user-discovery

Skill: User Discovery

Covers the full customer learning cycle — from designing the interview to extracting actionable opportunities. Use this before building anything new, validating a pivot, or investigating churn.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  STANDALONE (always works)                                      │
│  ✓ Custom interview script generator                            │
│  ✓ Insight extraction from raw notes                            │
│  ✓ Weekly discovery rhythm tracker                              │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  SUPERCHARGED (connect ~~transcription / Fireflies)             │
│  + Auto-synthesis from call transcripts                         │
│  + Cross-session insight tracking and sentiment trends          │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

---

Phase 1: Preparation

Define the Research Goal

Pick one goal per session — mixing goals produces muddled insights:

Goal	When to use
Problem validation	Confirm the pain exists and how intense it is
Jobs-to-be-Done	Understand what the customer is trying to accomplish
Churn investigation	Learn why users left or switched competitors
Prioritization	Validate which problem to solve first

Select the Methodology

Methodology	Best for	Core principle
Mom Test	Any validation interview	Ask about past behavior, never future intent
JTBD (Switch)	Understanding purchase decisions	Map the forces that caused them to switch
Continuous Discovery	Ongoing research habit	Weekly 30-min sessions with target users

Identify the Interviewee

Load data/2-Domaines/icp.json for fit criteria. Define:

• Role / job title, company size, or life situation
• Stage: early adopter vs. mainstream user
• Relationship: prospect, active user, or churned user

Build the Interview Guide

Warm-up (2 min) — Low-threat, rapport-building

• "Can you tell me about your role and what your day looks like?"
• "How long have you been dealing with [problem area]?"

Core Questions (15-20 min) — Past behavior only

• ✅ "Tell me about the last time you faced this problem."
• ✅ "Walk me through what happened when that occurred."
• ✅ "What did you try before? Why didn't it work?"
• ❌ Never: "Would you use a feature that…?" (hypothetical)
• ❌ Never: "Don't you think it's frustrating when…?" (leading)

Deep Dives (5-10 min) — For each pain surfaced

• "How often does this happen?"
• "What's the business or personal impact?"
• "What workarounds do you use today?"

Close (2 min)

• "Is there anything important I didn't ask?"
• "Can you introduce me to someone else who has this problem?"

Save guide to: data/1-Projets/[project]/discovery/interview-guide-[date].md

---

Phase 2: Execution

Guidelines for running the session:

• Talk less, listen more (aim for 80/20)
• Dig for specific stories, not general opinions
• Ask "Why?" up to 5 times to reach root cause
• Record (with consent) or take notes using the template in references/scripts.md

---

Phase 3: Insight Extraction

After each session, parse notes to identify:

Signal	Description
Pain points	Specific obstacles the user described
Workarounds	Hacks or manual steps they use today
Delighters	Things that would genuinely make their day
Quotable insights	Verbatim language — use in problem statements and copy
BANT signals	Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline (for sales context)

Output: save to data/1-Projets/[project]/discovery/session-[date].md

If the insight points to a sales opportunity, hand off to the discovery-call skill for follow-up processing.

---

Phase 4: Opportunity Mapping

Group extracted insights into a ranked opportunity map:

• Cluster related pain points by theme
• Score each cluster by: frequency (how many users mentioned it) × intensity (how much they care)
• Top clusters = highest-priority opportunities to address

Save to: data/1-Projets/[project]/discovery/opportunity-map.md

Feed the top opportunities into the problem-statement skill to generate a crisp problem definition.

---

Continuous Discovery Habit

To run discovery as an ongoing habit rather than a one-off project:

1. Define a standing research question for the current product cycle
2. Recruit 1-2 participants per week from your user base or target ICP
3. Run 30-minute sessions weekly using this skill
4. Extract 3-5 opportunities per session, update the opportunity map
5. Review the map every 4 weeks to reprioritize

---

Success Criteria

A session is successful when it produces:

• At least 2 specific past stories with dates and context
• At least 1 genuine surprise (something you didn't expect)
• At least 3 verbatim quotes usable in a problem statement
• At least 1 revealed workaround or coping behavior

---

References

• Full Methodology Guide — Mom Test, JTBD, Switch, bias list, success criteria
• Interview Script Templates — Ready-made scripts by goal type
• Mom Test Scoring Sheet — Score sessions for signal quality
• Continuous Discovery Habit Guide — Weekly cadence and tracking system
• Discovery Worksheet — Session note-taking template