Ideation Research

Ideation Research

Conduct focused market research and map assumptions. This is the second skill in the ideation sequence.

Prerequisites

• Web search capability: This skill conducts market research. Ensure you have Brave Search, WebSearch, or equivalent search tools available.
• Completed /ideation-simple: Requires ideation.md with Status = "Simple".
• Write access: Updates ideation.md in the project root.

First Action: Validate Prerequisites

1. Check for ideation.md in project root

   • If not found: "This skill requires /ideation-simple to be completed first. Please run /ideation-simple to begin the ideation process."
   • If found: Read and verify Status field

2. Check Status

   • If Status < "Simple": "The discovery phase isn't complete yet. Please finish /ideation-simple first."
   • If Status = "Simple": Proceed
   • If Status >= "Research": Ask "The research phase was already completed. Would you like to:"
     • "Continue to /ideation-synthesize"
     • "Redo the research phase (this will overwrite sections 4-5)"

Context Loading

Read ideation.md and load context:

• Project name
• Refined problem statement
• Primary job to be done
• Current alternatives
• User segments identified

Summarize: "Based on the discovery phase, we're exploring [problem] for [user segments]. They currently [current alternatives]. Let me research the competitive landscape and help us map our assumptions."

Phase 1: Market & Competitive Research

Search Strategy

Cap total searches at 6-8. Go deeper on a few key competitors rather than wider across many searches. If the first 2-3 searches reveal a crowded, well-documented market with clear leaders, you have enough -- stop searching and move to gap analysis.

Execute searches in this priority order, stopping early if you have sufficient signal:

1. Direct Competitors (2-3 searches max)

   • Announce: "Let me search for direct competitors -- products solving this exact problem..."
   • Search for:
     • "[problem domain] software tools"
     • "[problem] app product"
     • "best [solution type] tools" or "site:producthunt.com [problem domain]"
   • For each competitor found, note: name, what they do, apparent strengths/weaknesses

2. Indirect Competitors (1-2 searches)

   • Announce: "Now searching for indirect alternatives -- adjacent solutions people use..."
   • Search for:
     • "[current workaround] alternatives"
     • "how [user type] [solve problem]"
   • Note what jobs these serve and gaps they leave

3. Market Signals (1 search)

   • Announce: "Let me look at market trends..."
   • Search for: "[domain] market trends" or "[domain] startup funding"
   • Note trends, funding activity, growth indicators

4. Pricing (optional -- only if not already evident from competitor searches)

   • If pricing data was captured during competitor research, use it -- don't do a dedicated search
   • Only search "[competitor name] pricing" if you found 1-2 strong competitors and pricing is clearly important to the problem space

User Interaction: Competitive Review

After research, present findings:

• "I found [N] direct competitors and [N] indirect alternatives. Here's the landscape: [summary table]"
• Ask: "Did I miss any competitors you're aware of? Any surprises in this list?"
• Incorporate user feedback

Gap Analysis

Based on research, identify:

• "Here's where existing solutions fall short: [opportunity gaps]"
• Connect gaps to the problem/users from discovery phase

Phase 2: Assumption Mapping

Extract and categorize all assumptions from the ideation so far.

Assumption Extraction

Review the conversation and ideation.md to identify implicit assumptions:

Problem assumptions: Assumptions about the problem's nature, severity, frequency

• Example: "Users find X frustrating enough to pay for a solution"

User assumptions: Assumptions about who users are and how they behave

• Example: "The primary users are [role] who work in [context]"

Solution assumptions: Assumptions about what would solve the problem

• Example: "A simpler interface would address the main pain point"

Market assumptions: Assumptions about market dynamics

• Example: "The market is growing / underserved / ready for disruption"

Assumption Rating

For each assumption, rate on two dimensions:

Importance: How critical is this to the idea's success?

• High: If wrong, the idea fundamentally doesn't work
• Medium: If wrong, we'd need to pivot significantly
• Low: If wrong, we'd adjust but core idea survives

Confidence: How certain are we this is true?

• High: Strong evidence or widely accepted
• Medium: Some evidence but not definitive
• Low: Gut feeling or untested belief

RESEARCH INTERLUDE: Assumption Validation

For each High Importance / Low Confidence assumption (use remaining search budget from Phase 1):

1. Announce: "Let me search for evidence about [assumption]..."
2. Search for relevant data, statistics, or perspectives
3. Report: "For this assumption, I found [evidence/counter-evidence]"
4. Adjust confidence rating based on findings

Assign IDs and Create Priority Matrix

Assign sequential IDs: A1, A2, A3...

Categorize into priority matrix:

• Test First (High Importance, Low Confidence): These are existential risks
• Monitor (High Importance, High Confidence): Critical but we're confident
• Validate Later (Lower priority): Nice to confirm but not urgent

Completeness Check

Before writing output, verify you can answer yes to all three:

• Can I name at least 2 direct competitors with their specific weaknesses?
• Have I identified at least 1 clear opportunity gap tied to user needs?
• Have I rated all major assumptions, with evidence for High Importance / Low Confidence ones?

If any answer is no, do one more targeted search. If search doesn't resolve it, note the gap explicitly in the output rather than leaving it blank.

Output: Update ideation.md

Update sections 4-5 of ideation.md:

## 4. Market Landscape

### Direct Competitors
| Competitor | What They Do | Strengths | Weaknesses | Pricing |
|------------|--------------|-----------|------------|---------|
| [Name] | [Description] | [Strengths] | [Weaknesses] | [Pricing model or "not found"] |
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |

### Indirect Competitors
| Solution | How it's used for this job | Gap it leaves |
|----------|---------------------------|---------------|
| [Name/Type] | [Usage] | [Gap] |
| ... | ... | ... |

### Market Signals
- [Trend 1 with source]
- [Trend 2 with source]
- [Funding/growth indicators]

### Opportunity Gaps
- [Gap 1: Description and why it matters]
- [Gap 2: Description and why it matters]

## 5. Assumptions Log

| ID | Assumption | Category | Importance | Confidence | Evidence | Validation Strategy |
|----|------------|----------|------------|------------|----------|---------------------|
| A1 | [Assumption text] | Problem | High | Low | [What we found] | [How to validate] |
| A2 | [Assumption text] | User | High | Medium | [What we found] | [How to validate] |
| A3 | [Assumption text] | Market | Medium | High | [What we found] | [How to validate] |
| A4 | [Assumption text] | Solution | High | Low | [What we found] | [How to validate] |
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |

### Priority Matrix
- **Test First** (High Importance, Low Confidence): [A1, A4, ...]
- **Monitor** (High Importance, High Confidence): [A3, ...]
- **Validate Later** (Lower priority): [A2, ...]

Also update:

• Meta.Status -> "Research"
• Meta.Last Updated -> today's date
• Research Log -> add entries for all searches conducted

Completion

After updating ideation.md:

1. Present summary:

   • "I've mapped the competitive landscape and identified [N] key assumptions."
   • "The highest-risk assumptions are: [list Test First items]"

2. Highlight key findings:

   • Most notable competitor insights
   • Biggest opportunity gaps
   • Most concerning assumptions

3. Next step: "The research phase is complete. When you're ready, run /ideation-synthesize to generate solution hypotheses and prepare for kickoff."

When to Use

• After completing /ideation-simple
• User says "research the market", "map assumptions", "competitive analysis"
• Ready to move from problem understanding to solution thinking

When NOT to Use

• Discovery phase not complete - use /ideation-simple first
• Already have formal requirements - use /kickoff directly
• Just need a quick competitive scan - do it conversationally