **lean-startup** (in that order) to validate the why.392. Before talking to customers: **mom-test** → **discovery-interview-prep**.403. When choosing what to build: **prioritization-advisor** → **opportunity-solution-tree**.414. Once decided: **prd-development** → **to-issues** to go from idea to tickets.425. For retention problems: **hooked-ux** to design the loop.4344## The Key Question4546Before any feature gets built, answer: "What behavior changes in a real user if this works?" If you can't answer that concretely, go back to product-lens.
BTN101