Positioning Workshop
Facilitate a structured positioning workshop so target customer, category, benefits, and differentiation are explicit before PRDs, launch copy, or roadmap bets.
Overview
positioning-workshop is an agent skill most often used in Validate (also Idea research, Launch distribution) that guides an interactive session to define target customer, category, benefits, and differentiation before do
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/deanpeters/product-manager-skills --skill positioning-workshopWhat is this skill?
- Interactive workshop on target customer, unmet need, category, benefits, and competitive differentiation
- Adaptive questioning aligned to Dean Peters product-manager-skills positioning intent
- Stakeholder alignment artifact before PRDs, launch plans, or marketing materials
- Fixes fuzzy, generic, or misaligned product messaging
- Deliberate choices about who you serve and how you differ from alternatives
Adoption & trust: 1.2k installs on skills.sh; 5k GitHub stars; 2/3 security scanners passed (skills.sh audits).
What problem does it solve?
Your product messaging feels fuzzy, generic, or misaligned and stakeholders have not made explicit positioning choices.
Who is it for?
Solo founders or PMs preparing a B2B or SaaS launch who need a facilitated positioning pass before writing specs or copy.
Skip if: Teams with signed-off positioning and messaging guides who only need tactical SEO keyword lists or pure engineering task breakdowns.
When should I use this skill?
Use when your product messaging feels fuzzy, generic, or misaligned and you need deliberate positioning before PRDs, launch plans, or marketing materials.
What do I get? / Deliverables
You leave with articulated positioning on customer, need, category, benefits, and differentiation ready for PRDs, launch plans, and marketing.
- Aligned positioning narrative (customer, need, category, benefits, differentiation)
- Inputs reusable for PRD and launch planning
Recommended Skills
Journey fit
Spans multiple journey phases - primary shelf plus alternate fits below.
Positioning locks who you serve and why before you commit build scope—canonical shelf is Validate when narrowing the bet. Scope subphase covers strategic choices about problem, segment, and promise that bound everything downstream.
Where it fits
Narrow a crowded analytics category by forcing explicit unmet need and differentiation before roadmap commitments.
Stress-test whether your assumed ICP matches the pain you can uniquely solve.
Align homepage and launch email narrative with the same category and benefit statements from the workshop.
How it compares
Facilitated positioning discovery—not a one-shot tagline generator or analytics dashboard.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is positioning-workshop for?
Product managers and indie builders who own positioning and need a structured, question-driven workshop instead of debating messaging in unstructured chat.
When should I use positioning-workshop?
In Validate when scoping who you serve; in Idea when researching audience fit; at Launch when distribution copy must match strategy; whenever messaging feels generic before PRDs or launch plans.
Is positioning-workshop safe to install?
It is process guidance with no implied repo access; review the Security Audits panel on this page like any third-party skill and avoid pasting confidential customer data you cannot share with your agent.
SKILL.md
READMESKILL.md - Positioning Workshop
## Purpose Guide product managers through discovering and articulating product positioning by asking adaptive questions about target customers, unmet needs, product category, benefits, and competitive differentiation. Use this to align stakeholders on strategic positioning before writing PRDs, launch plans, or marketing materials—ensuring you've made deliberate choices about who you serve, what need you address, and how you differ from alternatives. This is not a brainstorming session—it's a structured discovery process that outputs a Geoffrey Moore positioning statement backed by evidence and strategic choices. ## Key Concepts ### The Positioning Workshop Flow An interactive discovery process that: 1. Gathers product context (marketing materials, competitor intel) 2. Identifies target customer segment through questioning 3. Uncovers underserved needs via Jobs-to-be-Done lens 4. Defines product category and benefits 5. Establishes competitive differentiation 6. Outputs a complete positioning statement (uses `positioning-statement.md`) ### Why This Works - **Structured discovery:** Prevents "positioning by committee" (too vague) - **Evidence-based:** Uses real marketing materials, customer feedback, competitive intel - **Adaptive:** Questions adjust based on B2B vs. B2C, new product vs. repositioning, etc. - **Actionable output:** Generates a Geoffrey Moore positioning statement ready for stakeholder review ### Anti-Patterns (What This Is NOT) - **Not a tagline generator:** Positioning ≠ marketing copy - **Not feature-first:** Starts with customer problems, not product capabilities - **Not consensus-driven:** Forces hard choices (can't be "for everyone") ### When to Use This - Defining positioning for a new product - Repositioning an existing product (pivot, market shift) - Aligning stakeholders on product strategy - Preparing for launch or major release - Before writing positioning-dependent artifacts (PRD, press release, sales deck) ### When NOT to Use This - Before customer research (positioning requires validated insights) - For internal tools with captive users (no market positioning needed) - When positioning is already clear and validated --- ### 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 defines the domain-specific assessment content. If there is a conflict, follow this file's domain logic. ## Application This interactive skill asks *