Stakeholder Simulation

Stakeholder Simulation Skill

Multi-persona stakeholder simulation for generating diverse requirements perspectives when working solo.

When to Use This Skill

Keywords: stakeholder simulation, persona, solo elicitation, simulate stakeholder, multi-perspective, no stakeholder access, solo mode, proxy stakeholder

Invoke this skill when:

• Working without direct stakeholder access
• Need diverse perspectives on requirements
• Validating completeness of requirements
• Exploring edge cases and conflicts
• Solo developer needing stakeholder proxy

Available Personas

Simulation Modes

Single Persona Mode

Simulate one specific stakeholder perspective:

mode: single
persona: technical
focus: "security concerns for payment processing"
output: requirements from technical perspective

Multi-Persona Mode

Run multiple personas for diverse perspectives:

mode: multi
personas: [end-user, technical, business]
topic: "checkout redesign"
output: consolidated requirements with attributed perspectives

Conflict Detection Mode

Specifically look for conflicts between stakeholder perspectives:

mode: conflict
personas: all
topic: "feature prioritization"
output: identified conflicts with resolution suggestions

Workflow

Step 1: Context Setting

Establish the domain and topic for simulation:

simulation_context:
  domain: "{domain name}"
  topic: "{specific topic or feature}"
  existing_requirements: "{path to existing requirements if any}"
  autonomy_level: guided|semi-auto|full-auto

Step 2: Persona Selection

Determine which personas to simulate:

All Personas (comprehensive):

• Use when doing initial discovery
• Ensures no perspective is missed
• Takes longer but more thorough

Selected Personas (focused):

• Use when exploring specific concerns
• Faster, more targeted output
• Good for follow-up sessions

Step 3: Simulation Execution

For each selected persona, spawn the corresponding agent:

simulation_execution:
  - persona: end-user
    agent: end-user-persona
    prompt: "From an end user perspective, what requirements would you have for {topic}?"

  - persona: technical
    agent: technical-stakeholder
    prompt: "What technical requirements and constraints exist for {topic}?"

Step 4: Requirement Collection

Collect requirements from each persona:

collected_requirements:
  - id: REQ-SIM-001
    text: "{requirement statement}"
    persona: "{which persona generated this}"
    perspective: "{user|technical|business|compliance|operations}"
    priority: must|should|could
    confidence: medium  # Always medium for simulated
    rationale: "{why this requirement matters to this persona}"

Step 5: Conflict Detection

Identify conflicts between perspectives:

conflicts:
  - id: CONFLICT-001
    requirements: [REQ-SIM-003, REQ-SIM-012]
    description: "End user wants simplicity; Technical wants security"
    personas: [end-user, technical]
    suggested_resolution: "{proposed compromise}"

Step 6: Consolidation

Merge and deduplicate requirements:

consolidated:
  - id: REQ-SIM-FINAL-001
    text: "{consolidated requirement}"
    supported_by: [end-user, business]
    priority: must
    confidence: medium
    needs_validation: true  # All simulated requirements need validation

Persona Profiles

End User Persona

Perspective: Daily user experience

Focuses On:

• Ease of use
• Intuitive workflows
• Error recovery
• Accessibility
• Mobile/responsive design
• Learning curve

Typical Questions:

• "How do I accomplish X easily?"
• "What happens when something goes wrong?"
• "Can I use this on my phone?"

Technical Stakeholder Persona

Perspective: System architecture and implementation

Focuses On:

• Scalability
• Performance
• Security
• Integration
• Maintainability
• Technical debt

Typical Questions:

• "How does this scale to 10x users?"
• "What are the security implications?"
• "How do we integrate with existing systems?"

Business Stakeholder Persona

Perspective: Business value and market fit

Focuses On:

• ROI
• Time to market
• Competitive advantage
• Revenue impact
• Cost management
• Market positioning

Typical Questions:

• "What's the business value?"
• "How does this compare to competitors?"
• "What's the cost/benefit?"

Compliance Stakeholder Persona

Perspective: Regulatory and legal requirements

Focuses On:

• Data protection (GDPR, CCPA)
• Industry regulations
• Audit requirements
• Legal liability
• Documentation
• Consent management

Typical Questions:

• "Are we compliant with X regulation?"
• "How do we handle user data?"
• "What audit trail do we need?"

Operations Stakeholder Persona

Perspective: Deployment and ongoing operations

Focuses On:

• Deployment complexity
• Monitoring and alerting
• Incident response
• Backup and recovery
• Maintenance windows
• Support requirements

Typical Questions:

• "How do we deploy this safely?"
• "How do we know if something breaks?"
• "What's the support burden?"

Output Format

Simulation Results

simulation_results:
  session_id: "SIM-{timestamp}"
  domain: "{domain}"
  topic: "{topic}"
  personas_simulated: [end-user, technical, business]
  autonomy_level: semi-auto

  requirements_by_persona:
    end-user:
      count: 8
      requirements:
        - id: REQ-SIM-EU-001
          text: "Login should take less than 3 clicks"
          priority: should
          rationale: "Reduces friction in daily workflow"

    technical:
      count: 6
      requirements:
        - id: REQ-SIM-TEC-001
          text: "System must support OAuth 2.0 + MFA"
          priority: must
          rationale: "Security best practice"

  conflicts_detected:
    - personas: [end-user, technical]
      issue: "Simplicity vs security trade-off"
      eu_position: "Fewer steps"
      tech_position: "MFA required"
      resolution: "Implement remember-device option"

  consolidated_requirements:
    total: 18
    by_priority:
      must: 6
      should: 8
      could: 4

  validation_needed:
    - All simulated requirements should be validated with real stakeholders
    - Conflicts flagged for human decision

Confidence and Validation

IMPORTANT: All simulated requirements have:

• Confidence: medium (never high)
• needs_validation: true

Simulation provides perspectives but cannot replace real stakeholder input. Always flag simulated requirements for validation when stakeholders become available.

Delegation

For related tasks:

• interview-conducting: When real stakeholder becomes available
• gap-analysis: Check completeness of simulated requirements
• domain-research: Supplement simulation with domain knowledge

Output Location

Save simulation results to:

.requirements/{domain}/simulations/SIM-{timestamp}.yaml

Related

• elicitation-methodology - Parent hub skill
• interview-conducting - Real stakeholder interviews
• gap-analysis - Post-simulation completeness checking