# Design Partner Programme Builder

> This skill builds and operates the design partner programme to secure early customer input during product development. Use when a new product or major feature initiative needs validated demand and real-world feedback before GA. Also consider when pivoting an existing product and needing fresh signal from a different ICP segment. Suggest when the roadmap contains high-uncertainty bets that would benefit from co-development with customers.

- Skill: `mittuled/design-partner-programme-builder` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 6 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add mittuled/design-partner-programme-builder`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/mittuled/design-partner-programme-builder/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Product & Planning
- Author: mittuled (https://skillmd.com/u/mittuled)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/mittuled/design-partner-programme-builder

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# design-partner-programme-builder

## Agent: VP Product
L1 product leader responsible for opportunity framing, MVP definition, PRD assembly, go-live coordination, and post-launch monitoring. Owns the product strategy and roadmap from idea through GA.

Department ethos: [ideal-product.md](../../../../departments/product/ideal-product.md)

## Skill Description
Builds the design partner programme to get early customer input during development.

## When to Use
- When a new product or major feature initiative is entering development and needs validated demand signals
- When the team lacks confidence in the ICP definition or value proposition and needs real buyer feedback
- When Sales has pipeline waiting on a product that does not yet exist and needs structured early access
- When the product strategy relies on co-development or ecosystem partnerships for differentiation

## Workflow
1. **Define programme objectives**: Clarify what the programme must deliver — validated use cases, reference customers, pricing signal, integration feedback, or case studies. Deliverable: programme objectives document.
2. **Set partner selection criteria**: Establish the ideal design partner profile: ICP fit, technical readiness, executive sponsorship, willingness to commit time, and strategic value (logo, segment representation, co-marketing potential). Deliverable: partner selection rubric.
3. **Recruit design partners**: Work with Sales and CS to identify and approach candidates from existing pipeline, churned accounts with unmet needs, or strategic prospects. Pitch the programme value exchange clearly. Deliverable: signed partner agreements (target 3-8 partners).
4. **Structure the engagement cadence**: Define the interaction model — weekly feedback sessions, async Slack channels, monthly exec check-ins, and milestone demos. Specify time commitments for both sides. Deliverable: engagement calendar and communication plan.
5. **Define the feedback framework**: Create structured instruments — interview guides, feature-priority ranking exercises, usability test protocols, and NPS/CSAT baselines — so feedback is comparable across partners. Deliverable: feedback toolkit.
6. **Establish the value exchange**: Codify what partners receive — discounted or free access, influence on the roadmap, early GA access, co-marketing opportunities, SLA commitments — and what they owe in return (time, data, reference willingness). Deliverable: value exchange term sheet.
7. **Run the programme**: Execute the cadence, capture feedback in a central repository, synthesize themes weekly, and feed prioritized insights back to the product and engineering teams. Deliverable: weekly feedback synthesis reports.
8. **Gate the transition to GA**: Define the criteria under which design partners convert to paying customers — pricing terms, contract start dates, grandfathering policies, and reference commitments. Deliverable: partner-to-customer transition plan.
9. **Capture programme outcomes**: Document validated use cases, testimonials, case-study drafts, and lessons learned. Feed pricing signal into the pricing-v1-setter workflow. Deliverable: programme outcomes report.
10. **Retrospect and templatize**: Run a retrospective on the programme itself — what worked, what partners found valuable, what created friction — and publish a reusable programme template for future products. Deliverable: design partner programme template.

## Anti-Patterns
- **Logo-chasing**: Selecting partners for brand prestige rather than ICP fit and willingness to engage. *Why*: Prestigious logos that don't invest time produce zero usable feedback and distort prioritization.
- **Unbounded scope**: Letting partners treat the programme as a custom-development contract where they dictate the roadmap. *Why*: The product must serve the broader market; over-indexing on one partner's needs creates a bespoke solution disguised as a product.
- **Feedback without structure**: Collecting anecdotal partner input in ad-hoc conversations with no consistent framework. *Why*: Unstructured feedback is impossible to compare across partners and biases toward the loudest voice.
- **No exit plan**: Running the programme indefinitely without a defined transition to paid customer status. *Why*: Partners who never convert consume support and engineering bandwidth without generating revenue, and Sales cannot forecast.
- **One-way extraction**: Taking feedback without delivering visible product progress or programme perks. *Why*: Partners disengage when they feel used; reciprocity sustains engagement through the programme lifecycle.

## Output
**On success**: A programme outcomes report containing validated use cases, synthesized feedback themes, pricing signal, signed reference commitments, case-study drafts, and a partner-to-customer transition plan — plus a reusable programme template for future initiatives.
**On failure**: Report which step stalled (e.g., insufficient partner recruitment, low engagement rates), the feedback collected to date, what alternative validation methods were attempted (surveys, competitor analysis), and a recommendation on whether to extend the programme, pivot the ICP, or proceed to GA with acknowledged risk.

## Related Skills
- [`business-model-sketcher`](../business-model-sketcher/SKILL.md) — sibling skill under the same agent — combine with business-model-sketcher for end-to-end coverage
- [`competitive-response-monitor`](../competitive-response-monitor/SKILL.md) — sibling skill under the same agent — combine with competitive-response-monitor for end-to-end coverage
- [`goal-framer`](../goal-framer/SKILL.md) — sibling skill under the same agent — combine with goal-framer for end-to-end coverage