Discovery Interview Prep
Run this skill before customer calls so you lock a clear discovery goal, segment, constraints, and interview method instead of winging half-baked questions.
Overview
Discovery Interview Prep is an agent skill most often used in Idea (also Validate) that plans customer discovery interviews with the right goal, segment, constraints, and method so limited access still produces actionabl
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/deanpeters/product-manager-skills --skill discovery-interview-prepWhat is this skill?
- Adaptive Q&A walkthrough for research goals, segments, constraints, and methodology (about 15–20 minutes)
- Targets problem validation, churn deep-dives, and new-product ideation with scenario-based prompts
- Bias and confirmation-trap guardrails so limited customer access still yields actionable insight
- Method selection when you only have cold outreach or tight deadlines
- Interactive plan output: who to talk to, what to ask, and how to interpret answers
- 15–20 min estimated guided prep
- Interactive discovery-research theme
Adoption & trust: 1.3k installs on skills.sh; 5k GitHub stars; 2/3 security scanners passed (skills.sh audits).
What problem does it solve?
You are about to talk to customers but lack a coherent interview plan, so you risk confirmation bias, vague questions, and wasted conversations.
Who is it for?
Solo builders and indie PMs preparing problem-validation, churn, or new-idea interviews with tight time or outreach limits.
Skip if: Teams that already have a signed research brief, scripted usability tests for shipped UI, or quantitative funnel analysis only—use analytics or testing skills instead.
When should I use this skill?
Preparing customer discovery interviews for problem validation, churn research, or new product ideas.
What do I get? / Deliverables
You get a tailored discovery interview plan with methodology, segment focus, and question framing ready to run before you validate scope or build.
- Customer discovery interview plan
- Targeted question themes
- Method and bias-avoidance notes
Recommended Skills
Journey fit
Spans multiple journey phases - primary shelf plus alternate fits below.
Discovery interview prep is where solo builders and indie PMs first earn signal—before they scope a build or write a landing page—so the canonical shelf is Idea → research. Research subphase covers competitor/audience discovery and problem interviews; this skill structures those conversations rather than post-build analytics.
Where it fits
Map five enterprise churn interviews with a 90-day window before you reposition the product.
Turn cold-outreach-only constraints into a two-week validation interview plan for a new concept.
Design interviews to learn why users fail to activate on a core feature before changing onboarding.
How it compares
Use instead of generic “customer interview tips” chat when you need a structured, constraint-aware plan tied to PM discovery goals.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is discovery-interview-prep for?
It is for solo founders and product-minded builders who must run customer discovery without a full UX research team and want interview plans that respect real access and deadline limits.
When should I use discovery-interview-prep?
Use it in Idea when researching audience and problems, in Validate when scoping what to prove next, and before churn or activation interviews whenever you need method and questions aligned to a specific goal.
Is discovery-interview-prep safe to install?
It is a planning skill with no built-in shell or secret access; review the Security Audits panel on this Prism page before installing from the upstream repo.
SKILL.md
READMESKILL.md - Discovery Interview Prep
## Purpose Guide product managers through preparing for customer discovery interviews by asking adaptive questions about research goals, customer segments, constraints, and methodologies. Use this to design effective interview plans, craft targeted questions, avoid common biases, and maximize learning from limited customer access—ensuring discovery interviews yield actionable insights rather than confirmation bias or surface-level feedback. This is not a script generator—it's a strategic prep process that outputs a tailored interview plan with methodology, question framework, and success criteria. ## Key Concepts ### The Discovery Interview Prep Flow An interactive process that: 1. Gathers product/problem context (marketing materials, assumptions) 2. Defines research goals (what you're trying to learn) 3. Identifies target customer segment and access constraints 4. Recommends interview methodology (Jobs-to-be-Done, problem validation, switch interviews, etc.) 5. Generates interview framework with questions, biases to avoid, and success metrics ### Why This Works - **Goal-driven:** Aligns interview approach to what you need to learn - **Adaptive:** Adjusts methodology based on product stage (idea vs. existing product) and access constraints - **Bias-aware:** Highlights common pitfalls (leading questions, confirmation bias, solution-first thinking) - **Actionable:** Outputs interview guide ready to use ### Anti-Patterns (What This Is NOT) - **Not a user testing script:** Discovery = learning problems; testing = validating solutions - **Not a sales demo:** Don't pitch—listen and learn - **Not surveys at scale:** Deep qualitative interviews (5-10 people), not broad surveys (100+ people) ### When to Use This - Starting product discovery (validating problem space) - Repositioning an existing product (understanding new market) - Investigating churn or drop-off (retention interviews) - Evaluating feature ideas before building - Preparing for customer development sprints ### When NOT to Use This - User testing a prototype (use usability testing frameworks instead) - Quantitative research at scale (use surveys, analytics) - When you already know the problem (move to solution validation) --- ### Facilitation Source of Truth Use [`workshop-facilitation`](../workshop-facilitation/SKILL.md) as the default interaction protocol for this skill. It defines: - session heads-up + entry mode (Guided, Context dump, Best guess) - one-question turns with plain-language prompts - progress labels (for example, Context Qx/8 and Scoring Qx/5) - interruption handling and pause/resume behavior - numbered recommendations at decision points - quick-select numbered response options for regular questions (include `Other (specify)` when useful) This file d